Water lock tank for SIKA Deutschland GmbH

At the beginning of September 2017, SÜLZLE KOPF Anlagenbau supplied a new surge tank for the hydroelectric turbine of the operating company SIKA Deutschland GmbH. After the heavy transport arrived at its destination in Bad Urach, the gigantic container with a diameter of 4.2 m, a height of 7 m and a total weight of 9 tons was unloaded and lifted into the existing concrete container in an elaborate operation. SÜLZLE KOPF Anlagenbau planned the new surge tank in cooperation with the engineering office Plocher, after the hydropower turbine had to be shut down last year due to the old and leaking structure. The company SIKA Deutschland GmbH was looking for a quick solution, as a renovation of the previous concrete water lock with a volume of approx. 100,000 litres was not possible due to the listed status of the building. In order to get the hydropower turbine going, the water runs through a reinforcing steel pipe via a so-called surge chamber, which serves to relax the water in front of the turbine, and on through a steel pipe to the turbine. For this purpose, SÜLZLE KOPF Anlagenbau manufactured a steel water lock with a steel plate of 10 to 12 mm in maximum size. The new steel surge tank has the advantage that it is statically self-supporting and therefore has no influence on the concrete structure. SIKA Deutschland GmbH was thus able to put the hydroelectric turbine back into operation within a very short time and at relatively low cost. However, this was only possible due to the detailed preliminary planning and measurement of the existing old building as well as the high dimensional accuracy during production and exact assembly.