Renovation of the Frankfurt "Platensiedlung" residential area

Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH and its JV partner Implenia AG were commissioned to post-compact the subsoil of the "Platensiedlung".

The “Platensiedlung”, located in Frankfurt's Ginnheim district, dates from the 1950s and was built originally as housing for the US armed forces.

G.I. Elvis Presley even visited the area for a photo shoot while he was stationed in Germany. New housing stock for the area has been under construction since June 2018. The aim is to add 680 apartments to the northern part of the “Platensiedlung” and thus to create affordable living space in the city of Frankfurt am Main.

To this end, two additional floors are currently being added using modular timber construction to 19 of the three-story buildings and the existing building foundations are being renovated. Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH and its JV partner Implenia AG were commissioned to post-compact the subsoil of the “Platensiedlung”.

Bauer carries out specialist foundation engineering work comprising the underpinning of 13 of the 19 building complexes, which includes tieback anchoring and deep excavation securing for the underground car parks. To stabilize the foundations, a total of approx. 4,250 mÑ of underpinning will be constructed using the jet grouting method.

After reaching the required final depth, a binder slurry is jetted through a nozzle at the bottom end of the drill rod, which rinses out part of the soil. The binder slurry solidifies the remaining soil, resulting in a cylindrical plastic concrete body.

“Since some of the work has to be carried out in the basements of the existing buildings, a compact Klemm KR 500 unit is in use, which enables work to be carried out at low room heights. In addition, there are two jet grouting pump containers and a mixing plant SCW 14/25 from Bauer MAT Slurry Handling Systems on site,” explains Karsten Brahmann, project manager at Bauer Spezialtiefbau. “In addition, a Klemm KR 806 is in use for the 500 m of temporary ground anchors and a Bauer BG 15 H for the production of 3,000 m³ of contiguous pile wall with shotcrete paneling,” says Michael Moser and Wolfgang Debus, both also project managers at Bauer. The specialist foundation engineering work is expected to be completed this summer.