The two day excursions organized by the Chair of Steel and Hybrid Structures as part of this year's excursion week of the Faculty of Civil Engineering were primarily aimed at students on Bachelor's and Master's degree courses specializing in structural engineering.
With the factory tour of Pollmeier Massivholz GmbH & Co. KG in Creuzburg and the subsequent visits to the Erfurt Ice Sports Center and the "Jägerstieg" wooden arch bridge over the BAB 4 motorway, the excursion on June 12th was dedicated entirely to timber engineering.
On the following day, the focus was on steel and bridge construction. In the morning, the Plauen Stahl Technologie GmbH plant was visited. This was followed by a visit to the construction site of a cable-stayed bridge over the Mulde river near Schlunzig (Zwickau).
Excursion to timber engineering, 12.06.2019
In Creuzburg, the students were able to experience the entire production process of laminated veneer lumber at first hand, from the delivery of the logs to the joinery of ready-to-assemble construction elements made from BauBuche. In addition, they received a wealth of information about the properties, possible applications and application limits of this innovative wood-based material, which has been produced exclusively by Pollmeier at the Creuzburg site from local beech wood and marketed worldwide since its market launch in 2014. The tour of a production hall still under construction with trusses made of BauBuche gave an impression of the performance of the construction product. The invitation to lunch was gladly accepted.
The ice sports center in Erfurt impressed the budding civil engineers with the imposing hall structure of the Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Hall, which spans a 90x190 m floor plan in an arch shape using glulam. The guided tour through the technical facilities of the building complex, consisting of the speed skating hall, ice hockey hall, functional and ice technology buildings, was also interesting.
The "Jägerstieg" foot and cycle path bridge at Forsthaus Willrode near Erfurt was inspected on the way back to Weimar. With a total length of 77.7 m, the engineering structure, built in 2003, spans the 6-lane A4 federal highway as a 3-hinged arch pair made of larch CLT with cantilever beams saddled on both sides and mastic asphalt surfacing. The Jägerstieg Bridge is currently the only wooden bridge in the federal highway network within the Free State of Thuringia.
Excursion steel and hybrid construction, 13.06.2019
The students were guided through the production halls at the Plauen Stahl Technologie GmbH plant. During this very interesting tour, it was possible to gain an insight into the production of large steel components and the associated challenges. Plauen Stahl Technologie GmbH, which operates internationally, focuses on plant construction, structural engineering, bridge construction and hydraulic steel construction, so that construction parts for lock gates, crane runway girders, bridge box girders and other types of custom-made products could be viewed up close. A presentation on the company structure and the presentation of some completed projects gave the students an insight into the organizational structure, areas of responsibility and project diversity of engineers working in practice. This was reinforced by an invitation to lunch with employees of Plauen Stahlbau Technologie GmbH.
A new replacement bridge is being built over the Zwickauer Mulde near the village of Schlunzig near Zwickau. The two-span structure is being built as a cable-stayed bridge with a loosely reinforced in-situ concrete slab and fully locked bridge cables with innovative and novel corrosion protection. The extruded corrosion protection layer is being used for the first time in Germany with this construction project. Employees of the engineering firm schulze+rank Ingenieurgesellschaft, the construction company Arlt Bauunternehmen GmbH and the Zwickau district road construction department provided the students with information on the environmental boundary conditions of the structure, special structural features during planning, logistical challenges during construction and numerous interesting details.
