Rheinkraftwerk Iffezheim - Neubau Maschine 5 - Besondere Herausforderungen der Tragwerksplanung in der Ausführungsphase

Rheinkraftwerk Iffezheim hydropower plant - Construction of a 5th turbine - Special challenges of structural engineering in the design phase

The hydropower plant Iffezheim at the Rhine was extended by a 5th turbine adjacent to the existing structure. As a special feature the construction was build within an oval construction pit devoid of braces underneath the constricted space conditions between the existing power plant and fish pass with a weir turbine. Barriers from the building period of the existing plant led to disruptions when making the construction pit and caused delays in the scheduled construction time. In order to speed up the planned construction process the procedures of building the power plant underground construction and the start of the main installation of the machine construction were optimized again. The developed measures required changes on the static concept in making the solid construction and interaction with the construction pit, which had major effects on the structural planning. The preparation and inspection of the necessary calculations and planning took place during the project implementation of the first construction phases and was thus extremely critical to scheduling. Through the optimized construction process during the construction of the solid building it was possible to compensate partly for the occurred extensions of construction-completion time eventually.