Skywalk Allgäu Treetop Walk in Scheidegg, Germany
Customer Project
Skywalk Allgäu is a path with a length of about 1,640 ft, installed at a height of 49 to 98 ft above ground, leading through the treetops of the Allgäu Alps. The path construction, built at approximately 3,281 ft above sea level, consists of cable-stayed and suspension bridge constructions. It is supported by 14 towers guyed with cables. The central point and major tourist attraction is the lookout tower, which is 164 ft high, offering visitors a wonderful view over the Alps, the Prealps, and Lake Constance.
Structural Engineering |
Meyer+Schubart, Wunstorf, Germany www.meyer-schubart.de |
Construction |
Biedenkapp Stahlbau GmbH, Wangen im Allgäu, Germany www.biedenkapp-stahlbau.de |
Architect | Karlheinz Thurm, Stetten, Germany |
Investor |
Skywalk allgäu gemeinnützige GmbH, Scheidegg, Germany www.skywalk-allgaeu.de |
Model
The dimensions shown below indicate the dimensions of the entire system.
Length: 728 ft | Width: 531 ft | Height: 259 ft
Number of nodes: 1,578 | Members: 3,878 | Finite Elements: 4,625 | Materials: 7 | Cross-sections: 51
The structural analysis of the entire steel construction was carried out using RFEM by Dlubal customer Meyer+Schubart.
Structural System
The lookout construction has a triangular floor plan and pipe columns with a diameter of 20 inches, which are coupled with tubular cross bars and bracings in several planes.
At a level of 98 ft, the tower is additionally stabilized by full locked PV 150 cables manufactured by the German company Pfeifer. Visitors can access the path using the staircase or the glass-paned elevator.
Another, smaller tower construction, with a height of approximately 131 ft, is also based on a triangular floor plan (on the right in the picture above). The tower is significant for stiffening the structural system and represents a fixed point for the connected access to the stairway (bridle path). The bridle path is a cable-stayed construction with three pylons that is less prone to vibration compared to the construction of the suspension bridge, which is especially important for safe use of the staircase.
Depending on the span lengths, the suspension cables of the suspension bridge construction have a diameter of 1.1 to 1.4 in. To prevent the guy lines with a length of up to 223 ft from oscillating due to aerodynamic effects, they are partially stabilized with auxiliary cables, which are thinner than the main cables.
Finally, it is worth noting that the German company Biedenkapp Stahlbau won the M&T Metal Construction Prize in 2011 in the category for steel constructions.
Keywords
Skywalk Allgäu Skywalk Scheidegg Steel construction
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