It weighs in at 8,000 tons, with its steel structure rising to a height of more than 70 meters: thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG in Dortmund is setting new standards with its innovative hot-dip galvanizing line.Together with the existing line at the Westfalenhütte, one million tons of steel strip per year will be hot-dip galvanized at the site. The easy-to-process and durable sheets are in demand mainly from car manufacturers and the home appliance industry. The new line was opened in October in the presence of Minister President Hendrik Wüst. Drees and Sommer’s experts for large-scale projects in industrial and plant engineering supported the construction project.
The planning and construction of the ambitious steel structure, which is up to 75 meters high, faced special challenges right from the beginning. Several World War II bombs were found during site development and the civil engineering work. As they had to be made safe, construction was at risk of facing a very long delay. Klaus Martin, Drees & Sommer’s project team head responsible for site assembly, therefore relied on lean construction management to identify conflicts between individual trades and minimize time delays. ‘Unlike traditional construction management, in which a planner does not bring together the individual trades planned by various project participants until the end of the process, lean construction management focuses on collaboration from the very beginning. A lot of construction and assembly work, from the foundations to the steel structure hall through the line itself, had to be done in parallel and coordinated accordingly,‘ explained Klaus Martin.
Find more information in our press release.