COWIfeature no.11 2005 UK

COWI's international magazine – No. 11, June 2005
Harmony
Acousticians create
perfect concert sound
under challenging
conditions
They cut damp
basements in two
Maritime urban development
for Copenhagen
Inspiration for
the Danish
building industry
4 Damp basements cut in two
A new method in Denmark can stop damage caused by
rising damp in older buildings
9 Danish company specialising in gasification of wood chips
4
A diamond chainsaw means
minimal risk of damage to buildings when cutting basements in
half. Photo: Stig Stasig
For many years the Danish building industry has suffered from the belief that the wider world had nothing
to teach us. The industry has been very insular and
foreign architects have found it difficult to come to
Denmark. With the result that buildings, while well
conceived from a Scandinavian philosophical perspective, often are lacking in grandiose visual innovation.
COWI’s vice president for Building and Operation,
Henrik Rossen, yearns for international inspiration on
a more visual level—also within engineering. He explains that COWI has greatly benefited from gaining
inspiration through collaboration with foreign consultants in areas such as construction, indoor climate
and facades. However, Henrik Rossen foresees better
times ahead and feels that the industry is beginning
to rise from the deadwater. Investors are becoming
increasingly aware that they need to take a longerterm view of their investments. The authorities and
politicians are showing greater daring and a willingness to be more open to buildings that are different.
Many of the buildings going up in the Port of Copenhagen, such as the Sluseholmen project, show that
there is a desire to incorporate inspiration from other
countries.
Read more about Copenhagen’s Dutch-inspired
development project in Sluseholmen and an interview
with COWI’s vice president for Building and Operation
on pages 30-35.
10 “Green” bricks a good, competitive alternative
11 Tracing chemical substances
13 COWI wins sixth airport contract
Rooms with a sea view,
such as here in Sluseholmen, are proving
increasingly popular.
Photo: Tao Lytzen
30
14 Kaliningrad Port tackles
environmental concerns
17 Natural oestrogens in freshwater
18 Concert sound of studio quality
From sporting events to the Eurovision Song Contest, the sound in
Forum Horsens is rated tops
18
24 Lifting a new bridge in place
around an old one
Henrik Rossen—vice president
with strong opinions.
Photo: Tao Lytzen
28 Thailand to have world’s longest road bridge
John Jørgensen, Editor-in-chief
@
30 Sail home to your front door
John Jørgensen, jhj@cowi.dk
Copenhagen’s southern port area to have new residential quarter
with maritime atmosphere
Rehearsals are under
way for the 2005 Danish
Eurovision Song Contest
in Horsens. Photo: Niels
Åge Skovbo
Publisher COWI A/S
Parallelvej 2, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark
Tel.: +45 4597 2211
Fax: +45 4597 2212
www.cowi.dk
Cover
Acoustician Richard Ballinger
Photo: Niels Aage Skovbo
COWI is a leading northern European consulting group. We provide state-of-the-art
services within the fields of engineering,
environmental science and economics with
due consideration for the environment and
society. COWI is a leader within its fields
because COWI’s 3,300 employees are
leaders within theirs.
COWIfeature is published in Danish
and English and distributed to clients,
business partners and employees.
Editors
John Jørgensen (Editor-in-chief) jhj@cowi.dk
Christina Tækker cht@cowi.dk
Janne Toft Jensen jaje@cowi.dk
Jette Westerdahl jewe@cowi.dk
Lotte Lykke Pedersen llp@cowi.dk
Translation
Language Wire
Design & layout
Josina W. Bergsøe
Patrick Andresén
Hanne Bjørn Nielsen
Editorial input closed 11.05.2005
Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted with appropriate source references.
Print run 12,000
Production: Schultz Grafisk
ISSN 1600-6186
By Christina Tækker
Cutter Ejler Degnebolig shows the
diamond chainsaw that is ideally
suited to cutting through reinforced
brickwork. Photo: Stig Stasig
Many females would probably consider cutter Ejler
Degnebolig and his team’s work in a basement in
central Copenhagen to be a serious waste of precious stones. Their most important work tools are
two diamond chainsaws that are being used to cut
the basement in half.
The small, one-carat diamonds—as effective at
making the ladies swoon as they are at cutting
through the reinforced brickwork in the basement of
a cooperative housing block in Copenhagen’s Burmeistergade—glint as the saws are swung into action. The basement is the site of a demonstration
project to test a method of stopping clear signs of
rising damp such as mould fungus in ground floor
flats, rot in supporting wooden beams and stains on
outer walls from salt and rising damp.
The method—not previously used in Denmark—
provides an effective alternative to traditional
methods, which are not 100 per cent guaranteed to
stop rising damp from groundwater. The idea is to
insert a stainless steel plate into the wall and seal it
with mortar, so that all the difficult corners can
be reached. This method spares the building and
minimises the risk of damage, as the opening is cut
transversely through the wall in direct contrast to
the traditional method of driving a steel plate into
the wall.
Far too often, urban renewal projects waste
money by damp-proofing the outer basement walls
to prevent rising damp in the wall or laying a drain
around the basement. But these methods do not
prevent all rising damp, which often originates from
groundwater. Consequently water continues to seep
up from the basement, despite the fact that the outer
basement walls are damp-proof.
“Most old houses with brick foundations have a
problem—and it is a growing problem,” explains
project manager Rune Christiansen of the Urban Renewal Company. “With the advent of penthouses, today we use roofs much more intensively. Consequently many attics have been converted and we are
increasingly storing furniture, books and clothing in
dry cellars. More people also wish to use their basements as workrooms or meeting and conference
rooms. This places greater demands on basement
structures.”
Discovering rot is a serious problem
The demonstration project is part of a development
project to ascertain methods of identifying and rem-
edying dampness problems in brick basement walls
and foundations in old buildings. The aim is to map
existing methods of stopping rising damp and to find
out how effective these methods are. But the project
also aims to encourage the development of new, effective methods of dampness prevention and ascertain which measuring instruments and methods can
identify and control the long-term effects.
The development project was initiated by the
Landowners’ Investment Association, which carries
out improvements in urban areas and housing. The
Urban Renewal Company is a subsidiary of the Landowners’ Investment Association. COWI is coordinating and managing the technical details and helping
to find the right specialists.
“You may well ask yourself what it means when a
property has problems with rising damp,” says COWI
project manager Michael Per Vesterløkke. “But discovering that you have rot and fungus is a serious
problem, because it indicates that the entire foundation is at risk. In addition, dampness carries salt that
stains the wall when it dries. There is also a significant risk of frost damage when the wall is wet.”
He points out that the two traditional methods of
stopping rising damp have a number of drawbacks.
Damp basements
cut in two
In a basement in central Copenhagen, a new method in Denmark
of preventing damage caused by rising damp in older buildings is
currently being tested. Using a diamond chainsaw, the basement
has been cut into two halves to create an effective moisture
barrier. The method appears very promising
4
The team in this Copenhagen
basement has to work under
difficult conditions, with a low
ceiling and little light. Photo:
Stig Stasig
5
Stopping rising damp in
old brick basements
Rising damp in the wall
Rot in the timberwork
The chemical method, which involves injecting a substance into the brick foundation, has had no documented effect so far. The mechanical method, where
a stainless steel plate is inserted into a horizontal
joint, needs to be further developed. There is often no
horizontal joint into which the plates can be inserted
or vibrated. Not to mention that the vibrations caused
can damage the wall.
Surface mould fungus
A steel plate inserted in the
wall prevents rising damp
Outer wall thermal and moisture
insulation and drain
Different methods of cutting
Four different methods of cutting have been
tested in the development project. Diamond
chainsaws have proven to be the easiest to work
with. The four methods were first tested in the
town of Slagelse in a pilot project on a property
due for demolition. The demonstration project in
Burmeistergade began on 1 December 2004
and will run until summer. It is being carried out
Information campaign
“To put an effective stop to rising damp, it is important
to install a continuous moisture barrier. Otherwise
water will seep up through the walls. Therefore part
of our project is concerned with finding out the most
effective moisture barrier for corners, where it is difficult to insert plates and get them to overlap,” explains Rune Christiansen.
“The hope is that the present project will culminate in an information campaign in the shape of a
manual and instructions on how to identify and resolve rising damp problems. One obstacle to spreading the word about the method is that a year hence it
by Øens Murerfirma, the facade cleaning
company Cortex and Totaldiamanten. The
development project will run for another year.
may be deemed too expensive,” ruminates Rune
Christiansen. However, a midway seminar last year
attracted a great deal of interest from consultants,
architects, insurers and researchers.
@
Project manager Michael Per Vesterløkke, mv@cowi.dk
www.gi.dk
www.sbsby.dk
Illustration:
Mediafarm
COWI project manager Michael Per
Vesterløkke (to right of wall) and Rune
Christiansen, project manager with SBS,
are closely following the demonstration
project. Photo: Stig Stasig
6
Peeling paint caused by rising
damp and salt
In the Danish version you cut through
the wall horizontally, making a cut of
up to one metre in length. This is done
with a diamond chainsaw fixed to a
height-adjustable moveable table
The joint is sealed with mortar
and left for 16 hours to harden.
The next plate is then inserted
to overlap the first
The stainless steel plate is
inserted into wet mortar
Drain
7
Cleaner technology
for Dubai Aluminium
Four years after the flooding
in Maputo, the capital of
Mozambique, inhabitants are
still suffering periodical power
Monitoring oil spills in the
Russian sector of the Baltic
Sea and Russian Baltic seaports is to be improved.
Recent years have seen a significant increase in oil tanker
traffic from Russia to central
Europe via the Baltic Sea. And
with the increase in oil-carrying tankers comes increased
international awareness of
the risk of oil spills in the
Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) in
the UAE is introducing cleaner
technology for its aluminium
production. With a yearly production of about 670,000
tons, Dubal is among the
Cost-effective solutions
Up until Christmas 2004 COWI
worked on a project to provide power supplies to the
northern part of the capital.
In Mogoanine, a suburb with
7,500 inhabitants, tests were
carried out on a number of
cost-effective solutions to
bring power supplies to the
city, including the installation
of a low-voltage distribution
network to be supplied via
power transformers. Here
COWI was responsible for design improvement and implementing the best economic
solutions. In Maputo COWI
collaborated with SWECO and
was responsible for, among
other things, preparing the
feasibility study and supervising the project. Danida is
financing both assignments.
8
@
Resident engineer Bohdan
Luczynski, blu@cowi.dk
Photo: Scanpix
cuts. But finally the situation
is about to be normalised.
Last year COWI completed a
project aimed at improving
power supplies to vital institutions such as schools, hospitals, water supply plants
and industrial enterprises to
enable them to operate without disruption from power cuts.
countries bordering the Baltic
Sea and in the EU.
Therefore monitoring of
oil spills is to be improved
and oil-spill response systems for the Russian sector
of the Baltic Sea are to be enhanced. The systems will include definition of joint criteria for monitoring harbours
and common rules on responding to oil spills and
monitoring shipping.
“The project will enhance
international cooperation to
prevent and combat oil spills
in the Baltic Sea,” explains
COWI project manager Carsten
Jürgensen. “In addition, it will
advance the development of
an information and emergency centre that can respond
immediately in a crisis situation and thus minimise
damage in the event of an oil
spillage.”
@
Project manager Carsten
Jürgensen, crj@cowi.dk
Photo: Svend Erik Mikkelsen
Solar cells in
Namibia
Solar cells (PV) and in some
locations wind turbines offer
a good alternative to diesel in
remote areas of sparsely populated Namibia. This is the
principal message in a Danidafinanced project to demonstrate alternative energy systems for areas that are isolated from the national electricity grid. Diesel, traditionally used to produce electricity for isolated rural communities, is becoming more
expensive than alternative
forms of energy following a
fall in the price of solar cells.
Not to mention the additional
resources required to maintain diesel engines compared
with solar cells.
Svend Erik Mikkelsen, COWI
project manager with responsibility for providing technical
assistance, comments: “The
project has also shown that it
is possible to persuade people
to pay for alternative forms of
energy. In addition, we have
demonstrated that with good
energy management you can
enhance awareness among
end-users and thus reduce
consumption.”
COWI has carried out the
assignment in collaboration
with Gobabeb and local company EMCON Consulting
Group.
@
Project manager Svend Erik
Mikkelsen, sem@cowi.dk
www.drfn.org.na/degreee
stage gasification plant has been developed that converts wood chips
into a combustible gas which is used in a gas engine to produce heat and
power. The good results achieved with the gasification plant have encouraged interest from Weiss A/S in further developing the process.
With support from Elkraft-system, the company is establishing a pilot
gasification plant to demonstrate that the two-stage process is capable
of sufficient capacity to be of interest for district heating plants—while
at the same time retaining the good levels achieved in experiments with
the smaller gasification plant at the Technical University of Denmark. The
pilot gasification plant will be about ten times the size of the one at the
university.
Weiss director Morten Grøn explains: ”This project is necessary in
order to demonstrate the process using sufficient capacity to show that
economically profitable and environmentally friendly biomass gasification
plants can realistically be established in Denmark. The two-stage gasification process also holds tremendous potential for many other countries.”
Photo: Finn Hirslund
Combating oil spills
in the Baltic Sea
Photo: Bohdan Luczynski
Electricity on
again in Maputo
“Gasification plants can be used in combination with natural gas in many of the
gas engine plants found in Denmark,”
explains COWI project manager Jens
Dall Bentzen. Photo: Tao Lytzen
world’s biggest aluminium
producers. Assisted by an environmental impact assessment (EIA) survey, Dubal decided to change the method
of ship import of pitch from
dusty bulk handling to entirely
enclosed liquids. Pitch is used
as binder material in the production of anodes that is the
first step in aluminium production. From a specially designed ship, 180°C hot liquid
pitch is transferred into two
8,700 m3 tanks in the port of
Jebel Ali and from there by
road tanker to the anode production plant seven km away.
In this way the previous occupational hazards associated
with the handling of solid
pitch have been eliminated,
and a fully enclosed vapour
return and cleaning system
has reduced emissions even
further to an absolute minimum. COWI in collaboration
with its subsidiary, COWI
Almoayed Gulf, assisted Dubal
with the EIA, tender design and
tendering, as well as supervision of the detailed design, construction and commissioning.
@
Project manager
Finn Hirslund, fh@cowi.dk
Danish company
specialises in
gasification of
wood chips
Weiss A/S, the Technical
University of Denmark and COWI
are developing the technology to
supply homes with heat and
power derived from wood chips
Flexible use with natural gas
Gasification plants can replace biomass plants that today only produce
heat, but it is also possible to use the gas produced by gasification in
existing natural gas fired combined heat and power plants. Today the
natural gas network is sufficiently well developed and natural gas supplies many Danish towns and cities with energy. In fact, many towns and
cities have already established combined heat and power plants based
on natural gas, whereby the gas is used to produce both heat and power.
"Gasification plants can be used in combination with natural gas in
many of the gas engine plants found in Denmark. Given that heat and
power transmission networks and grids, buildings and engines are already operative and can be reused, it would be possible to convert these
plants from fossil fuel to biomass as gas production from the North Sea
becomes reduced,” explains COWI project manager Jens Dall Bentzen,
who has been involved in developing the two-stage gasification process
since 1995.
Recycling heat
By Christina Tækker
Wood chips will be a source of heat and power for the homes of the future. This is the hope of biomass technology supplier Weiss A/S, which
has entered into cooperation with the Technical University of Denmark
and COWI to further develop so-called two-stage gasification technology. The initiative follows many years of research and development at
the Technical University of Denmark, where a small, fully automatic two-
The two-stage process differentiates itself from other gasification processes as waste heat from the gasification plant is used to heat the pyrolysis process. This affords a number of advantages, such as high energy
efficiency and high heating value and hydrogen content of the gas. Consequently the gas has good combustion qualities in, for instance, gas
engines.
@
Project manager Jens Dall Bentzen, jdb@cowi.dk
9
By Christina Tækker
Photo: Tao Lytzen
‘Green’ bricks a good,
competitive alternative
Bricks made from building
waste are aesthetically pleasing,
economically competitive and
help reduce CO2 emissions, a
new report shows
‘Green’ bricks produced from broken tiles and old mortar look
good, reduce consumption of raw
materials such as clay, cut CO2
emissions and offer a viable alternative to traditional bricks.
These are just some of the results
of a demonstration project entitled ‘Programme for the promotion of organic building’, where
for the first time ‘green’ bricks
have been tested as part of a
larger project to build 26 family
council houses in the town of
Herning. Results from the project
showed that CO2 emissions were
reduced by 115 tons compared to
building with traditional bricks
and that in general residents are
satisfied with the indoor climate.
The experience gained from this
project has since been applied to
a number of other projects.
”Crushed, broken tiles and
old mortar produce an attractive
building brick with a greyish
nuance that over time patinates,”
explains architect Kristian Sandgaard from the firm of architects
Kristian H. Nielsen IS, one of the
partners in the project. “Economically the project has shown that
‘green’ bricks can compete with
regular bricks, although at
present there is no direct financial gain to be made from using
them. Those likely to invest in
‘green’ bricks are people who already have an interest in ecological initiatives.”
More experience needed
10
COWI has followed the project
from the planning stage to construction and for a further year
after construction was completed
in 2004. The objective was to
promote sustainable development
in the Danish construction sector.
The project has culminated in a
number of recommendations as
to the best type of mortar to use,
how to avoid crack formation and
patination. COWI has also prepared a life cycle analysis that
evaluates the expected lifetime of
‘green’ bricks, environmental impact, indoor climate and health
factors.
“The project is a success insofar as we have carried out a fullscale construction project with a
product that no one else had
any experience with. The result
stands as a good example of innovative thinking combined with
Danish brick-building tradition. The
final result is a good, satisfying
one for both residents and
owners,” says COWI project
manager Niels Møller Jensen.
Tracing chemical
substances
Volatile substances in land pollution, working
environment, indoor climate, consumer products
and even war gases can be quickly found by the
HAPSITE measuring instrument
With the portable measuring instrument,
environmental technician Christian Buck no
longer needs to await the results of tests
as before, which would entail a visit to the
laboratory. Photo: Morten Larsen
Great potential in countries like Iraq
Engineer Stig Maegaard Kristensen from the Ekotek sales organisation, who took part in the
project and whose idea it was to
use ‘green’ bricks, sees further
possibilities in areas with limited
local resources:
“The prospects for utilising
‘green’ bricks are greatest in areas
where resources are limited and
the situation often critical—for
instance, in war-torn areas such
as Iraq. But it will require a
change of attitude. In the same
way as we have become used to
recycling glass bottles, we have
to get used to the idea of recycling broken bricks. And that
requires effective marketing.”
@
Project manager Niels Møller
Jensen, nxj@cowi.dk
www. ebst.dk
A folder is available on request from the manufacturer
of ‘green’ bricks:
www.astrup-cement.dk
11
Integrated risk
management
By Gitte Petersen
For a little over a year, COWI has been using the only
HAPSITE measuring instrument in Denmark to
measure chemical substances in the air above and
below ground. The instrument is a portable GC/MS
that can immediately identify unknown substances
and determine how high the concentrations are.
COWI environmental technician Christian Buck
explains: “It gives you the advantage that you can
immediately plan a further survey. We do not need to
await the results of tests as before, which would entail a visit to the laboratory.”
Pollution and indoor climate
In soil pollution surveys it is possible to trace unknown pollution and to demarcate the extent of
pollution by taking further measurements.
“But only your fantasy sets the limits for the uses
to which you can put the instrument,” continues
Christian Buck. “For instance, it can also be used for
screening of evaporation from products such as toys
that have odorants added. It is a quick way to identify chemical substances and the result can be used
to identify critical products.”
It takes only 5-15 minutes to carry out a
measurement, which makes the HAPSITE particularly
well suited to fieldwork.
COWI is currently using the instrument to assess soil
pollution—so-called soil gas measurements—and
for working environment and indoor climate surveys.
One survey involved fumes emitting from office flooring on a certain company’s premises.
Christian Buck recalls: “People had been complaining about the indoor climate, so we measured
the fumes from the flooring in the office concerned
and in the adjoining offices. And there were clearly
more fumes being emitted from the flooring that
people were complaining about.” The company was
recommended to lay new flooring.
The instrument is also well suited to crisis situations.
In the USA the military has measuring instruments
on standby in case of a chemical attack by terrorists.
HAPSITE comes complete with a special library that
enables identification and quantification of war
gases for rapid response, so that the appropriate
action can be rapidly implemented.
“When dealing with dangerous substances, being
able to act quickly is a real strength of the HAPSITE,”
says Christian Buck.
Able to measure war gases
@
Environmental technician Christian Buck,
crb@cowi.dk
Able to identify about 170,000 substances
The HAPSITE is a GC/MS produced by US company Inficon and has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The instrument contains a library with about 170,000 named substances. With the help of the library, the HAPSITE can identify volatile substances in air samples and
measure concentrations down to nanogram/microgram level.
12
Integrated risk management
can help companies react at
the right time and in the appropriate way in a constantly
changing society. For the first
time in Denmark, a risk management concept is being introduced that will help companies to form a full overview
of financial, strategic and operational risks and opportunities.
The concept is the brainchild of
COWI, which has developed the
tools and methods to support
multidisciplinary solutions.
COWI’s Risk & Opportunity
Check (ROC) is based on the
principle that every risk is accompanied by a potential opportunity. The purpose of ROC is to
assist management in identifying and dealing with situations
that may constitute a risk for the
company’s strategic and business objectives. Today international companies in particular
face many risks, including market changes, disloyal consumers
or key members of staff leaving
the company. At the same time
society’s norms are changing
faster than ever, which can be of
great importance to the way you
react or the technology or materials the company uses. “But
risks cannot be dealt with as
isolated instances. Financial
risks are interlinked with operational and strategic risks and
vice versa. To gain a full overview of where the company is
vulnerable, one must understand both the risks and the opportunities facing the company
and how they influence one another,” says Jens Schierbeck,
senior manager with COWI.
@
Senior manager Jens
Schierbeck, jesc@cowi.dk
Salalah airport as it
looked in 2002.
Photo: Medvind Fotografi
COWI climbs the rankings
With the construction of two new international
airports in Oman, COWI is now among the world
leaders in airport consultancy services
By Christina Tækker and
Janne Toft Jensen
president, Railways, Roads and
Airports.
This gives rise to the prospect
of further orders in the Middle
East. Not only within the airport
sector but also in construction,
which COWI foresees will be the
next sector in which the company
achieves its international breakthrough. COWI already enjoys a
strong position in Oman where it
has been involved in a number of
distinctive commercial and hotel
construction projects, the building
of the national bank, modernisations and port developments
through its subsidiary in the
country.
The Philippines, Guyana, Latvia,
Bulgaria, India… and now Oman.
COWI is currently embarked on
its sixth major international airport project since 2000, each in
collaboration with a strong local
partner. In January 2005, in a
joint venture with Larsen Architects, the Danish consultancy firm
landed the contract as leading
consultant for the construction of
two new international airports in
Oman. This is the biggest single
contract won by COWI in the company’s history.
This new contract moves COWI
well up the rankings of internaBelief in effect
tional airport consultants. Once
considered among the smaller “We believe that the new airport
projects will come to influence our
players in this field, COWI is now
a serious competitor to the major whole strategy in the Gulf and locally in Oman, which we consider
international consultants, says
our ‘home’ market,” says Peter
Peter Hostrup Rasmussen, vice
Hostrup Rasmussen. “Today if
you are competent to build an international airport, in practice
you can accomplish all types of
complex constructions—anything
from hospitals to hotels and harbours. Whereas 20 years ago
consultancy services tended to be
concerned primarily with different
types of surfacing, today you must
have experience of runways, control towers, terminal buildings,
road systems, environment and
economic aspects.”
COWI is the leading consultant for the Oman airports project,
with responsibility for every phase
of project implementation from
planning and design to construction supervision. The airport construction investments, to be financed by the government of
Oman, total over DKK 2.4 billion.
The COWI group’s fees from the
project are expected to run into
hundreds of millions of Danish
Kroner (DKK).
Strengthening the tourist industry
The bigger of the two airports,
Seeb, will serve Muscat, the capital of Oman. On completion the
airport will have a capacity of 12
million passengers a year. The
second and smaller airport, Salalah, to be built in southern Oman,
will have a capacity of two million
passengers a year. The airports
are to be completed by the end of
2008.
The goal is to design two toplevel modern airports capable of
handling the latest aircraft including the Airbus 380, the world’s
largest passenger aircraft.
@
Vice president for Railways,
Roads and Airports,
Peter Hostrup Rasmussen,
pra@cowi.dk
13
Environment manager Mikhail Durkin.
Today the port administration is a
modern organisation with competent
staff. “I consider Mikhail Durkin as an
exponent of the new generation of
specialists in Russia with a grand
international vision,” says COWI’s
Carsten Jürgensen. Photo: Thomas
Bertelsen
Kaliningrad Port
tackles environmental
concerns
The environment manager at Russia’s Kaliningrad
Port, Mikhail Durkin, has seen major changes in the
last few years. From maintaining an isolated existence,
Kaliningrad is now playing an increasing role in international environmental collaboration efforts
By Jesper With
14
“There have been surprisingly many
improvements compared to only
five years ago,” comments environment manager Mikhail Durkin.
“Take, for instance, that land-based
oil terminal you see over there.
Almost everything that could go
wrong with it did go wrong before,
and worst of all their attitude towards the environment left a lot
to be desired.” We are on board a
monitoring ship in Kaliningrad Port
that keeps a close eye on pollution of all kinds—but mainly oil
pollution.
Mikhail Durkin explains that
the port authorities presented a
list of environmental demands to
the owners of the terminal, which
they have subsequently adhered
to. There were severe safety
problems with the oil pilot plant
discharge points at the railway
terminal and the jetty. “As the
port authority, we had to intervene—and the owners had to
make drastic improvements in
conditions to retain their position
on the market”.
Goods transport quadrupled
33-year-old Mikhail Durkin has
been environment manager of the
port since 1999 and therefore
has detailed knowledge of the
port’s strengths and weaknesses.
We are sailing from the port
authority’s office out towards the
Baltic Sea coastline. As we leave
the port, the many expansions
made of late to the installations
and terminals there are clearly in
evidence. According to Durkin,
goods transportation out of Kaliningrad Port has quadrupled in just
three years, and no less than 60
per cent of this trade is in oil—
which the environment manager
considers somewhat excessive.
While he is pleased that the port
is enjoying constant growth, he
would like to see oil transportation making up a lesser proportion relative to regular container
freight.
“The greater the number of oil
tankers, the greater the risk of
pollution,” explains Mikhail Durkin.
Kaliningrad more or less has its
oil pollution control measures in
place, although there are still a
few holes to be plugged. This is
partly why COWI, as part of a
new EU project, is heading a consortium to establish uniformity
between the local emergency
plan for Kaliningrad Port, the
national Russian plan and international emergency plans to combat oil pollution in the Baltic Sea.
“There is now an acceptable
level of resources being made
available by the Russians to assist the operations of the environmental office, which is independently run, although it is essential
that the new project also generates outside assistance, as it does
after all involve international collaboration. The emergency plans
need to take into account the rapid
growth in Russian oil tanker
traffic in the Baltic Sea,” points
out Mikhail Durkin, who studied
environmental management for
two years in Lund, Sweden.
Surrounded by the EU
The Kaliningrad region, previously
home to the Soviet Union’s enormous Baltic fleet and consequently
totally closed off from the outside world, is entering a new and
very different era. Although the
town of Baltijsk remains a base
for part of the Russian fleet, a
clear illustration of how times are
changing for Kaliningrad is typified by the port authority’s efforts
to establish a ferry terminal for
both military and civilian traffic in
Baltijsk. The terminal is sited
where the lagoon in which
Kaliningrad is located meets the
Baltic Sea. As far as oil pollution
is concerned, the entire lagoon is
the responsibility of Kaliningrad
Port. A few years ago it would
have been unthinkable for civilian
shipping to use Baltijsk. But today
Kaliningrad, an enclave surrounded
by EU countries Lithuania and
Poland, is experiencing problems
with the transit of goods and
New port terminal in Baltijsk
people through Lithuania to the
From the point of view of the enrest of Russia. Among other
vironment manager, the developthings, Lithuania is far from happy
at having Russian military trans- ment of Baltijsk Port will be the biggest challenge in the coming years.
port passing through the country.
“The fleet follows its own rules
“Therefore we wish to make
and is perhaps not overly conthe region as independent of land
transport as possible and to ex- cerned about environmental affairs,” explains Mikhail Durkin.
tend the railway line to the new
port terminal in Baltijsk, from “The problem is that from our
monitoring location in Baltijsk Port
where we can sail goods and
we receive a steady stream of dispeople back and forward across
the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg. mal pollution figures. We have established a ferry terminal in Baltijsk
So you see, the expansion of the
so that we can enter the port
EU eastwards has already directly
whenever we wish, but there is
influenced the development of
Kaliningrad and Baltijsk Ports,” not much we can do to combat
pollution and emergency presays Mikhail Durkin.
paredness within the military zone
15
itself. Prior to constructing the
ferry terminal facilities, COWI carried out an in-depth environmental survey of the area on behalf of
EBRD—and well that they did.”
COWI project manager Carsten
Jürgensen recounts: “We found a
rather large oil lake on the site
where the ferry terminal was originally planned. The area belonged
to the military and therefore no previous surveys had been carried out.”
He goes on to say that pollution was surmised, as the area
had previously been used as an oil
storage depot. But to gain access
to the area entailed going through
a lengthy process of applying for
permission from the military.
“The project showed that it truly
does pay to carry out an in-depth
survey prior to commencing any
major construction,” continues
Carsten Jürgensen. Mikhail Durkin
adds that the find led to the
terminal being sited elsewhere,
thus avoiding the necessity of
having to clean up the extensively
polluted area—and so it transpired that the new site resulted in
significantly lower ferry terminal
construction costs than had been
budgeted for.
Warnings
Mikhail Durkin considers that, with
the rapid growth in oil tanker traffic,
the perspectives for the Baltic Sea
are alarming. The oil shipping port
of Primorsk, near St. Petersburg, is
the site of constant expansion
these years. And Mikhail Durkin
sees accidents such as those in
Denmark involving the single-hull
ships Baltic Carrier in 2001 and Fu
Shan Hai in 2003 as a portend of
worse to come. Rising oil prices
are leading to increasing demand
for Russian oil, which can only be
facilitated by expanding export fa-
cilities in Kaliningrad and other
Russian and Baltic ports. Oil from
Kaliningrad is shipped primarily to
regional refineries in Copenhagen,
Gothenburg, Helsinki and Rotterdam.
Mikhail Durkin is of the opinion that
tighter measures at international
level are necessary in order to be
as well prepared as possible to
face the increased risk of oil pollution in the Baltic Sea. These measures include phasing out single-hull
ships, harmonising standards for
oil terminals and stricter control of
tankers, many of which are plying
international waters with woefully
inadequate environmental safeguards. And this applies equally
to Scandinavian ships using
Kaliningrad Port.
“I believe there should be more
economic incentives to dispose of
old, inadequate ships and decrepit
equipment,” concludes Mikhail
Durkin.
Oil exports flowing and growing
Of ships using Kaliningrad Port in
2003, 50 per cent were doublehull vessels. 30 per cent sailed
under the Swedish flag and 30 per
cent under other Nordic flags.
Oil exports out of Kaliningrad
are showing rapid growth. A total
of eight million tons of oil were exported in 2004, of which one million tons were produced in the region. Roughly half came from
Lukoil’s new drilling platform,
located 20 km offshore. In 2003
exports totalled seven million tons,
while exports for 2006 are expected to be between nine and
ten million tons.
Kaliningrad lies only 300 km
south-east of Denmark’s easternmost point—the island of
Bornholm.
@
Even though rural wastewater
treatment plants do not discharge large quantities of oestrogens, they often have a great impact on the local aquatic environment. Photo: Bert Wiklund
By Christina Tækker
Project manager Carsten
Jürgensen, crj@cowi.dk
Baltic Sea
North
Sea
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad Port is
much improved compared to a few years
ago, although you can
still see the odd rusting
hulk—sad relics of the
Soviet era. Photo:
Thomas Bertelsen
16
Natural oestrogens
in freshwater
Biological sand filter systems and
willow-based reed bed treatment
systems are effective methods of
stopping the discharge of natural
oestrogens in wastewater. These
are also simple, inexpensive
methods of cleaning wastewater
of female hormones in rural areas
where it would be prohibitively
costly to install sludge processing in small wastewater treatment plants.
So says COWI, which in
collaboration with the Danish
University of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, the University of Southern Denmark and analysis company Eurofins has completed a
national survey for the Danish
Environmental Protection Agency.
The aim was to determine what
happens to female hormones
during traditional wastewater
treatment plant processes. The
survey involved taking 341
samples from 148 localities in
the Danish freshwater environment and from possible sources
of pollution.
One finding shows that the
oestrogen activity detected in
Danish freshwater is the result of
natural hormones rather than
artificially produced hormones
from birth control pills. Most
of Denmark’s wastewater treatment plants are large, advanced
facilities effective in removing
oestrogens. However, there are
about 400 traditional, older
wastewater treatment plants with
low efficiency in rural areas.
Sexual disturbance
The discharge of oestrogens is
suspected of causing sexual
disturbances in fish. Five years
ago it was discovered that up to
44 per cent of roach and trout in
a stream in Århus County had
developed the capability to form
ovaries in their testicles, with the
result that they were unable to
reproduce. “Even though rural
wastewater treatment plants do
not discharge large quantities of
oestrogens, they often have a
great impact on the local aquatic
environment. Particularly in summer, when a number of watercourses have virtually nothing but
treated wastewater in them,”
comments COWI project manager
Frank Stuer-Lauridsen.
Sand filter systems in focus
In recent years sand filter systems
and percolation systems have
come strongly into focus. Percolation systems have proven to be a
good alternative to traditional
drainage, especially in small villages, dispersed settlements and
holiday home areas. At the same
time, alternative methods of treating wastewater have also been
shown to put an effective stop to
oestrogen discharges.
The reed bed system treats wastewater by allowing it to seep through
an area of earth planted with reeds.
The water is cleansed in part by
substances in the water clinging to
particles of earth and in part by the
earth’s micro-organisms breaking
down some of the pollutants in
the wastewater. The willow-based
treatment system cleanses the
water by means of volatilisation—
here the wastewater is neither discharged nor seeped. The system is
set up in a hole lined with plastic
sheeting. The hole is then filled
with earth in which willow trees are
planted. The biological sand filter
system allows the wastewater to
seep vertically down through a
layer of sand about 80 cm thick.
When oxygen is present the organic pollutants are broken down
by the micro-organisms that live in
the grains of sand.
@
Project manager Frank StuerLauridsen, fsl@cowi.dk
17
ACOUSTICS
Concert sound
of studio quality
From sporting events to the Eurovision Song Contest, the
sound in Forum Horsens is rated tops. But creating the
acoustics that can function equally well for such a wide
range of activities is quite a challenge
18
19
Photo: Niels Aage Skovbo
ACOUSTICS
By Gitte Petersen
“As you can hear, there is not much reverberation—
and that is how it should be, because then the sound
technicians can make the necessary adjustments
themselves to achieve precisely the sound they are after,” explains COWI acoustics expert Richard Ballinger
to the background tones of Disco Tango by Tommy
Seebach, Denmark’s entry in the 1979 Eurovision
Song Contest.
A video clip of the number appears on-screen and
the images mix with the live orchestra, in full swing
rehearsing for the 2005 Danish Eurovision Song Contest. A medley performed by different Danish pop
stars is being tested and fine-tuned on stage. Sitting
behind the sound mixer at the back of the hall is sound
technician and department manager for sound in Nordic, Jens Elsborg. He has been hired by the Danish
Broadcasting Corporation to ensure the best sound
for the musicians and audience at the Danish Eurovision Song Contest. Deep in concentration, he is
hunched over the controls adjusting the sound.
Forum Horsens opened to the public for the first
time on 11 September last year. A multi-purpose hall
designed as a venue for events as diverse as sport,
music, theatre, show and dance, with room for up to
4,500 spectators, was poised to make its mark as
Horsens’ new cultural centre. In recent years Horsens
Theatre has hosted leading names like Bob Dylan,
David Bowie and Paul McCartney, and this had generated the need for a more flexible cultural centre.
As well as integrating the town’s existing sports venue
and outdoor stadium, the new centre also houses an
aqua-park. Throughout construction the focus has
been on ensuring that the acoustics in the new hall
would be suitable for a wide range of activities, from
sporting events to rock music, trade fairs, lectures
and theatre—activities that all make very different
demands on the acoustics. This presented a challenge
to COWI, the consultant engineer for the project.
“The result is totally unique. The sound in the hall
is simply fantastic,” says a delighted Frank Panduro,
theatre director of Horsens New Theatre. He has
been involved throughout the process and gave his
full backing to the importance of good acoustics
right from the outset. He adds: “In fact, I believe it
has turned out better than we had dared hope for.
20
“The hall is exceptionally well
suited to rhythmic music,” says
sound technician Jens Elsborg
from Nordic. Photo: Niels Aage
Skovbo
The acoustics are good for classical concerts, too,
so the end solution really is suited to all types of
music.” Although rhythmic music, rather than
classical, provided the main impetus.
Sound should be neutral
In order to accommodate both sporting and music
events it was necessary to have neutral acoustics.
Sound technicians often have to spend inordinate
amounts of time adjusting the sound in different venues—and the result is not always satisfactory. But
Forum Horsens gives a perfect result every time,
says sound technician Jens Elsborg from Nordic.
This is not the first time he has been behind the
sound mixer at Forum Horsens. He also worked on
the opening show and on the renowned “The One
and Only” concert.
“The hall is exceptionally well suited to rhythmic
music. The sound is damped, dry, firm and precise,
all of which gives you a free hand to produce the
music exactly as you want it,” he says and gives the
acoustics full marks. ”People in the audience can
still hear what their partner is saying, even when the
music is loud, and the musicians on stage do not get
the music bouncing back at them—it remains hanging in the air. It’s as good as studio sound.”
Computer tested
From the outset the requirement was that Forum
Horsens should have state-of-the-art acoustics. To
Forum Horsens is preparing for the
2005 Danish Eurovision Song Contest. The venue can accommodate
up to 4,500 spectators. Photo: Niels
Aage Skovbo
assess the sound in a hall that was not yet built,
Richard Ballinger created a computerised 3D model.
The computer model incorporated the actual surfaces
and materials, and a sound source was added.
Using this, it was then possible to calculate sound
levels, reflections, reverberation etc., which in turn
enabled ‘sound test’ recordings to be made inside
the model so that those working on the project could
hear how it would sound in the finished building.
The simulations were based on both capacity audiences of 4,500 and audiences smaller in number.
For comparison purposes, calculations were taken
from various locations in the hall.
“In this way we could determine how the acoustics would sound prior to commencing construction,”
says Richard Ballinger.
The walls absorb the sound
With the help of the 3D model, the material used for
the walls could be regulated to achieve optimal
sound. The walls are clad with special sound-damping materials—so-called sound absorbers. However,
these cannot be seen as they are concealed behind
the wood finish.
Richard Ballinger continues: “For architectural
reasons we have opted for a homogenous wood
finish that does not detract from the sound quality in
any way. It was important to find a solution that was
both acoustically correct and architecturally pleasing.”
Throughout the project COWI has worked closely
with the firm of architects KHR A/S.
On stage, singers Allan Mortensen and Sanne
Gottlieb are performing their version of Grethe and
Jørgen Ingmann’s Danish classic ‘Dance Ballad’.
“By including the acoustics in the design process
from the outset, we can avoid the necessity for
patched-up solutions later. Good acoustics do not
happen by chance—they have to be ensured from
the outset. And it is highly satisfying to have achieved
such a good result here,” smiles Richard Ballinger.
@
Acoustician Richard Ballinger, rmb@cowi.dk
21
ACOUSTICS
STOP
Danish expertise in road safety
exported to several countries to
prevent traffic accidents
COWI recommends that the
police improve the way they
apply the law and intervene
when it is broken—like in
Denmark. Photo: Andrew
Stewart
COWI acoustics expert Richard Ballinger
(left) and Frank Panduro, theatre director
of Horsens New Theatre, are delighted
with the sound in Forum Horsens.
Photo: Niels Aage Skovbo
The path to perfect sound
A variety of sound absorbents on the walls of Forum
Horsens ensures perfect neutral sound
22
Normally it is difficult to make a concert venue out of
a sports arena, as the sound too easily reverberates
off the walls. But installing sound damping materials
on the ceiling and walls has enabled neutral acoustics
in Forum Horsens.
In particular, it was a matter of cladding the walls
with sound absorbers. The absorbers ensure that there
is no reverberation of the sound image, as they absorb
the sound and prevent it from echoing and reverberating throughout the hall—irrespective of whether it is
heavy bass or other, wider-spectrum sounds.
The absorbers are made from different materials
and placed in the hall so as to absorb the sound in different ways. Tests are performed throughout the
process with the help of computer simulation, which
allows for experimentation in where to position the
different types of absorbers prior to making a final
decision. For instance, the entire rear wall is clad with
porous absorbent materials.
“When the sound is emitted from the stage and
down to the far end of the hall, it should not come back
as an echo—therefore it is important that the rear wall
can absorb the sound,” explains COWI acoustician
Richard Ballinger.
As well as the walls, the entire ceiling must also be
sound absorbent. “The roof construction is the culmination of in-depth studies to determine the optimal
sound and roofing solution.”
The entire rear wall in Forum
Horsens is sound absorbent.
Photo: Niels Aage Skovbo
By Christina Tækker
You have to look long and hard to find roundabouts and bumps on Iran’s roads,
where concrete blocs serve as centre strips and pedestrians must leap for their
lives over six-lane highways with no ‘safe zone’ halfway across.
The statistics speak for themselves. Every year 26,000-30,000 people die on
the roads in Iran. Many of these accidents are caused by motorists driving too
close to one another, going through red lights, not wearing seat belts or driving
far too fast. In the last two years the number of people killed in road accidents
has increased by 17 per cent. In Iran there are 400 deaths from traffic accidents
per million inhabitants; the equivalent figure for Denmark is 80. Now Iran wishes
to reduce the number of traffic accidents by drawing on Danish expertise in road
safety. The project is being carried out by COWI for the World Bank and financed
by Danish trust funds. COWI is also involved in similar projects in Tanzania, Benin,
Serbia, Hungary and Bahrain on behalf of the World Bank, the EU, Bahrain’s Road
Directorate and Danida.
“Despite an increase in traffic in Denmark, the Danes have managed to keep
accident statistics down with the help of road improvements, campaigns and
good cooperation between the police and the appropriate authorities. It is this
know-how that we are seeking to export to other countries,” explains COWI
senior project manager Jesper Mertner.
Greater focus on road safety
He notes that greater focus on road safety is reflected in the way in which road
projects are tendered. The projects have come about as a result of greater international awareness of road safety. Many countries have found that new and improved roads and faster cars lead to motorists driving even faster than before—
which results in many traffic fatalities. The problem has now become so big that
the high numbers of injured and consequent costs, such as hospital treatment,
are proving a burden on public budgets. As is also the case in Iran, where COWI
is currently working to identify Iran’s road safety problems and formulate a plan of
action. During the winter COWI presented proposals as to the type of equipment
the police should have and the training required. Later in the year COWI will study
how the accident database used to identify ‘black spots’ functions and provide
recommendations for improvement.
“The greatest challenge is to change the behaviour patterns of Iranians. Among
other things, we are recommending that the police improve the way they apply
the law—and intervene when the law is broken,” says Jesper Mertner.
@
Senior project manager Jesper Mertner, jme@cowi.dk
Gip
23
Lifting a new bridge in
place around an old one
Working to a tight deadline, the
first half of a 40-metre bridge
has been hoisted into position
spanning the four-track main
railway line between Copenhagen
Central Station and the rest of
the country. Supervision engineer
Frantz Ingemann Larsen is closely
following progress
By Christina Tækker
Photos: Stig Stasig
Frantz Ingemann Larsen supervising
erection of the new bridge that will
form part of a new walkway system.
To facilitate the work of replacing the
bridge, staff from the Danish Railway
Agency have disconnected the power
along the tracks on this normally busy
stretch of line between Copenhagen
Central Station and the suburb of Valby.
24
Frantz Ingemann Larsen scratches
his neck. This evening is the most
critical of the entire operation.
Darkness has long since descended on the Copenhagen suburb of Valby. The curtains are
drawn in the windows of the
apartments opposite and the
normally noisy road is quiet. Only
an inquisitive cyclist and a small
group of slightly inebriated bystanders can be seen looking
on as the enormous crane and
orange-clad workers prepare to
carry out a rather unusual job of
work in the small hours: lifting
the first half of a 40-metre bridge
into position spanning the fourtrack railway terrain between
Copenhagen Central Station and
Valby. Afterwards, the existing
bridge, which dates from 1900
and carries pedestrian and cycle
traffic, is to be dismantled and removed. Corrosion of the iron elements was found to be so exten-
sive that the only feasible option
was to replace the entire structure.
COWI supervision engineer
Frantz Ingemann Larsen’s main
task now is to ensure that everything goes smoothly. During the
last six weeks the area in front of
the bridge has been cleared in
readiness. But the project kicked
off much earlier at COWI’s Lyngby offices, where computer animations were made to determine
how the new bridge could be put
into position on its concrete foundations between the steel girders of
the old bridge to within a few
centimetres’ accuracy. Now it
was time to put the deskwork to
the test.
*
The tone is congenial among the
congregated construction engineers, contractors and crane
operators. They all have extensive
25
The existing bridge dates from 1900.
experience gained from previous
projects, including positioning the
freely suspended roof of Copenhagen’s new Opera House and
major civil engineering work during construction of the city’s metro
system and Denmark’s Great
Belt Bridge. This late-night ‘coming together’ beneath the bridge
of such a wealth of experience is
reflected in the general ambience.
“Let’s grab some coffee before we
start,” says a voice in the dark.
The group assents and disappears among the containers
stacked one on top of the other.
At 1.30 a.m. the last train
rumbles past. Time for action.
Two employees from the Danish
Railway Agency run along the
tracks to earth the overhead contact system. There is no time to
lose. The team has barely three
hours in which to complete the
night’s work before the first early
morning train is due. “So you can
26
It is a big moment as the new 40 metre long
bridge hangs suspended over the railway.
forget more coffee,” comes the
order. A major challenge is the
ten thick telephone cables that
cross the railway lines under the
bridge. The cables can be neither
cut nor moved more than a metre.
Consequently it is not feasible in
this case, as would otherwise be
the norm, to remove the old
bridge before erecting the new.
*
The team holds its breath as the
crane takes the full weight of the
new 25-ton bridge. Everyone is
well aware what is expected of
them and the task each is to carry
out. The bridge floats soundlessly
through the air and is placed
along the existing bridge. Frantz
Ingemann Larsen’s biggest worry
is that the legs of the new bridge
will not slot between the girders
of the legs of the old bridge. The
worst scenario he has envisaged
is that the bridge gets stuck halfway and can then be moved neither up nor down. But it is soon
clear that there is no cause for
concern. The legs slot elegantly
between the legs of the old bridge
as planned. Although when the
bridge gets pulled slightly askew
it has to be manually realigned.
During the next hour the team
bolts the bridge firmly to the foundations and tidies up the area in
preparation for the next night’s
work, when four cranes will lift
the telephone cables into place
and the old bridge will be dismantled piece by piece. Another
engineering job is nearing completion. It is time for Frantz Ingemann
Larsen and the rest of the team to
head home and get some sleep.
Fortunately the bridge is designed to last for the next hundred
years.
@
Hitting the foundations to within
a few centimetres’ accuracy demands great precision.
The first half of the 40 metre
bridge is lifted into position.
Facts
The old bridge serves as an important artery for pedestrians crossing between central Valby and the area on the
other side of the railway lines. COWI, which carried out the
project for the City of Copenhagen, developed the draft design and detailed planning, and was responsible for supervision and construction management. The bridge will form
part of a more extensive pedestrian walkway system. The
new bridge is five metres wide, compared to the old bridge
which was only 1.8 metres wide, and 43 metres long. The
bridge is made of steel pipes with wood surfacing. The
contractor is DS-SM A/S. The job was completed by the
end of 2004.
The tone is congenial among the congregated construction engineers, contractors and crane operators. They all have
extensive experience gained from previous projects—and this is reflected in the
general ambience.
Supervision engineer Frantz
Ingemann Larsen, frl@cowi.dk
27
Bridge in low water
Standard bridge
Navigation bridge
Standard bridge
Bridge in low water
Thailand to have world’s
longest road bridge
The bridge in Thailand will be a
low level bridge carrying a fourlane motorway and two emergency lanes. The bridge will rest
on 50-60 metre long piles, as the
seabed is very soft. Illustration:
Mediafarm
In the wake of economic growth, very long road bridges are
being built in countries around the world. A new 47 km
bridge in Thailand is the fifth in a row of similar international
projects in which COWI is involved
By Christina Tækker
28
From Copenhagen city centre to Hamlet’s castle in
the north of Zealand some 47 km distant—that is
how far the world’s longest road bridge will run over
water. The bridge will span the Gulf of Thailand southwest of Bangkok, significantly improving the local
infrastructure and reducing noise pollution for millions of inhabitants. The link will enable motorists to
drive straight across the gulf and continue above the
houses on land, where the bridge will be built over
the rooftops—the total structure will be 90 kilometres in length.
The bridge in Thailand is the fifth in a row of very
long international road bridges in which COWI is
involved. In Kuwait COWI is currently carrying out
Dong Hai, to an island off Shanghai where major new
pre-studies and designing a 32 km road bridge that
port facilities are projected. COWI assisted in the early
will connect overdesign phases to find
populated Kuwait “Finishing the concrete elements on
the optimal concepts.
City with the land, where you can complete the
Finally, COWI was inSubiyah develop- work under virtual assembly line
volved in the 25 km
ment area, and
long Saudi-Bahrain
conditions, assures more durable
COWI is conductcauseway connection
ing pre-studies for structures”
between Saudi Arabia
a 42 km long
and Bahrain. All these
Ejgil Martin Veje, COWI head of department
‘friendship bridge’
bridges come at a time
that will link Qatar and Bahrain. In China construcwhen society is becoming richer and there is a growtion is currently under way on a 32 km long bridge,
ing need for faster, easier ways of getting from A to B.
Cities growing ever bigger
“Causeway solutions are growing in popularity,” explains project manager Pisit Karnjanarujivut of local
company Arun Chaiseri Ltd (ACS) in Thailand. “While
traffic must of necessity follow population growth
and economic growth, the option of building an extensive network of roads and motorways on land is
becoming increasingly difficult as cities grow ever
bigger. A causeway is sometimes the most viable
solution to the problem.”
The Thailand assignment is being carried out for
the Department of Highways, with COWI as subconsultant assisting Chulalongkorn University with
its bridge expertise in collaboration with ACS. As Massive logistical task
part of the assignment, COWI is contributing its “First and foremost, working at sea is a challenge in
know-how in environment and traffic surveillance terms of the massive logistics operations involved
systems. The consultants are also assessing geo- and one which can be further exacerbated by the
technical conditions and the risk of collision involv- stormy seas and windy conditions that commonly ocing shipping. COWI can apply to the Thailand project cur,” explains COWI head of department Ejgil Veje.
its extensive experience gained from projects such “Sailing 20 km out to the middle of the bridge each
as the Øresund Bridge linking Denmark and Sweden day takes almost three hours. Therefore all structures
and the West Bridge of Denmark’s Great Belt bridge are produced on land and sailed out by boat and
link. Building bridges across stretches of water crane. Finishing the concrete elements on land,
presents very different challenges compared to where you can complete the work under virtual assembly line conditions, assures more durable strucbuilding bridges on land.
tures”.
29
NEW DEVELOPMENT
“First and foremost,
working at sea is a challenge in terms of the
massive logistics operations involved,” says
COWI head of department Ejgil Martin Veje
Photo: Morten Larsen
Like many other long bridges, the bridge in Thailand
will be completed as a ‘design and build project’
whereby the contractor prepares the detailed drawings and chooses the method of completing the
project. Whereas with traditional bridges built on
land the focus is often on the cost of steel and concrete, with bridges over water what matters is to find
the best method of building the bridge before commencing actual erection.
“In a ‘design and build project’ responsibility rests
solely with the contractor,” continues Ejgil Veje. “This
means that the division of responsibility is clear and
you can avoid subsequent complaints about budgets
being exceeded, which you often see in other similar
projects. For instance, the contractor must figure out
the optimal way for him to construct the bridge, decide
the sizes of the bridge elements and how many times
he wishes to sail out. Logistics are of great importance.
With so many piers that all need to be installed in the
same way, a wrong solution can prove very costly.”
To be finished before the King’s birthday
The first foundations will be sunk in autumn 2005
and the bridge will be built in 100 metre stretches
and completed in the next two-three years according
to the present timetable. This will require one span of
the bridge to be completed every two days, which
will mean working five times faster than what was
required for the Øresund bridge.
“One of the challenges is a tight timetable. The
definitive design of the bridge has to be ready in six
months and the contractor must build the bridge in
29 months. Another requirement is that the bridge
must be ready in time for the King’s birthday in 2007,”
adds project manager Pisit Karnjanarujivut.
30
@
Head of department Ejgil Veje, emv@cowi.dk
Sail home
to your
front door
Featuring a variety of facades and artificial canals, Copenhagen is to have an
entirely new residential quarter in the
port area of Sluseholmen, south of the
city centre. The maritime atmosphere
is attracting a wide diversity of buyers
The waves virtually lap into the livingroom of the show house in the new
development in Sluseholmen, where
floor-to-ceiling windows are a striking
feature. The development is attracting
many buyers. Photo: Tao Lytzen
By Christina Tækker
The pilings stand as dense as a pine forest. But even
though the foundations on the artificial island of
Birkholm are taking shape, it is still difficult to picture
the port area of Sluseholmen being transformed into
an entirely new residential suburb of Copenhagen. A
hundred years ago the port was a buzz of activity with
naval vessels and small ships passing through the
locks of Copenhagen’s southern port area, and now it
is equally abuzz onshore where a whole new urban
quarter is under development. On completion the area
will be home to 5,000 new, Dutch inspired canal and
quayside residences in a range of colours and sizes
built on eight artificial islands. Some will be individual
terraced houses, while others will be flats seven
storeys high. Together they will form a world of closely
constructed buildings with uniquely individual facades
all facing the sea.
The waves virtually lap into the living-room
Despite the raw, winter-chilled images of Sluseholmen seen in the newspaper advertisements, the
prospect of a home fronting the water has proved
irresistible to many. On Birkholm alone, by January
125 out of a total 165 homes had been sold. Buyers
are swarming in by sea and by land—from up-market
areas of the Copenhagen hinterland and beyond,
Malmö in Sweden and as far afield as Dubai. In age
31
NEW DEVELOPMENT
they range from 22 to 61 years. As soon as you enter the showcase home on the quayside, you understand why the properties are proving so popular. The
waves are virtually lapping into the living-room, built
to twice the height of normal living-rooms and with
floor-to-ceiling windows. On the terrace outside the
windows you can tie up your kayak or rowing boat, or
sit on the edge and dip your feet in the water.
Visitors catch their breath
“Everyone who visits our show house catches their
breath when they step inside,” smiles project
manager Torben Steen from developer Sjælsø
Gruppen. “A broad cross-section of society is showing
interest in the development. You might think only
younger people would show interest in such a new
and interesting way of living. But this is not the case.
The age range of the buyers shows that the desire to
live in a completely new development such as this is
proving attractive to people from all over the country
and beyond. They all want to live with a view of the
water while still being within easy reach of the city.”
The development is being built in a public-private
collaboration between the stock exchange listed
Why the name Sluseholmen1
Sjælsø Gruppen, JM Danmark and Nordicom, together with the County of Copenhagen and Port of
Copenhagen Ltd. The firm of architects Arkitema
and 20 facade architects are working to a master
plan developed by Dutch architect Soeters Van Eldonk Ponec. COWI in its capacity as project engineer
is carrying out environmental field surveys on four of
the islands and is responsible for all wiring, plumbing
and construction design.
@
Project manager Erik Severin, ese@cowi.dk
Inspired by Dutch traditions, Danish canal houses
are being built side by side. Photo: Tao Lytzen
Islands Brygge
Sydhavn
Copenhagen Port Authority built the lock in the southern port area of
Copenhagen in 1901-03 as part of a 2.2 km long embankment between the islands of Zealand and Amager. The lock was constructed
to ensure that sailing vessels such as fishing boats, yachts and sand
dredgers had access to Copenhagen from the south.
The Sluseholmen project includes owner-occupied homes, cooperative housing, private rentals, subsidised housing and accommodation units available for rent through pension companies. The
project offers both quayside and canal-side housing. The canal residences will have a special maritime atmosphere and the possibility
of a private terrace where you can dip your feet in the water or tie up
your speedboat or kayak.
1
‘Sluse’ means ‘pass through a lock’ and ‘holmen’ means ‘islet’
Amager Fælled
kort
Sluseholmen
S jæ l
la nd s br o en
Vejlands Allé
Bella Center
Complex construction
The challenge presented by Copenhagen’s new
canal area development is to reuse as many
elements as possible to build cheap housing
32
Copenhagen’s new canal area development in the
suburb of Sluseholmen is part of a bigger plan to develop quality housing in some of Copenhagen’s old
port areas. The biggest challenge is to construct
attractive buildings that live up to the architectural
objectives and at the same time meet the need for
low building costs. The canal housing will be for sale
at prices not found in other developed port areas.
A 120 m² owner-occupied flat fronting directly onto
the water can be obtained for DKK 2.8 million.
The way to build cheap housing is to reuse as
many elements as possible, although in practice this
has proven difficult. To ensure variety, a large number
of architects have been involved. As a result the
development boasts 45 different types of flats, 55
different balcony bases and 25 different shower
cubicles. This necessitated ordering concrete elements from six different suppliers.
The foundations on the artificial
island of Birkholm are taking
shape. Pictured are COWI project
manager Erik Severin (left) and
project manager Torben Steen
from construction company Sjælsø Gruppen. Photo: Tao Lytzen
Inspiration from the Netherlands
“Whereas we normally collaborate with architects on
an ongoing basis on large construction projects, for
this project the facade design was decided on in advance, which meant a lot less influence for us
than normal,” comments COWI project manager Erik
Severin. “Also, we have in effect four building
projects running concurrently. With so many parties
involved, the project has become very complicated
and the design process has been less than optimal.
Numerous small details have been altered all at once
instead of coordinating them. The lesson is that we
must learn to manage this type of project better and
try to get everyone to work more closely together.”
He points out that canal housing gives Copenhagen a fresh, Dutch inspired architectural touch from
a country where the architectural style is considered
more daring and challenging. By varying the facades
and creating artificial canals between the buildings,
the people of Copenhagen will have a completely different environment from anything else they have experienced locally. Project manager Torben Steen from
Sjælsø Gruppen agrees that the project will help
Copenhagen’s development. He is not at all nervous that
too many homes are being built with a view of the water.
“The Sluseholmen area is one of the last port areas in
Copenhagen to undergo urban residential development. Other parts of Copenhagen, such as Islands
Brygge and Amerika Plads, have already been developed and the same is true of the entire length of
the Port of Copenhagen waterside. According to
prognoses, by the year 2020 the population of Copenhagen will have increased by 50,000—and given that
many people today live alone, there will be a continuing strong demand for housing.”
Tæk
33
NEW DEVELOPMENT
For many years the Danish building industry has
suffered from the belief that the wider world had
nothing to teach us, says COWI’s vice president for
Building and Operation Henrik Rossen. He wishes
for more international inspiration
By Christina Tækker
Henrik Rossen, COWI’s vice president for Building
and Operation with almost 400 staff, would—given
a free choice—point to the Colosseum in Rome as
a building he finds inspiring. When the field is narrowed down to Danish buildings he highlights Nordea Bank’s new head office, designed by renowned
architect Henning Larsen. The building blends amazingly well with Copenhagen’s architecture generally
and the port surroundings in which it is located, yet
stands out as distinctive in its own right, says Henrik
Rossen. The interior, too, is notable with its slender,
delicate lines. Moving to a more raw style of architecture, 47-year-old Henrik Rossen points to Utzon’s
Paustian building on Copenhagen’s Nordhavn waterfront. The building is constructionally distinctive;
how it was built can be clearly seen and the design
features an attractive combination of raw surfaces
and naked concrete. The building is also proof that
the non-traditional approach works well—and this
in a port that was not even developed at the time of
construction. But why doesn’t Denmark have more
such fine buildings?
“It is probably because users and developers
have not formulated the right demands. One often
hears talk of misunderstood economic optimisation.
Misunderstood in the sense that you risk building
something that too quickly loses value, becomes
outmoded or rundown. But we can see that when
investors take a more long-term view of their investment, the more striking the buildings are.”
National Archives and many of the buildings going
up in the Port of Copenhagen, such as the Sluseholmen
project, show that there is a desire to incorporate inspiration from other countries, says Henrik Rossen:
“The industry has been very insular and foreign
architects have found it difficult to come to Denmark.
Of course, there is the language barrier. But it is also a
question of the will and desire. Danish architects and
engineers have too often adopted a ‘we know it all’
attitude. Not to put too fine a point on it, we felt that
foreigners coming here had nothing to teach us—we
could do everything on our own. Admittedly, we are
good at practical analyses and at conceiving a functional building from a philosophical Scandinavian perspective. But we could certainly do with a little more
visual inspiration. And engineering inspiration, too.
COWI has greatly benefited from gaining inspiration
through collaboration with foreign consultants in areas
such as construction, indoor climate and facades.”
Why is the industry opening up now?
“I truly believe it is because the world is becoming
a smaller place. We travel more and our companies
are becoming increasingly international. These aspects are helping us realise that we can actually make
other demands. We see how major cities within
reasonable geographical proximity to us—London,
Paris, even Malmö—are developing. At the same
time, the whole of the investment market has also become internationalised. This affords inspiration and
demands of us that we view investments in an entirely
different way than hitherto.”
Rising from the deadwater
34
“The building industry
needs inspiration”
However, Henrik Rossen considers that the building
industry is beginning to rise from the deadwater. Investors are becoming increasingly aware that they
need to take a longer-term view of their investments.
The authorities and politicians are showing greater
daring and a willingness to be more open to buildings that are different. The latest project for the Danish
Henrik Rossen at the excavation site of
Copenhagen’s new Playhouse Theatre, for
which COWI is consultant. Photo: Tao Lytzen
A competitive price
Within the building industry COWI enjoys a strong position on foreign markets. In addition to a 600-strong
workforce employed by COWI Norway, there are 35
staff engaged in the building industry in the Baltic
countries and a further 50 in the Middle East. This gives
COWI good input about latest developments abroad.
COWI’s domestic market is enjoying steady growth
with a particular focus on housing, hospitals and
the health market, industry, and municipalities
and regions. According to Henrik Rossen, COWI will
continue to differentiate itself from other consultants
by further developing the business from being good
to being the best within three core areas: consultancy
and planning, unique design, and effective design.
“As far as consultancy and planning is concerned, we get involved early on in the development
stage and thus can help come up with the right solution adapted to the customer’s needs and financial
means. Unique design means that we draw on our
in-depth specialist know-how across the entire
range of COWI’s competencies. Take, for instance,
the Copenhagen Playhouse, where our core competencies in construction were called for as the uppermost level is cantilevered almost 30 metres and the
indoor climate is controlled by means of thermodynamic constructions and the use of seawater as
coolant. Consider also the case of Denmark’s
Siemens Arena, where we were asked to analyse the
roof collapse that occurred there in 2003.”
“When it comes to effective design, we can
standardise and exploit the advantages of largescale operations. For example in housing, where
with a large, permanent team and by focusing on
standardisation and knowledge sharing we have
achieved a position as Denmark’s biggest consultant
—at keenly competitive prices.”
How do you see the industry shaping up 10-20 years
from now?
“Two things. In part I believe that we will see a
blurring of the traditional distinctions between developers, contractors, consultants and architects that
will enhance process optimisation. Among keywords will be partnering, lean construction and
PPP—Public Private Partnership . The new forms of
cooperation will alter the picture and the delineations
between the players in the industry—both because
we will see more strategic alliances, and because
size and economic strength will be more important
parameters than we have so far seen. And in part I
believe that within the next few years the entire industry will become more globalised. Therefore it will
be even more important for us to further develop our
core competencies if we are to remain attractive to
customers and staff alike.”
@
Vice president for Building and Operation
Henrik Rossen, hro@cowi.dk
35
By Christina Tækker
Vestergaardi
in natura
Photo: Martin Vestergaard
COWI biologist Martin Vestergaard is one of
very few living Danes to have a vertebrate
named after him. A small African toad is
now hopping about carrying his name
Martin Vestergaard’s visits to Africa
are quite an adventure, where he must
be on the lookout for elephants, poisonous snakes and leopards. To ward
off leopards, he uses a chilli spray
strong enough to leave a grizzly groggy.
The picture was taken in Denmark’s
Aquarium. Photo: Morten Larsen
Visit us at www.cowi.com
It is small, slim and warty. And it is the only species
of toad in Africa that gives birth to live offspring. To
COWI biologist Martin Vestergaard, the toad takes on
an almost human quality when it turns its big, limpid
eyes towards you. And now it is also hopping about
carrying his name: Nectophrynoides vestergaardi.
On a field trip to the mountains of north-eastern
Tanzania in 1992 to study anurans, Martin Vestergaard spotted the toad in the beam of his lamp. He
brought home with him from that trip specimens of
frogs and toads preserved in spirit that he had found
in the rainforests and swamps. Photos, drawings
and sound recordings of anurans formed part of his
thesis at university. But not until he returned to Denmark did he discover that one of the specimens was a
rather special toad—in fact, an unknown species, albeit a protected one under international treaties. Last
year he was officially recognised for his discovery,
which ranks as a major find in scientific circles, when
in the scientific publication Tropical Zoology a team
of international researchers gave the toad its DanishLatin name. Making Martin Vestergaard one of very
few living Danes to have a vertebrate named after him.
An endangered species
“It is a great honour to have a toad named after me,”
smiles Martin Vestergaard. “We can use this find to
help explain the diversity of nature. And it also
serves as an argument for supporting the work of
researching the natural environment and preserving
the rainforest presently going on in Tanzania.”
In his daily work at COWI, Martin Vestergaard
applies his knowledge of animals and plants to prepare environmental impact assessments (EIA).
Knowledge of species helps to give him an indication
whether, for instance, a new road will impact areas
that provide a habitat for threatened species.
Today there are only 25 examples of this particular species preserved in spirit at the Zoological
Museum. In Martin Vestergaard’s expert opinion,
there are in all probability less than two thousand
vestergaardi living in the mountains of eastern
Tanzania, where they have survived for 50 million
years. The forest in which Martin Vestergaard
discovered the toad was ravaged by fire caused by El
Niño in the late 1990s. All the indications are that
before long this particular species of toad could well
become extinct. So soon after being discovered.
@
Biologist Martin Vestergaard, mav@cowi.dk