The tunnel

Figures - Data - Facts

Construction start: 1.12.1999
Opened: 12.09.2003 (Construction time: 45 months)
Length: 790 m
Width: 22.5 m
Height: 8.5 m
Average height: 4.5 m 
(for heavy goods transports and abnormal load 4.35m)
Lanes: 4 (each 3.50 m wide + 1.05 m wide emergency lanes)

Composition:

6 steel concrete elements (each 120 m long with a weight of 20,000 t )
80,000 m3 concrete
9,000 t steel reinforcement
30,000 t road surface
70,000 l paint
35 km electric cable

Weight (total): 200,000 tonnes
Tunnel users: Approx. 12,300/daily (19.04.2022: 74,000,000 total)

Did you know

Each tunnel element has a child from Rostock as a godfather:
Werner, Anita, Rafael, Nadine, Ole and William – together the initial letters spell out the river name Warnow.

The tunnel also has a patron saint – Saint Barbara

St. Barbara is not only the patron saint of mountain and hut folk, she is also the patron saint of the Warnow Tunnel. If you travel from the direction of Lütten-Klein/Warnemünde, you can see her just before the tunnel entrance. According to tradition, Barbara of Nikomedien is a Christian virgin who found martyrdom. However, her existence is not confirmed. Knowledge about her is based on verbal legends which were then written down in some form.

She is a symbol of strength and steadfastness.