STEEL CONSTRUCTION-EXCURSION 2011

Authors: Dipl.-Ing. Christine Franz, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Richard Stroetmann

From 14.06. to 16.06.2011 the third big steel construction excursion of the Faculty of Civil Engineering took place. Numerous interesting destinations were reached by bus by 49 students of the 4th to 10th semester, Prof. Stroetmann and two employees of the Chair of Structural Steel Engineering.

The tour began in the Czech Republic with a visit to MCE Slaný s.r.o and the Troy Bridge in Prague. During the factory tour we got a very good impression of the working methods and the field of activity of MCE Slaný s.r.o. We were able to follow the individual work steps from cutting to size and pre-assembly to corrosion protection of medium to thick sheets. In Slaný, we mainly manufacture road, railroad and pedestrian bridges, components for hydraulic steel structures and transformer boilers. Among other projects we could observe the production of the support points of the Troy Bridge. During a lunch snack, in addition to which MCE Slaný invited us, further questions about the factory tour and the construction of the Troy Bridge could be clarified. Afterwards we drove to Prague to visit the 204m long network arch bridge (main span 200m) in the district of Troy. The steel composite bridge is a replacement construction and serves as a bridge over the Vltava River. Four lanes for road traffic and two tracks for streetcars will be arranged on the 30 m wide bridge. The installation of the Troja Bridge is unusual. The lower chord with concrete cross girders was inserted longitudinally with the help of an elaborate auxiliary truss. Several temporary supports were built into the river for this purpose. The next assembly steps will be concreting the carriageway, installing the arch and installing and tensioning the cables. Finally, the auxiliary truss will be removed.

In the evening we continued our trip to Linz in Austria and finished the day with a dinner together.

On day 2 of our excursion we visited the headquarters of MCE AG in Linz. The Austrian company MCE AG is part of Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services AG since December 2009. Dr. Reitz, one of the managing directors of MCE AG, invited us to Slaný, Prague and Linz and took over the organization personally.
Mr. Dorrer, who heads the departments of bridge construction, hydraulic steelwork and structural steelwork, first introduced us to the company structure and presented numerous projects of the company. After a refreshment break, we visited the production halls where, in addition to the steel construction typical for us, machine components, shovels and boilers were also processed. Dr. Grill, head of research at voestalpine Grobblech GmbH, invited us to the guest house for an excellent 3-course lunch menu. Afterwards we were guided through the museum of voestalpine AG "Stahlwelten". Here, the students were able to consolidate their knowledge about the production and properties of steel in a very vivid way. Dr. Grill built on this and in the following presentation, based on his research results, he enthusiastically showed how the material properties can be influenced and what can be done with the material steel in the future.
The excursion led us back to Germany in the evening. We had dinner together in Munich's old town and then let the evening come to an end in the beer garden.

The next morning we were welcomed by Mr. Victor Schmitt and Mr. Dieter Stumpf, co-founders and supervisory board members of SSF Ingenieure AG. Mr. Schmitt introduced us to completed projects and explained the creation of the BMW-World from design to execution. The architectural office COOP HIMMELB(L)AU developed the well-known double cone made of steel and glass. Here, no steel profile or glass element resembles the other. SSF-Ingenieure AG took over the structural and implementation planning for this project. In order to give the students a feeling for the processes in a planning office, he also gave us an insight into the offices of the company. Afterwards we drove to BMW-Welt, where Mr. Schmitt and his colleagues showed us the unique architecture in small groups, explained the concept and explained engineering details regarding planning and execution.

Our last destination was Sengenthal, where Mr. Edbauer, the division manager of steel construction at Max Bögl Stahl- und Anlagenbau GmbH & Co.KG, was waiting for us. Mr. Edbauer introduced us to the company Max Bögl and its numerous fields of activity and products. Max Bögl is the largest privately owned construction company in Germany and can look back on more than 80 years of company history. Mr. Edbauer and a colleague showed us around the Sengenthal site and demonstrated the production processes. The tour led us from the storage area to the storage of steel sheets, the pre-assembly halls, blasting chamber, corrosion protection plant and the storage area for prefabricated steel components.

In the late afternoon we drove to Plauen, where we made a last stop for a dinner together to finish the excursion. After three days full program and enriched by many impressions, we started our way back towards Dresden and arrived there late in the evening.