Milestone at the Chancellery
The extension of the Federal Chancellery continues to take shape with the shifting of the pre-assembled bridge structure over the Spree above the basement of the Federal Chancellery. The design and construction of the bridge are extremely challenging: the combination of security-relevant areas and a public cycle and pedestrian path across the Spree on two separate levels is a central design element.
Key data on the project:
- The bridge is 180 m long, weighs a total of 1,500 tons and the middle bridge span alone measures 140 m
- Combination of safety-related infrastructure and public use
- Integration into the urban development concept of the "Federal Belt"
- Realization during ongoing operations and under high logistical requirements
"Moving the finished bridge component in several stages, on land and on floating pontoons, is a masterstroke by all those involved in civil engineering," emphasizes senior site manager André Scherbatzki. "Now that the final position has been reached, the bridge still has to be stored. Due to the short edge spans of the bridge, there are lifting forces at the end points that still have to be transferred to the foundation."
Implenia Civil & Spezialtiefbau has overall responsibility for the project. The unit constructed the excavation pits in the area of the Spree river bank walls for the bridge abutments, the bored pile foundations and the underwater concrete bases and carried out all the concrete construction work itself. The long-standing steel construction partner DSD was responsible as a subcontractor for the entire steel construction, including the bridge launching. The success of the project is therefore the result of close cooperation between all the specialist disciplines and partners involved.
Peter Hoppe, Technical Branch Manager at Implenia Civil Engineering in Berlin, explains: "The successful shunting marks a decisive step in a technically demanding project in the sensitive environment of Germany's political center. A big thank you to everyone involved for the precise planning and implementation of this complex construction phase."
