Überseequartier sets new standards
In this gigantic construction project, fly ash from EP Power Minerals plays a key role
Living, lifestyle and working
totally redefined
The Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier is currently under development at the heart of Hamburg’s HafenCity. EP Power Minerals fly ash plays a key role in the mega-project.
Excavators and cranes are working flat out on the huge construction site in the southern part of Hamburg's HafenCity. Every day, the buildings designed by renowned architects like Hamburg's Böge Lindner K2 or France’s Christian de Portzamparc are continuing to climb further skywards, already giving a good idea of the future dimensions of the new Überseequartier. When the megaproject opens in the second half of 2022, the metropolis on the Elbe will have yet another attraction. Over a total area of 419,000 square meters – equivalent to about 10 soccer pitches – a district is currently growing which will set completely new standards and is expected to attract an estimated 16.2 million visitors per year.
The site of today's HafenCity has always played a special role in Hamburg’s history. At the end of the 1960s, with the advent of sea containers, handling in the port of Hamburg changed fundamentally, replacing the mixed cargo handling in sacks, crates and barrels that had dominated until then. The port and industrial site to the south of Hamburg’s city center with the adjoining warehouse district – the Speicherstadt – became increasingly unattractive. Container handling meant that far more space was needed, as well as large storage and loading areas and an appropriate draft.
This led to the port industry shifting downstream south of the Elbe, and to construction of the large Eurogate, Burchardkai, Tollerort and Altenwerder container terminals with huge gantry cranes and the related hinterland connections.
Biggest urban development project in Europe
The city developed new uses for the industrial wasteland that is now home to HafenCity. With an investment volume of around 13 billion euros, a mixed-use development of commercial, office and residential space which will expand downtown Hamburg by around 40 percent towards the Elbe is being created here over an area of approximately 155 hectares. Once finally completed in 2030, the district will offer an estimated 48,000 jobs and living quarters for approximately 12,000 people.
To connect to the existing rapid transit network of the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV), a completely new underground line, the U4, has been built with three stops in HafenCity, and planning has already begun for an extension across the Elbe towards Hamburg-Veddel. HafenCity is undoubtedly Europe’s biggest inner-city urban development project at present. The best-known individual building in HafenCity is most certainly the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, which opened in 2017. In a striking fi nal act, work on the some 240-meter-high Elbtower is to begin at the eastern end of the district in 2021.
What is special about the HafenCity concept is the high standard of urbanity coupled with approaches to environmental sustainability. The buildings in the eastern part, for example, are linked with each other via a sophisticated energy management system. The land and water combination, too, is unique: HafenCity is not separated from the water by dikes.
Instead, the site is being raised some eight to nine meters above sea level, with the exception only of the quayside and riverside promenades and the waterfront locations, thus preserving the typical port environment and direct access to the water while at the same time ensuring flood protection.
A new magnet at the heart of HafenCity
Around 650 apartments in the immediate vicinity of the water are being developed on the Überseequartier site. Offices with a 360° view will provide space for around 4,000 new jobs, with numerous leisure facilities adding the finishing touch to the attractive development. There’s a shopping mall with 200 retail outlets, for example, for a leisurely shopping spree, and numerous cafés, restaurants and bars with chic fl air and inspirational cuisine where visitors can eat, drink and relax.
Film fans can enjoy a futuristic multiplex cinema, while three new hotels provide comfortable accommodation for tourists and business people alike. By offering 830 rooms total, for overnight guests, it's getting possible to satisfy all the visitors. There are hotels for lovers of luxery, for the demand of the upper middle class and the economy segment. Another highlight is the Cruise Center with its underground bus station. The total cost of construction amounts to around one billion euros.
Fly ash for optimal concrete formula
But in order for the mega-project with its 14 individual buildings to be completed on time, the construction site has to operate smoothly and efficiently.
This is ensured in part by two mobile concrete mixing plants from KBK – Kies Beton Krebs GmbH & Co. KG, which are deployed directly in the immediate vicinity and produce a total of around 300,000 cubic meters of concrete. The provision of mobile mixing plants for effectively supplying concrete to large construction sites is only one line of business of the Neumünster-based company founded in 1999 though. Besides providing modern truck mixers and concrete pumps, KBK mainly focuses on individual and professional solutions in the field of concrete technology.“We are familiar with the special requirements of various construction projects and provide well-founded advice ensuring an optimal concrete formula,” says Marc Fröhlich, Managing Partner of KBK.
In the construction of Überseequartier, for example, around 20,000 metric tons of hard coal fly ash from EP Power Minerals are particularly helping to ensure that a durable concrete with excellent properties can be produced, delivered and installed. “Among other things, our fly ash in the concrete ensures that the development of hydration heat in the massive concrete foundations is reduced, thus keeping any possible crack formation to a minimum,” Michael Chemnitz, Key Account Manager at EP Power Minerals, points out.
Security of supply thanks to various sources
In order to implement the project successfully and ensure a constant supply, EP Power Minerals and KBK have together drawn up an appropriate concept: “The fly ash used in concrete construction has to comply with DIN EN 450 standards. We therefore concentrate exclusively on this quality and obtain the fly ash from various sources,” Chemnitz explains. A major supplier is the nearby Moorburg power plant, but during the past winter, fly ash from power plants in Berlin and Denmark was also used. “Our concept is put together in such a way that we always know where fly ash is available, and can accordingly react quickly and always deliver sufficient volumes,” Michael Chemnitz stresses.
Several years of strong partnership
EP Power Minerals has now been working together successfully with KBK for more than five years. The cooperation began with supplying fly ash to stationary concrete mixing plants, and since KBK sold these in 2016, both partners have worked together on various construction sites, for example as part of a project on the A7 freeway in Hamburg-Stellingen. The cooperation between the two companies is characterized above all by open communication and trust. Marc Fröhlich reaffirms: “We are delighted to be working with our partner EP Power Minerals again in reliably implementing this mega-project.”