Column Substitution for Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany
Customer Project
During the final days of World War II, a column segment of the Brandenburg Gate was severely damaged by grenade attacks. When the gate was reconstructed in 2002, the German engineering office of J. Sando in Weimar developed a method by which it was possible to substitute the column segment. The special supporting structure necessary for the substitution process was designed using RFEM.
Structural Engineering |
Structural Engineering Office Ingenieurbüro für Statik Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Sando, Weimar, Germany www.sando.de Structural Analysis (Testing) Prof. Frank Prietz, Berlin, Germany |
Construction |
Contractor Bennert GmbH Betrieb für Bauwerkssicherung, Klettbach, Germany www.bennert.de General Contractor CARO Restaurierung und Technologie GmbH, Berlin, Germany http://www.charlottenburger-tor.de/caro-bbt/Bestand8.htm Technical Monitoring EBK Ingenieurbüro für Bauwerksdiagnostik, Weimar, Germany |
Investor |
Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin by order of Senate Administration for Science, Research and Culture of Berlin |
Basic Technical Conditions
The structure load is transferred across masonry arcs into the columns. Lateral supporting is impossible without deconstruction. Engineer Sando has developed a method by which the load is redirected within the column. By constantly checking the force and displacement, it was possible to monitor the work steps at all times. Critical moments, of course, had to be excluded for this building.
Preparatory work for load increase was followed by mounting the hydraulic supporting structure step by step. The new center piece, which is exactly half of the column segment, was inserted after an intended vertical elongation of 0.2 inches. With both side parts, it is now clearly discernible as the new segment. The method chosen was a great success.
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