World of PORR 167/2015 PORR Projects Redesign of Mariahilferstraße pedestrian zone Vienna's largest pedestrian zone was given a new face Johannes Blieweis Shared concrete slabs of various formats from space foot 20/8/40 to 40/8/60. Introduction paths In October 2013, Vienna's Mariahilferstraße was declared a Shared concrete stones 20/10/30 shared space between Getreidemarkt and Westbahnhof train space road station and a pedestrian zone between Andreasgasse and surface Stiftgasse in the framework of a 7-month test phase. Pedestrian granite slabs of different formats and types: zone Syenit from Hartberg, Herschenberg and Immediately after a survey had been held among the Gebharts residents of the 6th and 7th district in March 2014, a call for formats from 32/14/32 to 32/14/60 tenders was issued for structural redesign measures. A bidder consortium under the technical lead management of TEERAG ASDAG AG was able to land the redesign contract in April 2014. Pedestrian zone granite paving Image: Franz Groyer Handicapped accessibility at all crossings, branches and entrances was consistently implemented under Bundesländerplatz consideration of the framework conditions. Image: Bureau B+B / Ricky Rijkenberg A continuously conceptualised tactile paving system was installed. Mariahilferstraße's development into a highly frequented Reduced signposting to maximise the traffic space's clarity shopping street right on the border dividing Vienna's 6th and and orderliness. 7th districts required a reorganisation of the traffic concept. Its Street furniture elements to upgrade the traffic space. excellent connection to the public transport network led to a "Schanigarten" (pavement café) concept to guide significant rise in pedestrians. Bicycle traffic likewise saw a pedestrian traffic in an unimpeded way along the shop noticeable increase. The importance of motorised private fronts. transport in the shopping street, on the other hand, fell into a Improved lighting concept in the pedestrian traffic areas. steady decline. One had to react to the fact that the road space had been pushed to the limits of its capacity regarding pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Changes to the road user structure formed the starting point for the considerations regarding the traffic space's complete reorganisation. The redesign's key points Traffic calming measures regarding motorised private transport through the establishment of a pedestrian zone between Andreasgasse and Kirchengasse as well as a shared space between Gürtel ring road and Andreasgasse and between Kirchengasse and Getreidemarkt. Support of the new traffic concept by means of design Street furniture elements solutions. The choice of materials used for surface design Image: Bureau B+B / Ricky Rijkenberg supports the visual perception of the different traffic areas. Page 1 World of PORR 167/2015 PORR Projects Structural details Construction progress The redesign concept stipulated the reuse of as many of the Mariahilferstraße was divided into two construction sections: existing concrete and granite paving slabs as possible. For 1.) One section ran from Kaiserstraße to Kirchengasse. this purpose, the paving slabs were carefully removed and 2.) The other extended between Kirchengasse and cleaned. Prior to being transported to a storage area that had Getreidemarkt. been created in the construction area, the slabs were sorted by format, stacked on pallets and foiled. The redesign of the section from Kaiserstraße to Kirchengasse began in May 2014. In order to ensure Only new granite slabs 14cm thick were used in the unimpeded delivery vehicle access to the local businesses, pedestrian zone between Andreasgasse and Kirchgasse. The work was only performed at every second block at a time. concrete slabs extracted in this area were used to create the Apart from a few exceptions, the development sites were pavement surface in the shared spaces. Due to the concrete closed to private transport. The area between the slabs' good condition and the team's careful approach, a re- development sites was utilised employing a large-scale traffic utilisation ratio of approx. 70% was achieved in the re- concept in order to keep Mariahilferstraße accessible for installation process. drivers, regardless whether they were residents or visitors. The availability of access and exit possibilities for fire engines needed to be guaranteed in all areas and at all times. A corridor 3.5m wide was kept free allowing access to every structure on Mariahilferstraße in case of emergencies. Guaranteeing the safety of pedestrians on such a highly frequented shopping street, on the one hand, and providing quick access for emergency vehicles, on the other hand, posed great challenges. All workers on the construction site had to handle their equipment with utmost care to master this feat. Lorries, wheel loaders and dumpers needed to be accompanied by banksmen at all times, excavators and self- propelled laying machines had to be operated very cautiously to minimise the endangerment of pedestrian traffic. Development site Bundesländerplatz/pedestrian zone Image: Franz Groyer We owe it to the diligence of the more than 100-strong construction site team that, despite the vast number of work The shared spaces' road surface was built using new hours, not a single accident connected to their work was concrete slabs 10cm thick. Due to their thickness, the existing reported. slabs were not suited to withstand the traffic loads in this area. The first half of this first construction section could be completed as early as August 2014. Traffic was redirected to Accommodating for its extensive use, bus line 13A's new the newly created areas, pedestrians and bicycle riders could route running from Capistrangasse to Kirchengasse was for the first time enjoy the benefits of the new, barrier-free created using a dedicated construction. Large, 18cm thick Mariahilferstraße. granite stones of the format 20/30 were used there. This first major step significantly increased the acceptance of All paved surfaces were built by means of the unbound this project and the corresponding construction work. In construction method, whereby the drivable areas were practice, passers-by, residents and the local business people equipped with a base layer made from paving drain concrete. liked the new Mariahilferstraße. We noticed, for instance, a clear shift in the content of the talks we had to hold on Standard build-up location. Whereas previously, the talks had been dominated Pedestrian zone 14cm granite paving slabs by construction site emissions and scepticism towards the 3cm sand bed project, they were now characterised by the pedestrian zone's 20cm paving drain concrete beautiful granite surface, its attractive street furniture and the Shared space pavement 8cm concrete paving slabs newly gained space for pedestrians and bicycle riders. We 3cm sand bed also saw a significant increase in the interest passers-by partially 20cm paving drain concrete showed in the work steps that were required to create this new paved surface. Shared space road 10cm composite concrete slabs surface 3cm sand bed We employed almost all the machines available on the market 20cm paving drain concrete to lay the paving slabs: from manual laying by means of slab Shared space pavement 18cm granite paving grippers to manually operated laying units with vacuum cups 3cm sand bed (running on petrol or batteries) to stationary and self- 30cm paving drain concrete propelled laying units. It is thus not Page 2 World of PORR 167/2015 PORR Projects surprising that we attracted a large number of technically interested repeat visitors of all ages in the course of the construction time. Manual paving by means of vacuum cups Image: Franz Groyer Mechanical paving by means of vacuum cups Image: Franz Groyer The first construction section could be completed in November 2014, just in time for the start of the Christmas season which is of high importance to shopping streets. The redesign of Mariahilferstraße from Gürtel ring road to Kirchengasse had been completed. The shared space between Gürtel ring road and Andreasgasse was taken into operation and convinced with trouble-free traffic handling. In February 2015, the team started tackling the shared space's remaining part extending between Kirchengasse and Getreidemarkt. Despite tremendous time pressure, this section could also be completed on schedule in July 2015. Project data Construction time 11 months Total area 42,000m² Block paving blocks 22,000m² Granite paving blocks 20,000m² Paving drain concrete 6,000m³ Page 3.