Building construction team builds new IBB heating center in Lupfig
April 04, 2024
ERNE optimized the project progress of the new heating center in Lupfig with smart solutions. By introducing an attractive contractor variant, our team increased work safety, quality and efficiency in the project, which was also welcomed by the client IBB Energie AG.
Ten meter high walls concreted in one pour
The heating plant building measures around 23 x 42 meters with a height of 14 meters at the highest point. The hall's ten-meter-high concrete walls are a special feature. With the input of our site manager Davide Restaino, we concreted these in a single pour. There are several advantages to this: The ten-metre-high special formwork means that the surface can be concreted continuously and without horizontal construction joints. This provides a better quality result. The variant is also efficient to execute. A wall is completed in a single operation, without moving or repositioning the formwork.
The only challenge is the build-up of fresh concrete pressure, which is caused by the large amount of concrete in the formwork. Our experienced professionals are aware of this and solved it skillfully by placing the concrete in two stages, a few hours apart. This allowed the lower first layer to consolidate somewhat.
Column-free hall construction with ribbed ceiling elements
The column-free hall construction is structurally and technically demanding. At 21.4 meters, the ceiling has a considerable span.
The solution put out to tender envisaged a design with prestressed beams and ceiling slab elements as well as an emergency casting in the construction stage for concreting over. As a cost-neutral contractor option, ERNE worked with saw to develop the solution with prestressed ribbed floor elements, which fully exploit their advantages and do not require emergency casting. This saved our team the days of work required for the blasting of the large hall. In addition, this variant increases work safety for the employees, which is a top priority. The fact that we were able to offer the higher-quality design at the same cost was very much appreciated by the client - along with the other added value.
The ribbed ceiling elements were each delivered individually by truck and spectacularly inserted into the intended recesses using a pneumatic crane. The preparation of an exact schedule in advance and the delivery of the elements "just in time" were fundamental to the successful execution of the work in the confined space.
Thanks to the skillful planning and combination of various tasks, the mobile crane was also able to lift two heat storage tanks onto the construction site on the same day.
I experience ERNE as a solution-oriented and cooperative partner in our project. I was able to rely on ERNE's expertise at all times and appreciate benefiting from the company's professionalism and experience.
Michael Leuppi, Site Manager suisseplan Ingenieure AG
Two giant heat accumulators moved by pneumatic crane
The 17-metre-high heat accumulators were delivered by the truck drivers in two trucks. In addition to the 350-tonne pneumatic crane, the truck-mounted crane also provided support during relocation so as not to damage them when raising them from a horizontal position.
Due to the high walls and its location outside the building, the mobile crane operator had to maneuver the thermal stores into their final position with millimetre precision without visual contact and only by following the radio instructions of his colleagues.
The storage heaters were placed precisely on the prepared markings and installed by the company Arno Stiefenhofer, which produces the storage heaters.
The construction work will continue until the end of March. ERNE's main work on the heating center will then be successfully completed.
We would like to thank everyone involved in the project for their excellent cooperation.
