Hanging out' at a height of over 100 metres - RUD on the hanging scaffold of Cologne Cathedral.
Suspending, aligning, stabilising - RUD products master every challenge!
A total of 30 metres high and weighing more than 20 tonnes: this is the suspended scaffolding of Cologne Cathedral, which was enthroned at a height of 105 metres on the outside of the north tower until the end of 2021. The erection of the scaffolding began back in 2011.
The reason for the scaffolding was the restoration of the tower's facial superstructure. Rock falls caused by a hurricane in 1984, as well as rust blasting caused by the use of incorrect reinforcements, severely damaged the northern tower's façade. The north-western spire had to be rebuilt and all iron anchors and dowels replaced with non-rusting materials. In particular, the rust blasts responsible for this occurred exclusively at a height of between 80 and 100 metres - a challenge for the restoration work.
Suspending, aligning, stabilising - RUD products master every challenge
How is a self-supporting scaffold of this size secured? And how do you stabilise it against wind and weather at such dizzying height? Questions that RUD has confident answers to!
Unpleasant weather and strong winds are not uncommon at heights of over 100 metres. The load balancing required in these situations was achieved exclusively by the number of chain strands and the leaning of the scaffolding against the tower. A total of 11 RUD ICE-chain sling with a total working length of 238 metres carried the suspended scaffolding, which was suspended freely - without any anchors or dowels - from the Cologne Cathedral. For comparison: Germany's fourth-highest skyscraper, the Main Tower in Frankfurt, measures 240 metres in height!
To ensure that the suspended scaffolding could be suspended optimally and stably on all sides from the tower, the chain lengths of the 11 ICE-1-leg slings varied between 16 and 26 metres. For fine adjustment, the 10mm ICE-sling chains were combined with multi-shortening claws and ICE-tensioners ICE-CURT-SL-10. The possibility of fine adjustment was of particular importance in that the entire stability of the construction depended exclusively on the optimally matched steel chains. "Every millimetre mattered here! Even the slightest change to one of the strands could have endangered the entire construction and caused a great deal of damage," recalls Jens Christiansen, Sales Manager in the RUD slings division for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For this reason, the RUD ICE-tensioners have a special locking mechanism and are thus protected against accidental adjustment.
"This project on one of Germany's most important landmarks was truly spectacular and is not something you see everyday," Jens Christiansen continues. "The special thing here is that the way our products were used was very atypical. In other words, the project had nothing to do with our typical operations such as lifting or lashing.
At a glance: Our RUD products used:
- 2 x ICE-lifting chain 10 x 26.000mm
- 2 x ICE-lifting chain 10 x 24.000mm
- 2 x ICE-ICE-lifting chain 10 x 22.000mm
- 2 x ICE-ICE-lifting chain 10 x 21.000mm
- 2 x ICE-ICE-lifting chain 10 x 16.000mm
- 1 x ICE-ICE-lifting chain 10 x 20.000mm
- 12 x ICE-Suspension ring IC-10
- 12 x multi-shortening claw
- 6 x ICE-length adjustment ICE-CURT-SL-10
