Road in a box: The Hösbach autobahn enclosure

When is a tunnel not a tunnel? This is a big concrete box around a highway that brought peace to local residents, annoyed the Taxpayers' Federation, and triggered at least two epileptic fits.
Music:
"Hot Swing"
by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com/
Creative Commons Attribution licence
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[@rewboss]

Physicists, electrical engineers, etc. of KZbin: Yes, I meant "gigawatt-hours". It's been 35 years since I was last in a physics class, and I mindlessly quoted from a news article that said "17 million kilowatts". Thanks to all those who have already pointed this out to me. :)

[@RoyvanLierop]

Watt is Joule/second so Watt-hour is J/s * hours -> 3600 * Joule. Watt is the flow of Joules over time and Watt-hour is the counting of the Joules.

[@MikeBova1]

All you need is 121 gigawatts to go back in time I saw it in a movie once

[@danielcarroll3358]

I had to go to the comments to see how long it took. Physicist and Electrical Engineer here. :)

[@km5405]

i was about to write a reply ; )

[@leerman22]

Over 7 years, is that a lot? My math says it's only 277KW continuous so compensate for Germany's capacity factor ~10% means ~2.77MW installed capacity.

[@wohlhabendermanager]

Sounds like one of Tom Scott's AI generated video titles: "The tunnel that refuses to be a tunnel"

[@stefans4562]

this.

[@nathan87]

Sounds like one of Tom Scott's completely AI generated videos. Included the visuals. This actually doesn't exist. At all.

[@andie_pants]

OMG you're right... it does! 🤣

[@gui18bif]

Why cant we enjoy smaller channels withoht mentioning that bastard

[@deusexaethera]

I had the exact same thought.

[@Vaati1992]

This would also make a great Tom Scott video xD

[@JanHouben]

Collaboration coming?

[@sonkeschluter3654]

Just what i was thinking

[@ThePixel1983]

Did his AI propose this title? - *frames title with hands* "The tunnel without a mountain"

[@holger_p]

Tom Scott is travelling to such locations. Rewboss ist more a neighborhood reporter, accidently came to live there.

[@ThePixel1983]

@@holger_p True.

[@mgsp5871]

In 20m distance the noise is the same, but in 200m the open system is louder. Acoustics are tricky

[@wohlhabendermanager]

The open system can even make it LOUDER at certain distances and heights, because the sound waves are reflected off the walls.

[@kaymish6178]

Yeah in my city there has been this issue with new sound barriers along the southern motorway expansion. There use to be a thick area with trees and bushes planted to absorb the sound but the council removed them to make 2 extra lanes on each side and replaced the trees with concrete sound barriers, they were better for the people right up against the barriers but much worse for everyone else.

[@gregor-samsa]

@@wohlhabendermanager that's right an can be heard near the Bergstrasse between Heidelberg and Weinheim.. its the same that 2nd and 3rd floor are loudest next to.a.street. not ground floor.!

[@adamabele785]

The real trouble is at night and the heavy traffic that you can hear even at a greater distance. Long distance freight prefers the hours of the night and A3 is one of the roads with endless rolling trucks one after another over 1000 km. I am sure the people living in those places would not give it away for money.

[@mgsp5871]

@@kaymish6178 according to my acoustic expert, trees and bushes shield next to nothing

[@elonmush4793]

Since we already have the tunnel, why not just put a mountain on top of it?

[@ca9603]

Thanks for this laugh 😅😂.......

[@tobyk.4911]

glass windows, solar panels, and air ventilation openings... this is not built for being fully covered

[@fie1329]

But... What about the solar panels? Ah! Put them on the mountain side to raise efficiency and add a wind turbine on top! That sounds like a nice project for the future of Hösbach :D

[@demioxdtouring]

nah, just put a race track on it

[@mrt1r]

A solution to a problem that wasn't a problem created as a solution to a problem that wasn't a problem. I like it.

[@nTubeVideoChannel]

It's wrong, that brown signs are only used for tourist attractions. In Germany, brown signs are also used for rivers and canals or long bridges and tunnels.

[@olmkiujnb]

In Germany rivers, canals, longs bridges and tunnels are tourist destinations ;)

[@BrosBrothersLP]

yes because we actually see nature as worth showing off

[@schwig44]

We have brown signs for those things too. For example there's a bunch that mark out the old route of the Erie Canal. I've also seen them denote "Wildlife Corridors" along the sides of highways and such

[@wiedapp]

Let's exchange the word attractions for the word information. At least in the practical sense that works out.

[@oli-pr1xl]

These signs are often green with yellow writing too and not only brown.

[@nicolasblume1046]

"the tunnel without a mountain"... The Dutch be like: Yeah, isn't that normal?

[@Aelsenaer]

We also have (what we call) landtunnels. The A2 landtunnel in Maastricht and also the A2 landtunnel in Utrecht are great examples. Technical it is the same as the tunnel as seen in the clip above. Only they have been lowered into the ground with public parks on top.

[@PiousMoltar]

England and France: "Mountain? Pfft we tunnelled under the sea!"

[@quickwimnl]

@@Aelsenaer The tunnel near Utrecht isn't lowered. But it has a residential area above it.

[@quickwimnl]

@@PiousMoltar the Dutch: "We can't afford a tunnel under the sea. Let's move the sea.

[@Aelsenaer]

@@quickwimnl you're right, the surrounding ground level has been raised. Building on top of a tunnel is unusual. Buildings are generally considered too heavy. I am now interested in the structural solutions, taking into account the buildings on top.

[@volkergrimm3815]

In Germany we also have Bridges without streets. They are build that wild animals can cross the Highways without problems

[@kaikobold7016]

And there are also bridges which are called "so da Brücke". translates to "just there bridge" which are standing somewhere. Which are not for animals. They where supposed to be connected to a road but the road was never built.

[@laurencefraser]

Huh. First time I've heard of it being done that way around. Usually you see/hear about underpasses rather than bridges for animals.

[@volkergrimm3815]

This bridges don't looks like bridges for cars. This are big areas with trees and vegetation wich crosses the higways. In some areas you can not go under the street.

[@Sp4mMe]

Wild- or Grünbrücken. They look more like tunnels; if you don't know those are artificial grounds above artificial structures you'd think they just tunneled through some inconvenient bit of landscape. There's waaaaaay too few around right now and they are (comparatively) not even that expensive, so hopefully they'll keep adding them over the years.

[@NicolaW72]

@@kaikobold7016 Indeed.

[@fireflyfireworks668]

To be fair, the engineers didn't anticipated frequent accidents and fires, but the addition of permanent barriers and signalling really is just a precaution taken at almost every section of street (not necessarily Autobahn-only) where accidents may have catastrophic outcomes. You'll find them at almost every (Autobahn) tunnel longer than about 100m, as it is safer and faster in case of emergency, rather than having workers putting up mobile barriers, and in the meantime having vehicles still driving into an enclosed space filling with toxic gases and smoke etc. Side note: Enclosures longer than 400m are legally regarded as tunnels and therefore need the emergency installations just as them.

[@seraphina985]

I mean they essentially are for all practical purposes and especially when it comes to things like fire where they are still horizontal chimneys that will redirect heat and smoke towards other people and fuel laden vehicles.

[@timderks5960]

Exactly, these kinds of things are just normal precautions in the EU, because we know that moving cars in enclosed spaces can be very dangerous.

[@vophatechnicus]

In fact regarding RABT and EABT80/100 every tunnel over 80m is considered a tunnel. ;)

[@Seegalgalguntijak]

In addition to all this, it's Solar friggin' Roadways done right - at last!

[@divingdave2945]

Instead of being expensive and not functional, it is expensive and functional.

[@theuncalledfor]

@@divingdave2945 Well, perhaps if solar is the point rather than a nice addition, it would be a good idea to use a... cheaper structure.

[@otm646]

90 million euro? And this is doing it right? You sure you don't want to revise that statement?

[@theuncalledfor]

@@otm646 Don't forget that solar is not the point of this structure. It's a noise barrier. That's what they paid 90 million for.

[@fie1329]

@@theuncalledfor They also paid part of the 90 million to make the read wider. The A3 was a 4 lane Autobahn with two lanes in each direction which basically meant that you would have traffic jams all the time. They decided to upgrade to 6 lanes which resulted in much less jams and in the process of upgrading they needed a solution to protect the nearby residentials from the additional noise. The solution they found is in the Video. And the later added solar panels just make the structure, that was there anyways, much more usefull. The panels even pay a bit for the structures maintenance.

[@holger_p]

Well recherched documentation. You just forgot about the speed limit, it's done for noise reduction and is obligatory in a tunnel anway. So you have to slow down from your 250 to 100km/h.

[@Nathan-dk4mv]

Driving 250 in that traffic would be crazy anyways. Yeah: You would be allowed to do it, but that doesn´t means you should... 120-130 km/h is absolutely enough there.

[@holger_p]

@@Nathan-dk4mv People are not rational, especially not people in cars. If you don't prohibit it, a few percent will do it, and be loud.

[@TremereTT]

@@Nathan-dk4mv It all depends on the amount of assistent systems in your car. In my expirience every generation of cars did increase my comfortable travel speed by 30 to 50 km/h. Polo classic 110 km/h no assisted steering , no ABS ...nothing...just brake servo as all cars have. Seat Toledo 140 km/h , ABS only VW Passat 3BG 1.8T 160 km/h , ABS + ESP, also the car handles like it's glued to the street. VW Passat B7 200 km/h , ABS+ESP+LANE-Assist, Collision Avvoidance (Automatic breaking) &c... The save travelspeed increased with everygeneration of car I drove. And I allways drove cars that are 10 years or more behind the current technology. I wonder what a production new car will add in safety systems....I allready caught that Electric cars will be basically all about driving below the recomendet speed....to increase the range...

[@rotsteinkatze3267]

You mean from lightspeed. On German Highways the Speedlimit is often Lightspeed. (And If you would break this Limit you get a after you Named Physics award, but we have no cases to prove this)

[@rotsteinkatze3267]

@@Nathan-dk4mv Yes it would be Crazy. You are allowed to Drive faster Then Light. (At least the goverment allows it)

[@phiilo]

You better take a look at what is happening at the A7 next to Hamburg(Germany) right now. They enclosures being built there currently, are on a different scale. They will be strong enough to make room for urban housing on top of them. when finished, it will be close to 4KM long.

[@mattscudder1975]

Someone did a clip about the sound walls they put up along motorways and how they lower the sound for people living right next to motorway but increase it for those living half a mile or more from the motorway. I wouldn’t mind knowing if this box thing helps with that problem, because if it does then I’d say it was money well spent.

[@civishamburgum1234]

Tunnels do not nessecarily cause more accidents, but due to the restricted space and lack of ventilation emergency response is limited. An accident requires at least one whole side of the tunnel to be closed, for the rescueservice to efeectivly operate. If a fire deveolopes the heat tends to rise so fast in the tunnel, that acces to the firesite by firemen gets impossible pretty fast, so most of the tiome, they have to wait for the fire to burn out.

[@almerindaromeira8352]

Naja, aber wenn du so einen Deckel baust, hast du die Chance zu bestimmen was für eine Feuerschutzanlage du hast. Es wäre überhaupt nicht schwierig z.B Wassereinspeisungsanschlüsse von draußen einzubauen für die Feuerwehr oder auch eine Sprinklerleitung. Das hilft massiv, da das zerstäubtes Wasser richtig viel Energie aus dem Feuer entzieht.

[@unitrader403]

@@almerindaromeira8352 egal wie gut die sprinkleranlagen sind, es ist trotzdem wichtig schnell und effizient zu verhindern dass noch mehr leute in einen Tunnel rein fahren, in dem es brennt oder der durch einen unfall komplett blockiert ist

[@almerindaromeira8352]

@@unitrader403 ich wollte nur die Vorteile dieser Bauweise gegenüber einem echten Tunnel behaupten.

[@albussr1589]

Sagt die Stadt mit dem Elbtunnel

[@almerindaromeira8352]

@@albussr1589 dadurch müssten wir die Berufsfeuerwehr umrüsten. Neue Wache, neue Fahrzeuge... Aber ein Tunnel kommt eh nie billig oder?

[@friddevonfrankenstein]

Hamburg is currently building the "Hamburger Deckel" (Hamburg Lid). That would be a really interesting topic for a video as well. At least so far it looks like an enclosure done correctly.

[@eisikater1584]

"the tunnel without a mountain", how amazing is that? "If we can't blast a hole through a rock, we build the rock instead." Looks like a good tourist destination to me.

[@jamesalles139]

I might even put it on my _Bucket List_ ...or *spoon list* , as it were

[@zwojack7285]

The City of Hamburg did the same thing recently

[@thedoublek4816]

@@Anson_AKB as far as I know, nobody wants to rent an apartment there, understandable 😅

[@Ashh602]

@@thedoublek4816 looks nice enough

[@Anson_AKB]

@@thedoublek4816 from the outside, (imho) the apartments look quite nice with terrace, etc, but on the inside it looks more like the usual _Wohnsilos_ (people storage buildings :-) with pretty naked long concrete corridors etc, with the only difference that these silos are built horizontally instead of vertically. i think that (at least for all appartments not directly above the tunnel) more than the Autobahn this fact makes people not want to live there ...

[@robhunt8682]

I went to Google to check this out on Street View then I remembered that nearly all of Germany isn't covered on Street View! :(

[@uncinarynin]

3:07 "and in their first seven years generated 17 gigawatts of electricity" - Watt is a unit of power, not of energy. Do you mean gigawatt-hours?

[@rewboss]

Possibly. I quoted exactly from a news article and didn't stop to think about that one.

[@JanHouben]

@@rewboss the newspapers' get these things wrong all of the time. Very annoying for engineers... 😅

[@phazonlord0098]

I don't blame him, everybody forgets that and only engineers remember it.

[@uncinarynin]

@@rewboss 2600 kW is the maximum power as can be found in Wikipedia and a Main-Echo article they quote (which, to read, annoyingly needs a google login and your agreement to them spamming you with mail). In the most ideal case (12 hours of full sunshine per day) that would amount to almost 80 GWh in seven years so the figure is plausible.

[@jamesalles139]

it does not matter if you pronounce it like Jigalo

[@SpicyFiur]

The Brown shields are indeed for Tourists Attractions or rather - hey here's something interesting or historical like a river or a museum nearby.

[@Arsenic71]

"...but at least it was finished on time." Touché 😁👍

[@flomoose7315]

Guys from the BER couldn't say that😬🥲

[@dennisshaykevich3451]

1:56 "The German Tax Payers Federation, A pressure group campaigning for small government and lower taxes..." TIL that Germany has Libertarians too.

[@BeryAb]

Well, we also have the FDP, who are all about tax cuts and civil liberties.

[@Galland_]

"TIL that Germany has Libertarians too." yes and they all know one another on a first name basis..

[@StravosRacing]

I use this tunnel every day over the last year...and every single time I had this question. Now I know! Danke!

[@boombl443]

As a Almost local it’s funny to see. Never would even imagine that I’ll ever watch a video about that enclosure. Passed through at least 150 times

[@untruelie2640]

"That's no tunnel. It's a space station."

[@seneca983]

That thing would look a lot prettier if they buried it and put a lawn, or some other vegetation, on top of it.

[@tizi2729]

Well it wouldn’t be practical since there are houses and a bike path almost directly at the tunnel on one side, on the other side there is the Aschaff (a small river). At the intersection where the Barriers where shown there is actually a hill, but I don’t know if it is natural or not. Anyway, while it does look ugly on camera and I would of course prefer to have green space instead of a concrete tunnel, it doesn’t look bad in person, I actually never thought about the look, for me (and probably a lot of other locals) it’s just like concrete houses in the city, it’s not pretty, but it isn’t that ugly either.

[@seneca983]

@@tizi2729 I personally find bare concrete to usually be very ugly. Even just painting it makes it look a lot better. Maybe they could consider painting this concrete box too. (Of course, this is just my personal taste; other people may have different preferences.)

[@albussr1589]

That´s what Hamburg is planning on doing

[@IwieIch123]

Ich freue mich sehr darauf, wenn die Autobahnüberdachung der A7 in Hamburg fertig ist!

[@divingdave2945]

Weil du kein Bock auf Stau hast oder weil du da wohnst?

[@kkon5ti]

Und dann sogar mit Flüsterasphalt!

[@IwieIch123]

@@divingdave2945 vor allem wegen dem Stau

[@Herzschreiber]

@@kkon5ti Der ziemlich schnell kaputt geht. Ja er ist leise. Aber er hält nicht lange. Wo ich wohne wurde entlang einer Schnellstrasse die durch einen Ort führt welcher angeschafft. Und nur ein paar Jahre später darf man wegen Strassenschäden dort nicht mehr 120 kmh fahren (wie zuvor und überall sonst auf dieser Straße), sondern 80kmh. Das Schild sagt "wegen Straßenschäden".

[@kkon5ti]

@@Herzschreiber doof

[@DaWalkDude]

Between cars with no mufflers, engine braking trucks, and delivery motorcycles, even the simpler wall here would be a dream come true The German folk sure visited Mexico when they all thought of this!!

[@deusexaethera]

Sometimes you just have to try an idea to see how well it works in real life. This one probably won't be repeated, but that's too bad, because damn it's quiet.

[@PixelSchmiede]

I went to school in Hösbach :D Was pretty surprised to see this video on my KZbin front page

[@RogueNationVideos]

ok, so here's the deal: we can cut the sound, but we have to build the chernobyl sarcophagus next to your house

[@ThePixel1983]

Thanks for introducing the Bund der Steuerzahler this way! ❤️

[@KyleKartan87]

Yeah, about that taxpayers federation: Nobody in their right mind takes them serously in Germany. They are a union of big buisnesses and their chairman is good freinds with the worst comedian in Germany.

[@ZontarDow]

It's easy to see why that would confuse foreigners, here in the English speaking world big business love taxes and over-regulation because it kills small businesses that would otherwise risk usurping them due to the Conglomerate Discount and the inherent greater flexibility and efficiencies smaller companies have at operating over larger ones. It's the reason why behind every leftist group in the English speaking world is a long list of mega corporations, and the only reason why left wing political parties can survive since, if they couldn't outspend right wing ones, they'd never survive. Germany really is a different place from us.

[@Tiney314]

I live there, in Hösbach, around 200m away from the highway. The enclosure is definitely worth it. It is beautifully silent, as if the highway isn't even there.

[@TheLemonBird]

Most of these through city highways should be under ground. The good old fashioned dig and bury. This reduces noise and removes these great wall of china -esque highways!

[@necrionos]

there is one thing that a wall cant provide: long distance noise protection. noise are waves and they are able to bend around objects. so directly behind a wall you are protected from direct noise. you can hear only what the wall itself lets through. a thick and high enough wall should provide the same noise protection as a tunnel if you are right next to it. but like 50 or 100 meters away you may experience autobahn noise as loud as if there were no wall. of course at 100m+ distance the noise is naturally diminished and may be below regulations. but a tunnel should remove the noise completely at this distance. and about the rest, well if there is one party ruling for a couple of decades on all levels, decisions tend to be made based on personal favors and not on what makes practical sense. coughtcorruptioncought

[@heysemberthkingdom-brunel5041]

So that would mean Bavaria (the state with one party ruling for the longest uninterrupted time) would be the most corrupt state...

[@holger_p]

@@heysemberthkingdom-brunel5041 Right , populism is not necessarily corruption. They just use the gap between what feels good and what is good. For people who live in fresh air, keeping the air clean raises no positive feelings any more.

[@MrMinolta]

Mein täglicher Arbeitsweg, zur der ich eine Hassliebe verbinde ;). Grüße aus dem Kahlgrund.

[@ChristianFredrix]

Interestingly there's a tunnel just across the German border in NL called King Willem-Alexander Tunnel. It's used to be a highway through a city. They've dug it out, placed a double decker highway in it and burried the 'box' underground. Turned the roof into a park. It's 2.3km long. And as far as I know there's no controversy (except maybe the costs, that's always a controversy)... rijkswaterstaat.nl/wegen/wegenoverzicht/a2/koning-willem-alexandertunnel-a2-n2

[@freezombie]

There's another way in which a box may be much better than a wall: it also works if you're further away, outside the "shadow" of the wall: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2HRkn9umq-ggqM

[@rewboss]

I did consider quoting exactly that video, but honestly if the effect was there, I didn't notice it.

[@namewarvergeben]

I wish they could do that with all highways. I live a kilometer away from one and its still loud as hell. It also cuts right through what would otherwise be a quite beautiful and peaceful bit of nature.

[@MrOlivm]

Sounds diffracts over sound walls, and makes areas further away much louder than before

[@dappergander]

During many Canadian winters, I've often wished the highway was located in a box.

[@Kishanth.J]

This honestly doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

[@MiDaMenSan]

Just remembered a solution to the Autobahn-noise-problem in Berlin I've heard about. The Autobahnüberbauung Schlangenbader Straße may not be nice, but it solves the noise Problem and the residents have still a nice view. In all honesty, thank you very much for the video and all your great content. I really enjoy coming back to your channel and watching the latest videos. Beste Grüße aus der Wetterau

[@dasposeidon]

KZbin stop recommending this Video to me. I have already seen it and live literally next to it

[@petrfedor1851]

They wanna build something kinda similiar in Prague on Spořilovská street. It´s highway connectinc D1 and South Conjunction highway. It´s right in middle of city separating two parts of city, Spořilov and Záběhlice. There is one important difference: It will be constructed as actuall tunel with park, sport areal and maybe even tram line over the road.

[@JamesJansson]

Man who travels specifically to see a highway in a box questions whether it deserves a tourist attraction sign. From this person who watched a whole youtube video about it, I say "Yes!"

[@unconventionalideas5683]

It's really close to where he lives, as he lives just outside of Aschaffenburg, not far from where the box is located.

[@ohwhye]

Brown signs for tourist info in Australia too! I wonder if other parts use brown for tourist stuff…

[@colinvos7304]

Highway: *vibin* People: *See highway, live next to it* Highway: *makes the same amount of noise as before* People: *get annoyed, demand a solution*

[@nlpnt]

I think those villages were there before the autobahn.

[@YPOC]

Only a few weeks ago I travelled through there and was wondering what its purpose was. Instead of googling that I found out that Aschaffenburg is named after the Aschaff, and many other tiny towns I've never even heard of! Strange day! :D

[@falklumo]

It was quite a pain during all the years it was being built. Glad it‘s finished. Normally, real tunnels are dig underground for that purpose. Like A46 which goes underneath Düsseldorf University campus.

[@Hamring]

Great video! :) In Norway there is a similar piece of problematic infrastructure. Like to the autobahn enclosure, it does its job well. But also similar to the ab enclosure, its an enclosed road (but an actual tunnel this time), there are electronic signs permanently displaying its operational status which i wonder why? Oh yeah right because its very often closed. To save length (and money i guess), they built it far too steep for its big traffic load, so there were some fires caused by people overheating their brakes. So now its got lowered speed limit, obnoxious "low gear" and "engine brake" signs, painted speed bumpy stripey things and average speed measuring speed cameras. Its even got its own unofficial website. The detours are also looong and horrible and *sigh* ... Oh but hey its got cool light features i guess. If anyone is interested, its an undersea tunnel named "Oslofjordtunnelen" and i am actually quite fascinated by the engineering behind it and undersea tunneling in general. I read about some challenges they had to overcome during construction and it blows me away that humans are actually able to tunnel under a fjord and i just casually drive through (in low gear)

[@christopherestewart]

Dig the roadway down, use the soil to make berms, and plant the berms with lots of vegetation and trees to absorb the sound.

[@Astrofrank]

Drove through it yesterday afternoon, but that looks better at night.

[@NicolaW72]

...and there´s a way to "Wenighösbach" = "not much Hösbach"- 3 km distance... :-)

[@jochkai123]

Ich wohne dort

[@dervideoonkel6794]

Das "Besucherzentrum" ist doch ganz klar der Busbahnhof am Aschaffenburger Hbf: Für knapp 10€ kann man sich von hier aus den ganzen Tag lang durch diese "touristische Sehenswürdigkeit" kutschieren lassen, von einer Endhaltestelle der Linie 33 zur anderen immer hin und her :O)

[@NicolaW72]

:-)))

[@javiskii]

Another advantage of fully covering the road is the sound further away... There's an effect that sound deadening walls can have, in which the sound is greatly muffled right next to the wall, but the noise that passes overhead ends up landing further away and increasing the noise there, I guess the tunnel might help with that

[@javiskii]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2HRkn9umq-ggqM here's a quick video that explains it

[@jonas1015119]

maybe Paris could learn from the opaque windows, some of the underground highways through the city also have terrible strobing effects

[@downhilltwofour0082]

Always interesting tours along with excellent narration! Thank you.

[@AFAndersen]

Sounds like a terrible idea to have a concrete box out in the open. In my town, they took a kilometer of the E18 road that went straight through a neighbourhood and lowered it like 15 meters, built a tunnel around it and made a greenspace on top.

[@nicolasblume1046]

There's a comparable one at Köln Lövenich

[@pjotrtje0NL]

Utrecht has a tunnel without a mountain or a river as well: the A2 running from N to S (or from S to N, depending on your preference and/or direction of driving ;-)).

[@MonicaTheMad]

I've never heard of such a thing. Thanks for telling us about it! It's fascinating.

[@SsjaonT]

Me reading the title: "oh that's like that tunnel near my hometown... Wait that is that exact tunnel"

[@FirstLast-ve6jg]

A very underated country is the Netherlands. I love the cycling philosophy there too.

[@talibjalloh928]

Netherlands is not underrated. It's a small country and the Dutch are inherently humbled. The Netherlands has one of the best infrastructure you could find in the world...

[@xxgodofnoobsxx]

this was recommended to me... i live 20km away from there XD

[@antlereddruid8359]

I grew up in Aschaffenburg and had a lot of friends in Goldbach and Hösbach, so it's interesting to see that this structure I am very much used to is seen as such an interesting thing in general

[@Huskie]

you have to remember, the further away from the wall, it will be louder because the sound diffracts. then, the full enclosure is far superior.

[@habi0187]

The not confirmed story behind the enclosure is that a quite powerful local politician ( Landrat ) had his house very close to the Autobahn and he threatened to block the restructuring of the Autobahn for years and decades if there is not a solution found that keeps the noice away. So at the end it was pure mathematics because a ten years delay would at the end have costed much more than the 90 million Euro.

[@EmpressSock]

And a decade later, Hamburg, one of the three biggest German cities, copies exactly this, on a much bigger scale, with the A7, a similiarly important Autobahn, going from Denmark, all the way south, to, you guessed it, Austria! Yay! having driven through both, the Hösbach tunnel, and the (construction) of the Hamburg one, i can say they're definitly interesting, and seem to make an amazing job. I'd have liked it a bit more if they tried making it greener above, or at least, you know, hid the side of the walls a bit better. but it's probably difficult for access from those sides... Other interesting projects are the many planned (and partly already constructed) "green bridges" on the A7 between Kassel and Hannover. (dont know the exact section, sorry) and also, the A66 tunnel near Fulda, which was also just constructed slightly underground, as to not obstruct the landscape too much, prevent noise pollution. All very interesting construction projects for sure

[@kacperwoch4368]

Is it just me or this it a prime example of German overengineering?

[@mgsp5871]

No, we do this in Austria too. Only we make a ditch and put a roof on it. Then, people build tennis courts on top so it doesn't look so ugly.

[@kacperwoch4368]

@@mgsp5871 Interesting. I've seen a structure like this in Warsaw, though it was only a steel frame with glass panes, not a concrete monstrosity. It felt way more elegant and simple solution.

[@mgsp5871]

@@kacperwoch4368 look at 47.0323303977273, 15.397609742582938 the 4-lane Autobahn is just 10m below

[@talibjalloh928]

@@mgsp5871 well, Austrians are Germans. I know that will bruise your ego but that is the fact. If Austrians are nit ethnic Germans how did Hitler(a Austrian) became leader of Germany and led them to irreparable destruction?

[@ronin47-ThorstenFrank]

Oh, the Hösbach Mauer. Bad tongues a ´couple of Km´s south-west of it say it´s a memorial for the former FRG-GDR border..... Pretty amusing video for someone like me knowing this abomination.

[@1marcelfilms]

Now add a wind tunnel with big fans that push the cars forward save on fuel

[@andrewsalmon100]

What a great thing! I love those little German towns.

[@nathanwaldron4259]

This is the ugliest waste of taxpayer dollars. Bypass the towns of the noise is that much of a problem. Otherwise build some fucking noise walls like they have here in America.

[@Phos9]

I’m immediately curious about the cost of this structure vs rerouting the A3 to be farther from these town.

[@rewboss]

The area is surrounded by hills. Any rerouting of the A3 would need more tunnels and bridges.

[@compphysgeek]

getting some Tim Traveller vibes at the end. I like it!

[@DarkAudit]

Got Tim Traveller vibes throughout the entire thing. I like it too!

[@kevineff8665]

very well spoke german i might say.

[@roberth.5938]

You're the half German tom scott EDIT : I just noticed that I wasn't the only one who thought about those similarities

[@stevenbanaan]

And ofcourse it's German so it's with old, dirty concrete. Love it!

[@bennetmay291]

They have built something similar ar the A7 with the "Altonaer-Deckel" in Hamburg

[@Schniebel89]

for that money you could have build 6 km Autobahn south around the small town. maybe even tunnel under the forresty part.

[@Exodon2020]

5:51 just Bavarians taking themselves too important once more... Of course that oversized concrete slab would be a significantly better tourist attraction than whatever the north comes up with and advertises for.

[@almerindaromeira8352]

Miniatur Wunderland

[@gunn3r245]

LoL I drive there almost every week. Never thought it would be worth a video, let a lone one that gets over 100k views.

[@SoundsLikeOdie]

I like how you compared tunnel vs wall with a ppm meter. It would have been nice to have a third reading next to a unprotected highway. Either way its a interesting fact filled video.

[@talibjalloh928]

If I'm right, Rewboss, i think there is a similar rectangular box that serves the same purpose in Munich. It's made of of transparent glass...

[@torspedia]

Interesting concept, though I'm a tad concerned by the major diversion going past the school.

[@laurencefraser]

Sounded like that was a two stage thing. The standard diversion for in the event of an accident didn't, the secondary diversion when the primary diversion was closed for extensive roadworks did. If i understood correctly, at least. Still a little concerning, but with appropriate precations, and depending on the geography, far more reasonable.

[@eldrago19]

Would the German Taxpayers Federation be happier if the autobahn was smaller? I don't know but little government people in Britain seem to want a very particular sort of little government - one that spends a lot on roads but not much on mitigation.

[@tomasruiz06]

Heere in spain every bridge and some tunnels have that brown sign.

[@explorer914]

Well I'm a big road geek. And I have put this on my road geek bucket list. 😁

[@Hortifox_the_gardener]

Bavaria really excells at spending federal money for extremely expensive Autobahn projects within the state.

[@chriku]

Because they control the ministry of traffic

[@Dug6666666]

Might be quiet for residence but what an eye sore.

[@botinhas82]

No doubt that works for noise abatement but the speed limit inside of the tunnel is lower than outside, so... not a fair comparison. Questions that need to be answered: when was the autobahn constructed? When were the houses near the autobahn built? Didn't the people building or buying the houses noticed that there was an autobahn near by? FYI in Gilching, BY they just inaugurated a similar thing on the A96 but at least one of the sides is open so it is less claustrophobic for the drivers.

[@varana]

The village of Hösbach certainly was there before the autobahn. ;D As for the houses close to it, there's also the age of the autobahn to consider. It was built, with two lanes, in the 1950s. At that time, noise pollution was not nearly as bad as half a century later, with three lanes and modern amounts of traffic. So while building right next to an autobahn may seem stupid today, it was not in the 50s (and probably 60s as well).

[@ianoliver3879]

Jolly fine stuff. Thank you very much.

[@wolfi1109]

You arent allowed to film the license plate in germany and publish it. In germany we would say: das gibt eine Anzeige.

[@rewboss]

That's not strictly true, no. There is no (legal) way for you to identify the driver from the licence plate, so it's not "personenbezogen". Besides, it's a civil matter, so it wouldn't be an "Anzeige" but a "Klage".

[@tinyrodent2821]

it might sound quieter, but it looks hideous

[@copybookspoon6744]

Actually, just for the fact of saving the ears and sanity, it was worth it.

[@Dutch_Pancake]

Just don't go live near a highyway that has been there longer than you are alive if you are bothered by it. It only caused major congestions while it was built. The same goes for people who go and live near a factory or an airport, and then start complaining about the noise. You know it's there, deal with it. Or find another place to live.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

Quite an interesting place! If I find myself in Hösbach, I think I will be sure to visit!

[@aarondewindt]

As for the wall vs box sound performance, the difference will be mostly felt at longer distances. At that distance you're in the wall's "shadow", so it's pretty much just as effective as the box. At a longer distance (few hundred meters) however, the sound waves coming of the top of the highway will be able to "radiate" out and reach the ground. I'm an Aerospace Control engineer who was forced to a noise emissions class back in uni.

[@awsomeabacus9674]

just don't put highways right through the middle of towns

[@eltfell]

Additional fact concerning motorway numbers: Even numbers are used for motorways running north/south, odd numbers are used for motorways running west/east.

[@rewboss]

It's the other way around. The A3 is weird, because it runs parallel to the A8. But odd numbers normally go north to south, e.g. the A9 from Berlin to Munich, the A7 from Flensburg to Füssen.

[@tobyk.4911]

of course, there are also Autobahnen which do not run in a clearly S- N or E-W direction, therefore this system doesn't always fit perfectly. A good example is the A3 which is mentioned here: Along the northern and middle Rhine valley - from the Dutch border, passing near Cologne and Bonn, until about Wiesbaden and Frankfurt Airport, the A3 is in a roughly north-south direction. Near Frankfurt Airport it turns a bit to the East, and runs in a west-east direction between Frankfurt, Offenbach, Würzburg, etc. So it has S-N parts as well as W-E parts... but as long as it is considered one single freeway with one single number, they had to decide between odd and even. Maybe the north-western part (parallel to the northern and middle Rhine valley) is the oldest part and got its number first?

[@tobyk.4911]

A4, A6, A8: in East-West direction (sorted from north (=smaller number) to south (larger number) ) A5, A7, A9: North -South direction ( sorted from west (small number) to east (larger number) ) A1, A2, A3: well, the German Autobahn grid doesn't have a strictly rectangular lattice geometry... this is not Manhattan or so

[@eltfell]

YES, and with living in Minden right next to the A2, I've made a really stupid mistake. What to learn from this? Read before load up.