Major order for North Sea windpark: Bilfinger Berger benefits from renewable energy trend

Bilfinger Berger has recorded another success in the market for offshore windparks in the North Sea: the Group has won an order, together with its Danish partner Per Aarsleff, to build the foundations for 80 offshore turbines at the new DanTysk windpark.

geotechnik - Sample Copy

geotechnik is the professional journal for soil mechanics, earthworks, foundations, rock mechanics, engineering geology, plastics in geotechnics and environmental geotechnics.

Mosque in Cologne: elaborate in situ concrete dome construction

The Turkish-Islamic Union (Diyanet Isleri Türk Islam Birligi, DITIB) is drawing attention to itself by building the largest Islamic community centre and mosque in Germany. By the end of 2011, Cologne will have a new centre with a floor area exceeding 20 000 m² plus a mosque with two minarets each 55 m high.

The Reißeck II pumped storage power station

Download the article from Geomechanics and Tunnelling 02/2011.

Manfred Freitag, Markus Larcher, Andreas Blauhut

The Reißeck II pumped storage power station under construction for the Verbund Hydro Power AG is part of their current extension project in southern Austria. Features of the new system are the advantages of the rapidly available and easily controllable power output of a pumped storage scheme in generation operation and the possibility of storing hydropower water at times of low energy demand.

German Bridge Construction Prize 2012

The Bundesingenieurkammer and the Verband Beratender Ingenieure VBI announced on 8 March 2011 that the German Bridge Construction Prize will again be awarded in 2012.

Steel Structures and Heritage

Editorial from Stahlbau 6/2011.

Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lorenz

Assessing, preserving and strengthening existing structures have become important tasks for civil engineers in research, education and practice and have sustainably been furthered by the now significant economic relevance of converting buildings for re-use.

Civil engineers call for better conditions for participating in competitions

In a recently published resolution engineers in the construction industry called for improvements in the conditions of participation for engineers when entering competitions.

Official farewell for Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Stritzke

At the end there were standing ovations for Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Stritzke. The initiator and driving force of the Dresden bridge symposium bade his team goodbye and passed the reins on to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Curbach, Director of the organizing Institute of Concrete Structures at Dresden Technical University.

Use of latent heat accumulators in masonry constructions to conserve energy

Download the article from Mauerwerk 03/2011.

Sebastian Ortlepp, Regine Ortlepp

Phase change materials in the chambers of perforated bricks can increase the heat capacity of the unit. Due to this, an additional storage of thermal energy can be achieved. The daily fluctuations of indoor temperatures can be reduced by such thermal storage, whereby more favorable climatic and physical conditions can be reached.

Strengthening of Listed Historic Steel Structures: Overhaul of Viaduct and Stations of the Elevated Railroad Line No. 2 in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg

Download the article from Stahlbau 06/2011.

Michael Fischer, Werner Lorenz

Preservation and strengthening of listed structures is a civil engineering field likely to cause conflicts. The cultural significance of these edifices imposes the obligation to fulfil heritage requirements. However, load-bearing capacity, fatigue resistance and cost-effectiveness still need to be ensured.