Look-Out Tower Krkonoše, Czech Republic

Structures Analysed with Dlubal Software

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3D Model of the Look-Out Tower in RSTAB (© WIEHAG GmbH)

Look-Out Tower Krkonoše with View Over the Great Mountains (© Erlebnis Akademie AG)

Interior View of the Look-Out Tower (© WIEHAG GmbH)

Customer Project

19 August 2018

Czech Republic RSTAB

Client	Erlebnis Akademie AG www.eak-ag.de Stezka korunami stromů Krkonoše www.stezkakrkonose.cz
Architect	Architecture office Josef Stöger stoeger-koelbl.de
Planning, Structural Engineering, Construction	WIEHAG GmbH www.wiehag.com
Structural Analysis of Foundations	STATIKA Jihočeská stavebně konstrukční kancelář s.r.o. www.statikacb.cz

The tree-top trail in the Giant Mountains (Czech: Krkonoše) is the second experience path of eak (Erlebnis Akademie AG) in the Czech Republic.

Over a length of 1500 m, it twists through the treetops of the mixed mountain forest. It ends at a look-out tower with a height of around 43 m, and its platform offers a breathtaking view over the Krkonoše National Park.

It is possible to descend from the tower by using the barrier-free ramp or the 80 m long tunnel slide.

The unique feature of this project is the artificially created root cave below the tower, which offers insight into the world of the national park beneath the earth's surface.

As with all five previously built look-out towers of eak, WIEHAG GmbH from Altheim, Austria was again in charge of the planning, structural engineering, construction and assembly.

Structure

The look-out tower has the shape of truncated cone that opens out upwards. The outer diameter amounts to about 23 m at the bottom and about 37 m at the top.

The structure consists of an outer ring made of twelve curved glued‑laminated timber beams. They are rotationally symmetrically arranged at the same distance from each other.

The tower can be accessed from the tree-top trail, which leads through the cave beforehand. You can climb up to the viewing platform on a helix structure made of wood with a maximum gradient of 6 %. It is attached to the timber supports by steel cantilever beams. Between the individual steel cantilever beams, three glulam stringers covered with a wooden plank floor are fixed.

In the centre of the tower is a steel pylon made of a round tube, fixed at the bottom. A spiral stair made of steel and a tunnel slide are attached to it. The spiral stair serves as an emergency and escape staircase.

The look-out tower is stiffened by a circumferential web made of steel diagonals and ring structures.