Geotechnik vor 100 Jahren am Beispiel des Baus der neuen Seeschleuse in Emden

Geotechnics in the past using the example of the Emden Sea Lock In the year 1902 the Emden‐Port forefathers have decided to enlarge the port and to build a new huge sea‐lock to the inner harbour of Emden. A port extension plan became reality starting in 1907 with the ”Great Emden Sea‐Lock“ and its dimensions of 260 m in length and 40 m in width. In 1913 the lock went in operation. Especially the challenges to the groundwater lowering were very extremely at that time. Engineer Willy Zander has looked for new systems of groundwater lowering. In several horizons were brought down the wells and so Zander was able to optimize the pumping system of some more than 500 wells to get nearly wet the building‐pit bottom around four years to build the lock.     

Die Dywidag‐Versuchsschale in Wiesbaden‐Biebrich von 1931

The Dywidag Test Shell in Wiesbaden‐Biebrich from 1931 – A Contribution to the Early History of Reinforced Concrete Shell Construction in Germany In 1931, a photo was taken in Wiesbaden that made history in the field of engineering: A group of employees of the construction company Dyckerhoff & Widmann posed on a reinforced concrete test shell being just a few centimeters thick. To date, this experimental construction is presented as a symbol of the beginnings in concrete shell construction in numerous publications in Germany as well as in other countries. The paper deals with the lesser‐known circumstances of the erection of the test shell as well with its colorful history. The building does not only document the early history of shell construction. It also shows the challenges that may occur when protecting a monument of construction and industrial history that is not usable or economically exploitable.