The BERNARD Gruppe in consortium with ILF has been commissioned with the design of the upgrade of the Mühlau springs. The Mühlau springs, which are located at 1,140 meters above sea level in the Nordkette mountain range have been supplying approximately 90 percent of the drinking water needs of the city of Innsbruck since 1953. In order to meet increasing levels of drinking water consumption also in the future, Innsbruck municipal utilities (IKB) is now being rehabilitated and extended the gallery system.
According to the Innsbruck municipal utilities, the growing population will increase the demand for water by around 34 percent over the next 50 years. For this reason, the Mühlau springs are now being extended. Around 1,000 meters of new tunnels will be built. A new spring adit will provide additional drinking water from the Alpine Muschelkalk, and a new bypass adit will improve the discharge of drinking water from the existing Rum adit.
Around 40,000 boreholes will be required for blasting the new adit. Blasting will be performed on an ongoing basis starting in spring and continuing through fall 2022. The scheduled end of work on the gallery is 2024.
Matthias Ruetz, BERNARD Gruppe
