Special features of scheduling tunnel works - Tunnel Engineering: Basics and Additional Services for Design and Construction - page 281

7.3 General planning of tunnel drives

General. A road or rail tunnel is always a complex structure, so its uninterrupted construc-
tion demands particularly careful planning of all activities. The construction schedule will
arrange numerous individual objects, like for example cuttings, embankments, crossing
structures for road or rail, drainage facilities, in the correct order in order that catenary,
signal and communications equipment can be installed and finally construction and plant-
ing to fit the structure into the landscape should not be forgotten. W. Linkerhägner [123]
writes: “The requirements of environmental protection have to be balanced against the
principles of technical rail construction. Transparent planning and early contact with the
local population is therefore unavoidable.”
It is clear that planning cannot start with the start of construction of the project but the re-
quirements of function, use, design and scheduling all have to considered and coordinated
during the preliminary design phase. Above all the consideration of cost-effectiveness has
to be carried out in relation to the required deadlines, which could lead to limitations for
some construction processes. According to L. Wichter [255], the planning period before
the construction of an inner-city construction project is about 10 to even 20 years, with six
to ten years having to be included for the construction measure itself, depending on the
extent and difficulty. The legal basis for construction in Germany is provided by:

- The Zoning plan or planning approval (road tunnel).
- The planning approval (rail tunnel).
Town development plan . The town development plan provides the legal framework for
the regulation of town planning and is the basis for the issue of building approvals [244].
The town development plan is laid down and defined in Germany in the federal building
law, § 8:
1. The town development plan contains the legal provisions for the regulation of town
planning. It provides the basis for further measures necessary for the implementation
of this law.
2. Town development plans are developed from zoning plans.
§ 9 of the federal building law regulates the content of the land development plan.
Planning decision . The planning decision is an administrative document and ends the
planning process. The planning decision has the following preferential effects [244]:
- Concentration effect (the numerous legal matters of public administration are collected
in one document and regulated, no further approvals are necessary).
- Configuration effect (decision cannot be appealed).
- Basis for compulsory purchase (claiming property of third parties).

In the course of the planning process, the construction process in the relevant construction
sections is also defined, which makes it clear for the citizens whether, for example, a cut-
and-cover tunnel or a mined tunnel will be built, or where additional measures like wells
or cut-off walls will be installed. A summary of public participation in the various phases
of design and planning can be seen in Table 7-1.