Bracing a clad steel sheet piling wall with micropiles in the Schwelgern Port

Schwelgern is a plant port owned and run by thyssenkrupp north of Duisburg. Some of its embankments were in need of renovation and were no longer meeting growing demands. Around 400 meters of clad steel sheet piling was to be installed at the north embankment in front of the existing embankment wall and then braced at the specified points. In addition to the complete technical processing, we were also in charge of logistics planning and site management.

This project involved a high degree of prefabrication – such as the application of steel cladding and leader and bollard devices at the factory. The base plates for the anchor elements were also welded in place at the factory.

Ultimately more than 70 heavy-duty transporters delivered the sheet piles. Each week an excavator leader, working on a pontoon on the water, drove in approx. 30 elements through vibration. High-pressure water jets were used to do this, driving the sheet pile sections down one meter before reaching the structurally defined incorporation point. They were then hit with a fast striking hammer without the jets until they reached their final depth.

As the sheet piling wall came into being, we inserted special customized piles in to compensate for measured tolerances. The driven piles were also fitted with a waler line. These waler lines are used to distribute the load lengthwise, helping to align the structure.

The finished sheet piling was braced with micropiles in the foundation. Our thyssenkrupp drilled injection piles were used, a micropile system that conforms to DIN EN 14199, which we developed as a pull and push pile system. The system is a further development of existing micropile systems, and has especially high internal load-bearing capacities and reserves as well as being highly robust and having low warpage. Thanks to precise preliminary planning, all of the works went smoothly.