Safe soil installation in Hamburg's Rodewisch harbour

Project description

The Rodewischhafen near Hamburg had previously been used as a temporary storage site for pumped silt for a long period of time. Over the years, a thin crust with low vegetation of grasses and shrubs had formed on the silt. The task was to dry this substrate and then prepare it so that sand could be applied.

Solution

Before the installation of the geosynthetics started, the existing bushes were cleared and the existing root crust retained as a natural stabilising layer. The high-strength Stabilenka 150/45 fabric was then installed lengthwise and crosswise. Since the fine-grained subsoil had a very low shear strength and could not possibly be driven on without stabilising measures, the selected geosynthetic had to fulfil two functions. The Stabilenka woven performs both a separating and a reinforcing function. Thanks to its high tensile strength, high-performance machines could be used and this had a decisive influence on the required construction time, after all approx. 150,000 m³ of sand had to be poured in. Then the geogrid Fortrac R 150/30-30 was installed. Both geosynthetics together guarantee the stability of the construction and thus the safety of the mechanical ground installation. In just a few years, the former harbour basin and the canal will again be used as valuable storage areas for the port of Hamburg.