BalWin1 and BalWin2 are the names of the two new offshore connections that feed renewable energy from wind farms in the North Sea to Wehrendorf in Lower Saxony and Westerkappeln in North Rhine-Westphalia into our transmission grid. For both systems, cables will initially be laid on the high seas, in the mudflats near Norderney, and on the mainland between Hilgenriedersiel on the coast and the two grid interconnection points in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. For the most part, they are to be laid in parallel, safely and as environmentally friendly as possible. Both the closed and the "open" construction methods are possible. Amprion commissioned DAHLEM in a joint venture with the planning of an approx. 135 km long underground cable - direct current transmission system (525 kV) from Bösel to Wehrendorf and Ibbenbüren with the rough and fine routing up to and including the submission of the permit application.

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On April 24^th, 2023, as part of the annual series of events of the BIM2Water initiative, a presentation event with an interactive panel discussion will be held on the topic of "BIM in Water Management - Regulations and Practice" at the Hilton Hotel in Düsseldorf, from 11:00 - 17:00h. In addition to numerous practical examples, the participants will gain insights into the current developments of the regulations. Furthermore, the event offers plenty of space for exchanging experience and obstacles in the implementation of BIM in the water industry. DAHLEM is one of the cooperation partners of the BIM2WATER competence initiative, which provides targeted and needs-optimised support to stakeholders in the water industry for digital planning, construction and operation of BIM methodology.

For registration, please check the programme folder available for download

On October 12^th, 2022, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, officially inaugurated the new fully biological wastewater treatment plant of the municipality of Peja. The wastewater treatment plant was handed over on time and on budget by DAHLEM on a turnkey basis and has already been in operation for one year. The plant is operated by the regional water and wastewater company Hidrodrini. Together with the German and Swiss ambassadors as well as the mayor of Peja and many other guests, the completion of the wastewater treatment plant was celebrated. The entire project was financed mainly by KfW, in cooperation with Kosovo. Likewise, the Swiss State Secretariat SECO and the municipality made substantial contributions to the 23 million euro investment costs, which include not only the treatment plant but also an extension of the sewerage network. WWTP Peja offers a strong contribution to the environmental protection and health care for south-western Kosovo.

You can read more about the Peja sewage treatment plant in the article below.

The KEYS research project, which began in 2017 under the leadership of ISAH Hannover, with the participation of DAHLEM and in cooperation with TSINGHUA University Beijing, has now been brought to a conclusion. Various German-Chinese cooperation projects for sustainable water management were developed for the national "Sponge City Concept" in China. In the period 2018-2020, DAHLEM collaborated on two sub-projects in the greater Beijing area, focusing on an implementation-oriented approach of sponge city concepts. Together with the ISAH and the Berlin Water Competence Centre in Germany, project experiences were transposed into an element catalogue showing needs-based solutions of the sponge city concept for the local metropolitan area. For China, the implementation of the sponge city approach is an important and recognised step to make cities fit for the future. Sponge City elements as a combinatorial overall concept help to mitigate urban heat island effects and flash floods, improve groundwater recharge and quality as well as the structural diversity of urban spaces. They basically follow the natural model and impress with their simplicity and efficiency.

Download the brochure ”KEYS–Demonstrations for a smart Sponge City”

It has been completed: The new construction of the Mörscher Wald waterworks, for which the ground-breaking ceremony took place in November 2018. Commissioning is currently underway and the official inauguration will take place in July 2022. The new waterworks is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and now replaces the 70-year-old plant in the immediate vicinity on a directly adjacent plot of land. After commissioning of the new plant, the existing one will be completely dismantled. For species protection reasons, demolition will not take place until September 2022 and the area will be reforested. In future, the new waterworks will ensure the vital supply of potable water for the city of Karlsruhe and the surrounding communities. Calculations of the potable water demand until 2040 showed that, due to climate change and the predicted population growth, a capacity of 60,000 m³/d or 3,000 m³/h will have to be maintained in the future as the maximum capacity for raw water extraction and treatment. The architectural design of the building provides for a harmonious integration into the greenery. As a partner in a consortium, DAHLEM has been commissioned with the planning of the civil engineering works, the building interiors and the outdoor facilities. A BIM-oriented 3D model was created for the building design.

Heavy rainfall events have caused considerable damage throughout Germany in recent years. Municipal decision-makers see themselves more and more obliged to assess the flood risks and derive precautionary concepts in the short term. The flow path analyses used so far for large-scale rough analyses have methodological limitations. Our colleague, Dipl.-Ing. Tim Schneider from Darmstadt, developed on a freelance basis "SplashTool" - software that no longer has many of these limitations. SplashTool was used for the first time for a volume-based flow path analysis and rough analysis over an area of 200 km² for the city of Kaiserslautern and is now used as a tool in numerous projects for heavy rainfall risk management.

Figure l.: Map generated with the help of SplashTool
Further information on SplashTool:
https://www.splashtool.de/

Heavy rainfall hazard maps of the city of Kaiserslautern:
https://ste-kl.de/index.php?id=175

Article in the trade journal wwt Water Management Water Technology dfv.de,
March 2022 issue, p.36 - 39
 

Additional ward buildings are to be impplemented on the Clinic for Trauma Surgery hospital campus in Frankfurt by summer 2026, in line with the requirement to limit the discharge volume into the public combined sewer system. In the future, the existing drainage system on the campus will therefore discharge a large part of the rainwater separately and let it infiltrate on site. In order for a reduced discharge to take place, temporary intermediate storage of the resulting combined sewage is necessary on the Clinic grounds. A large part of the additional rainwater is fed into an infiltration ditch with a storage volume of around 1,000 m³. The modular design of this system has proven to be particularly advantageous as it guarantees rapid installation and the cubature can be flexibly adapted, especially with regard to the old tree population to be preserved and the ongoing clinic operations. The Clinic commissioned DAHLEM with the restructuring and renovation of the drainage system at the property. Within the scope of the planning, DAHLEM will provide services related to the engineering structures - from preliminary design to construction, including the construction supervision on site. As a special service, a flood analysis is being carried out for the entire property.

Article in the specialist magazine B_I umweltbau:
https://bi-medien.de/fachzeitschriften/umweltbau/kanalbau-kanalbetrieb/finger-beton-liefert-fertigteile-saubere-entwaesserung-auf-klinik-campus-u14480

Heavy rainfall and urban flash floods will pose major challenges to our society in the future. In cooperation with the environmental office of the City of Frankfurt a.M., DAHLEM developed heavy rain hazard maps, which were created as part of an overall concept for protection against heavy rain and are now available online in the geodata portal. Dipl.-Ing. Tim Schneider, employee of the Darmstadt office, managed the concept. He has been a DWA-certified specialist planner for heavy rainfall prevention since 2019 and has been working intensively at DAHLEM on the topics of heavy rainfall and urban flash floods since 2010. He sees protection against heavy rainfall as a joint municipal task and was particularly pleased about the publication: "The fact that the heavy rain hazard maps produced by DAHLEM are available online to all citizens is an important step in the context of climate change adaptation. The environmental agency has done a very good job with the publication of the maps. In addition to the main results of the analysis, plenty of further information on related topics is also available."