 Red WOLFFs in the German Capital
Leipziger Platz in Berlin, Germany, was long considered to be Europe’s premier shopping address. The Wertheim Department Store, opened in 1897, was the largest on the continent until it was destroyed in World War II. Now the good old days of the department store are to be revived. The general contractor Arbeitsgemeinschaft Leipziger Platz Nº 12 (ARGE LP Nº 12) under the direction of Fettchenhauer Controlling & Logistic GmbH (FCL) has been appointed with the construction of a new shopping center in this central site in Berlin, including residential units and park areas. At the beginning of the year, premium manufacturer WOLFFKRAN delivered an array of WOLFFs to the German capital.
FCL rented nine WOLFFKRAN trolley jib tower cranes for the lifting of steel girders, concrete components and formwork on the 2 ha construction site. The first crane was erected in January last year and the last one in place at the end of September. WOLFFKRAN planned the assembly concept so that first the highest cranes with underhook heights of up to 86 m were erected on the periphery of the construction site. Using these cranes, the team then assembled the remaining WOLFFs with underhook heights of 46 to 57 m in the inner area of the site.
Fast assembly under complex conditions
Assembly posed a number of challenges, particularly with respect to the three highest cranes: the WOLFF 6522.12 with an underhook height of 86 m, the WOLFF 6031 with an underhook height of almost 80 m and the WOLFF 7532.12 with an underhook height of 64 m. Due to the subway tunnel running below Leipziger Platz, movement of the 500 t mobile crane used for the assembly cranes was limited for static reasons. All nine cranes were assembled free-standing on foundation anchors. “It was not possible to tie the upper sections of the cranes to any structures on the construction site,” explains Bernd Soost, WOLFFKRAN branch manager in Berlin. “Our team of engineers and service technicians planned the assembly in with great detail and precision. Despite the complex conditions we were able to assembly every crane in only one and a half days.”
 Perfect planning and implementation
“WOLFFKRAN convinced us from the start with its extremely well thought-out crane concept,” says Andreas Fettchenhauer, Managing Director of FCL. “We’ve worked together with the crew from Heilbronn on several occasions. WOLFF cranes are known for their efficient transport and assembly characteristics, meaning cost and time savings for us. Besides that, we get all these services from one source – planning, assembly and support. That’s efficiency in every respect,” Fettchenhauer continues.
New heart of the city
The construction project at Leipziger Platz is currently the capital’s largest and most prestigious. At present the ARGE LP Nº 12 is building the basement floor. The “new heart of the city”, with a space of over 100,000 m² for commercial, office and residential use, as well as a partly-covered piazza, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013 and Leipziger Platz thus to be restored to its former glory.
Source: WOLFFKRAN International AG
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