Rheinufertunnel

The tunnel was built using the cut-and-cover method. It lies lower than the surrounding terrain and was covered with soil after completion. Strictly speaking, it is therefore not a tunnel but a covered cut. Construction took more than three years. The Rheingarten was laid out on the area above the structure and opened on 17 August 1984. It connects the Altstadt with the Rhine promenade. Between September and November 2006, parts of the tunnel were renovated.

Because of its low position close to the Rhine, the tunnel is equipped with floodgates. It lacks sufficient protection against buoyancy and is considered a vulnerable structure. To avoid structural damage, it would have to be flooded once the water level reaches 10.70 meters. To spare the effort of such flooding, the protective wall was placed behind the tunnel, roughly in line with its landward wall. During high water, the area above the tunnel is flooded to secure it against uplift. This is easily possible because there are no structures or roads worth protecting there, only the Rheingarten with the riverside promenade.

According to press reports, the “Masterplan Innenstadt Köln” of December 2008 advocated extending the tunnel to the Rheinauhafen. To this end, the Rheinuferstraße is to be lowered gradually over about 1.5 kilometers further south as far as the Ubierring. The aim is to connect the entire Südstadt more closely to the Rhine and to improve the quality of life and leisure in the neighborhoods there.