50 YEARS HIGHTECH IN ACTION

Herrenknecht’s story began 50 years ago with a vision to revolutionize tunnel construction technology.
It has been a journey marked by innovation, resilience, and collaboration. From groundbreaking technologies
to the implementation of iconic projects, Herrenknecht has had a lasting impact on the future of infrastructure.

This anniversary is a celebration of the challenges we have overcome together and the successes
we have achieved together. It is a tribute to our employees, partners, and customers who have
contributed significantly to these successes. We honor our past and look forward to the
opportunities that lie ahead and are our inspiration to continue driving innovation.

Explore the incredible journey of our company over the past 50 years in our timeline.

WHAT A PROGRESS

Time is moving – and so are we. From bold beginnings to groundbreaking technologies,
every milestone drives us forward.

ORIGIN

The birth of an idea

Martin Herrenknecht spent 5 years as director of the mechanical engineering service at the large construction lot Huttegg for the Seelisberg Tunnel, Switzerland. Responsible for “Big John”, the largest tunnel boring machine in the world at that time (Ø 11.80 m), he gathered great tunnelling experience and planted the seed for a great idea.

1975/76

The beginning

Martin Herrenknecht establishes an engineering company in Lahr in 1975. The office was located in a rented apartment in the small Black Forest town.
In 1976, the first “modern tunnel boring machines” were designed on drawing paper – the MH-1 to MH-3 roadheaders.
In the summer of 1976, Martin Herrenknecht hires his first employee.

WORLDWIDE

After 20 years, the Vietnam War comes to an end – a conflict that had shaped global politics for two decades.

1977/78

The founding moment

Martin Herrenknecht founds Herrenknecht GmbH with a nominal capital of 20,000 DM. The company’s entry in the Commercial Register from January 1978 describes its object as “to develop, distribute and service tunnel boring machines”.

In addition, a second employee is hired.

TECHNOLOGY

The Apple II is released, helping bring personal computing into homes and small businesses.

1979/80

In good company

Herrenknecht generates the first million euros in revenue with six employees in 1979. Offices and an assembly plant, covering an area of 1,788 m² are opened in Schwanau. The company takes on its first apprentice machinist. A teletypewriter is purchased – business deals around the world are now only a matter of time.

ECONOMY

Under Deng Xiaoping, China begins its economic opening – accelerating global trade and industrial growth.

1983/84

Breaking new ground

Delivery of the 150th tunnel boring machine. For the first time, it can also be remotely controlled outside the compressed air range with the aid of a monitor. Development of micro tunnel boring machines (Ø < 1.20 m) for inaccessible tunnel diameters. These machines encounter immense market demand. In 1984, Herrenknecht opens its first subsidiary abroad in Sunderland, England.

POP CULTURE & MEDIA

Madonna becomes a global superstar with Like a Virgin. Blockbusters such as Ghostbusters and The Terminator captivate audiences worldwide.

1985

Hidden champions

A groundbreaking innovation is introduced: the first generation of large-diameter (Ø 6 m) Mixshields for tunnelling beneath the groundwater level. The machine excavates a 6.20 km ring tunnel in Hamburg for the HERA particle accelerator.

Three Herrenknecht machines are driving sewage tunnels under Istanbul’s Golden Horn Sales reached DM 16.3 million. Herrenknecht employs 65 people.

WIMBLEDON

At just 17, Boris Becker becomes the youngest Wimbledon champion in history.

1988

Growing bigger. Thinking bolder.

The company employs 110 people at its company premises covering 5,000 m².’ Herrenknecht constructs the largest Mixshield in Europe, with a diameter of 11.60 meters. It goes to work on the Grauholz Tunnel in Switzerland.

MUSIC MOMENTS

Michael Jackson releases Bad, one of the best-selling albums of all time, cementing his status as the “King of Pop.”

1990

Crossing continents

Herrenknecht delivers the first shielded Hard Rock TBM to Bözberg in Switzerland. This tunnel boring machine, with a diameter of 11.80 m, excavates two road tunnels, each with a length of 3,200 m.
Going overseas: Herrenknecht sets up its first subsidiary in the USA.
With 185 employees and sales of DM 77.8 million, Herrenknecht can still be described as a small to medium-sized mechanical engineering company

REUNITED

Germany is reunified, symbolizing a new chapter for Europe.

1991/92

Complete product portfolio

The delivery of the first earth pressure balance shield for the subway in Taipei, Taiwan, completes the product range for large machines.
In Atlanta, USA, Herrenknecht machines are driving road tunnels for the rush to the 1996 Olympic Games.

In Bremen, Herrenknecht’s smallest machine (Ø 0.36 m) celebrates its premiere in 1992. The AVN250 manages 25 m per day and drives a 1.10 km long sewer.

EUROPEAN UNION

The Maastricht Treaty establishes the foundation of today’s European Union.

1993/94

records rewritten

Martin Herrenknecht is awarded with the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande.
A sensation: The Europipe Tunnel is laid beneath the mudflats of the Wattenmeer nature reserve on Germany’s North Sea coast. It is the world’s longest pipe string – with a length of 2.50 km – without using intermediate shafts. Operation takes just 100 days. Record among the big ones: TBM order for the Swiss Eagle Tunnel. At 12.54 m, the hard rock machine will be the largest in the world to date.

DIGITAL EXPANSION

The internet grows rapidly, commercial websites emerge, and CD-ROM becomes a standard medium for software and games.

1996/97

Pushing the limits

Another world record in 1996: The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is built for the construction of the fourth tube section of the Elbe Tunnel. The mixshield machine, named TRUDE (Tief runter unter die Elbe, meaning “Deep down under the Elbe”), has a diameter of 14.20 m. Its work is made easier by numerous innovations, including accessible cutter wheel spokes. Sydney needs an efficient transport infrastructure for the 2000 Olympics. Herrenknecht technology is involved, drilling new subway tunnels to make the city fit for the future. In 1997, Herrenknecht receives a major order in the field of microtunneling: 10 machines for 62 km of sewage pipes in Bangkok. In Berlin, two mixshields burrow through the subsoil. An Antonov – the world’s largest aircraft – transports an EPB shield for a metro tunnel to Madrid. In 1997, 624 people worldwide are now working for Herrenknecht.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

“Dolly” becomes the first cloned mammal – a breakthrough in genetic research.

1998/99

Global Player

Herrenknecht GmbH becomes a joint stock company (AG). Prof. Dr. h. c. Lothar Späth is made Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Establishment of diverse subsidiaries, Herrenknecht is on the right path to become a Global Player.

Herrenknecht launches a tunnel boring machine that allows for quick changes in operating mode within the tunnel. The convertible mixshield.
With a diameter of 9.53 m, the first large gripper TBM is delivered to Switzerland in 1999 for the Tscharner access tunnel. This makes Herrenknecht the only supplier worldwide that can provide mechanical tunnel boring machines for all geologies and all diameters.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Google is founded, transforming how information is accessed worldwide.

2000

A market leader emerges

Herrenknecht’s order intake reaches the historic record level of 198 million Euro. Herrenknecht has now become a leading company on the world tunnelling market.

The first step towards Gotthard: Herrenknecht wins the contract for the Gripper hard rock machines at the Lötschberg Base Tunnel in Switzerland.

NEW MILLENIUM

The world celebrates the start of a new millennium. The feared Y2K computer failures largely do not occur.

2001/02

Engineering on a grand scale

Herrenknecht AG receives the order to manufacture, deliver and assemble four Gripper TBMs for the new Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland.
Martin Herrenknecht celebrates the company’s 25th anniversary together with 1,000 employees and 35,000 guests.

Different countries, different customs: In Singapore, the contract for two EPB machines is sealed over dinner. Two paper napkins are worth 12,232,200.00 Singapore dollars.

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

The euro is introduced as cash currency in twelve European countries – a historic milestone in economic integration.

2003/04

Asia accelerates

The boom in the Asian market begins: orders totaling €100 million contribute to the company’s growth. Herrenknecht establishes a subsidiary in Singapore for the Asia-Pacific market, which later develops into the Asian headquarters.
Herrenknecht develops a new machine of the type VSM for mechanical vertical shaft sinking.

GLOBAL SPORTS

The Olympic Games return to Athens, their city of origin.

2005/06

World records, worldwide

Herrenknecht achieves sales of more than €500 million for the first time and opens its first production site in Guangzhou, China. In addition, deep geothermal energy is being explored with deep drilling rigs from the newly founded subsidiary Herrenknecht Vertical GmbH. In 2005, Herrenknecht builds what was then the world’s largest tunnel boring machine (Ø 15.20 m) for a road tunnel in Madrid.

In 2006, the two newly crowned largest TBMs in the world, two Herrenknecht Mixshields (Ø 15.43 m), begin their work beneath the Yangtze River in Shanghai. The 1,000th Herrenknecht utility tunneling machine, is heading to Arizona, USA.

POLITICS

Angela Merkel becomes Germany’s first female Chancellor.

2007

A new dimension

Herrenknecht looks back on 30 years of successful history. The subsidiary “Herrenknecht Formwork” is founded, in China opens another assembly plant in Chengdu.

For the first time, Herrenknecht has more than 2,000 employees, including more than 100 trainees. Order intake climbs above the 1 billion Euro mark.
In Worms, the single-step Direct Pipe® method, a combination of microtunneling and HDD, celebrates its world premiere, while in Brisbane, construction work begins on Australia’s longest road tunnel. The Clem Jones Tunnel is just under 4 km long and is being driven by the two largest twin shields ever manufactured in Schwanau (each with a diameter of 12.34 m).

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

Apple introduces the iPhone – ushering in the smartphone era.

2009/10

Expanding horizons

Martin Herrenknecht is entered in the Handelsblatt Hall of Fame.
New business field Mining is established at the Schwanau company headquarters.

Herrenknecht delivers the, by then, largest tunnel boring machine in the world (Ø 15.55 m) for a twin-tube road tunnel in Italy.

SOCIAL MEDIA ERA

Instagram is launched, accelerating the shift toward visual digital communication worldwide.

2011

Final breakthrough

All eyes on Switzerland: The final breakthrough at the Gotthard Base Tunnel takes place in Sedrun. Four Herrenknecht Gripper TBMs have driven a total of 85 km for the longest tunnel in the world.
In Abu Dhabi, construction has begun on 70 km of sewage tunnels using 5 large machines and 9 micro machines.

2014

Raising the bar

Record year: Workshop acceptance of the world’s largest TBM, designed to excavate a road tunnel beneath a sea strait in Hong Kong, takes place at the Herrenknecht plant in Guangzhou – record diameter: 17.6 meters.
A multi-mode TBM finishes its unique tunnel drive at Lake Mead in Las Vegas, USA – record pressure: never before a tunnel boring machine had to withstand a water pressure of 15 bar.

WORLD CHAMPION

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Germany wins the title and becomes FIFA World Champion, in one of the most globally watched sporting events in history.

2015

Redefining the limits

The last of 8 TBMs completes its mission at the Crossrail project in London – a total of 42 kilometers of high quality tunnels have been created under one of the world’s busiest cities.
On the other side of Europe a Mixshield with a diameter of 13.6 meters reaches the target shaft on the European side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul at one of the world’s most challenging projects ever, the Eurasia Tunnel.

CLIMATE COOPERATION

The Paris Agreement unites nations in committing to limit global warming.

2016

A world record moment

September 25, 2016, 10.44 a.m. local time in Doha, Qatar: precisely a 7 meter tunnel boring machine pierces the final target wall of the „Red Line South“. It is the last of 76 breakthroughs in the gigantic milestone project Doha Metro. 111 kilometers of ultra-modern metro tunnel systems in just 26 months. Guinness World Record!!

Martin Herrenknecht is awarded with the most significant German technology prize: the Werner von-Siemens-Ring. The E-Power Pipe® method is being presented to the public for the first time.

EUROPE IN TRANSITION

The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.

2017

Shaping the future of cities

Herrenknecht AG received the Baden-Württemberg Environmental Technology Award for its innovative trenchless earth and underground cable laying method E-Power Pipe. For the huge Grand Paris Express infrastructure project, Herrenknecht supplied 21 state-of-the-art tunnel boring machines (EPB and multi-mode TBMs) for over 100 kilometers of new metro tunnels (EPB and multi-mode TBMs) and special shaft boring machines, setting up an important service hub near Paris to realize this gigantic French infrastructure project.

AI & DIGITAL ASSETS

AI applications expand into smartphones, vehicles, and industry, while cryptocurrencies gain global attention.

2019/20

High office meets high-tech

Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel visits Herrenknecht headquarters. On a tour of the plant premises, Dr.-Ing. E.h. Martin Herrenknecht shows her the tunnelling technology developed and manufactured by Herrenknecht.
The Chancellor then speaks to 200 invited guests and media representatives.

CLIMATE AWARENESS

The global “Fridays for Future” movement, inspired by Greta Thunberg, mobilizes millions worldwide.

2022

Celebrating and Innovating

Around 2,100 guests from 32 countries came to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the company and the 80th birthday of its founder and Chairman of the Board of Management in Offenburg, Germany.
Herrenknecht was awarded the bauma Innovation Award 2022 in the “Machine Technology” category for developing the continuous advance.

2025

Exploring the green

Under the motto “Exploring The Green,” Herrenknecht presented the latest developments in mechanized tunnel construction technology and reference projects from flagship projects around the world on an exhibition area of over 800 m² at bauma in Munich. In addition, Herrenknecht won the bauma Innovation Award in the “Machine Technology” category for the third time in a row – in 2025 for the development of the Tunnel Enlargement System (TES).

COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT

Blue Ghost Mission 1 achieves the first commercial moon landing – marking a new era in private space exploration.

OUTLOOK

Going ahead

For 50 years now, Herrenknecht stands for high-tech underground – for pioneering spirit, engineering excellence, and solutions that set global standards. What started as a small team has grown into a global company with around 5,500 employees in over 60 countries. Together, they are working to achieve the next milestones underground.

A new chapter is beginning. The coming years promise excitement, innovation, and groundbreaking developments in mechanical tunneling.
We are celebrating 50 years of Herrenknecht:

50 Years Hightech in Action.

50 YEARS OF PEOPLE,
POWER AND PROGRESS

For 50 years, Herrenknecht has been pushing boundaries underground —
engineering progress that connects the world. Watch our highlights.

Reviews & Insights:

Whether recent or from the archives, this selection of press releases offers insights into the company’s developments, achievements, and history.

TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION EXPERT?
FIND OUT IN OUR QUIZ!

Test your knowledge in a game round consisting of five questions. Ready to play?

Which technology, awarded with the bauma innovation price in 2025, makes it possible to increase the diameter of existing tunnels?

1/59

Which subsidiary of Herrenknecht AG has been a pioneer in the field of deep geothermal energy since 2005?

2/59

For which project in the San Andreas Fault area, which contributes to California’s water supply, did Herrenknecht deliver two single-shield TBMs in 2003?

3/59

How big is the Herrenknecht Mixshield being used to tunnel under the Panama Canal for the new Metro Line 3?

4/59

Which construction site in Switzerland inspired Martin Herrenknecht to found his company?

5/59

What is the name of the customer portal launched in 2020 that enables mobile access to visualizations of all relevant machine data worldwide, thereby supporting efficient decision-making?

6/59

How many cubic meters of rock were excavated by the four Herrenknecht machines during the mechanized tunneling of the two main tubes of the Gotthard Base Tunnel? One cubic meter of earth weighs approximately 1.5 tons.

7/59

What is the diameter of the largest shield ever produced for a Herrenknecht TBM?

8/59

How many Herrenknecht locations exist worldwide?

9/59

How many projects has Herrenknecht completed worldwide?

10/59

Where is Herrenknecht AG’s headquarters located?

11/59

What type of tunnel boring machine is primarily used for hard rock formations?

12/59

On average, how many machine factory acceptances take place in Schwanau each year?

13/59

Which project, in which 20 tunnel boring machines simultaneously excavated 111 kilometers of metro tunnels in just 26 months, made it into the Guinness Book of World Records?

14/59

Which continents were connected by a road tunnel built by Herrenknecht maschines in 2015?

15/59

Which project is shown on the picture?

16/59

In which project Herrenknecht TBMs were used to build a road tunnel under a river?

17/59

Which Herrenknecht tunnel boring machine is considered particularly suitable for extremely large diameters?

18/59

How many years of experience does Herrenknecht have with microtunneling machines?

19/59

How many shafts using Herrenknecht VSM technology have been constructed worldwide?

20/59

Where and when was Herrenknecht’s offshore foundation drilling technology first used?

21/59

Which machine Herrenknecht has never produced?

22/59

How many direct pipe crossings and outfalls have been constructed using Herrenknecht machines to date?

23/59

On what type of material a TBM contract was signed in the past?

24/59

The construction of Intake No. 3 at Lake Mead to supply water to Las Vegas set a world record for mechanical tunnel boring due to the high water pressure. How high was the water pressure?

25/59

What is the depth of the deepest shaft constructed using VSM?

26/59

What was the longest direct pipe drive to date?

27/59

What was the hardest rock that a Herrenknecht machine has ever encountered during pipe jacking?

28/59

What is the largest pipe jacking diameter that has been driven using a Herrenknecht machine to date?

29/59

What was the steepest angle a Herrenknecht TBM has ever driven?

30/59

Which project, completed in 1994, still holds the record for the longest advance in pipe jacking with 2.5 km (without an intermediate shaft)?

31/59

Can tunnel boring machines drive curves?

32/59

What principal is used in tunnel construction?

33/59

What is the name of the patron saint of miners?

34/59

Complete the sentence: “There is xxxx at the end of the tunnel.”

35/59

In which blockbuster movie does a tunnel boring machine appear?

36/59

What is bentonite used for?

37/59

What does “EPB” stand for in the context of a tunnel boring machine?

38/59

What is the function of disc cutters?

39/59

What is a tunnel segment?

40/59

Why is compressed air work dangerous in tunnel construction?

41/59

What is a typical sign of increased tool wear?

42/59

What happens in the back-up of the machine?

43/59

Which component drives the machine forward?

44/59

What are conditioning agents (e.g., foam) used for?

45/59

Which component is commonly used for conveying with an EPB shield?

46/59

What is the function of the screw conveyor?

47/59

Which system separates the excavated material from the bentonite slurry in a slurry TBM?

48/59

What is a “tool change”?

49/59

What type of tunnel alignment is particularly challenging for a TBM?

50/59

What is the function of a guidance system?

51/59

What is the purpose of a screw conveyor in an EPB TBM?

52/59

What is a drilling system in mechanized tunnelling?

53/59

What machines were used to construct the vertical pressure shafts at the pumped-storage power plant in Nant de Drance?

54/59

Which Herrenknecht Group Brand supplied navigation systems for the TBMs used in the Doha Metro project?

55/59

What products did H+E Logistik supply for the Brenner Base Tunnel?

56/59

In which country was the first Herrenknecht branch established?

57/59

What was Techni-Métal Systèmes, SAS’s main role in the Grand Paris Express project?

58/59

Which Herrenknecht branch is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year?

59/59

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