Restoration and concrete repair in the “ Carmelit “ Tunnels in Haifa
Project Description
A challenging logistical project of rehabilitating the Carmelit tunnel in Haifa following fire damage
The Carmelit light rail was built by the French company Dunkirk in 1953, although the idea had been proposed by Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl in his book Altneuiland. Only after two decades of British and Israeli planning did the project begin to develop. In 1959, the Carmelit was inaugurated in the presence of Haifa’s legendary mayor Abba Khushi.
In 2017, a fire broke out, causing the line t shut down, and it was decided to embark on a complex project to rehabilitate and restore the facility. As part of the project, our company was in charge of rehabilitating concrete that was damaged by the great heat at the center of the fire.
As Haifa residents, the the Reshef Group is proud to have taken part in such a vital project to Haifa residents and for the development of the vibrant lower city.
- Constructor:Reshef Group
- Entrepreneur:Haifa Carmelit
- Planner:Yuval Wasserman, Engineer
- Supervisor:CFD Engineering
- Length:16 months -- not yet delivered
- Client:Haifa Carmelit (Haifa Municipality)
Challenges
- Entry of heavy machinery inside the Paris Square station area
- Work along the Carmelit Tunnel from Paris Square to Carmel Center, requiring assembly of custom scaffolds on the rail
- Meeting tight deadlines to prevent delaying the introduction of railcars
- Re-manufacture of prefabricated slabs to hold the Paris Square floor which had to be opened to allow the introduction of the new railcars.
Steps
- Chipping and partial deconstruction of loose and sooty concrete layers
- Excavation and demolition of support columns and execution of full restoration
- Concrete placement of support columns according to the structural engineer’s blueprints
- Executing crystal sealing to rock in drain pools
- Building a new ceiling by placing non-shrinking polymeric concrete