Future-proof platform construction in the Eifel region

Our HERING Systeme team recently installed the modula^® platform system at four stations along the more than 160-kilometre-long Eifel line (Route 2631), which stretches from Hürth-Kalscheuren in North Rhine-Westphalia to Trier-Ehrang in the Rhineland-Palatinate – a stretch that was severely damaged by the flood of the century in summer 2021.

The stations concerned are Daufenbach (Zemmer), Speicher, Densborn and Auw an der Kyll. Work on the four construction sites has largely been concluded. Another station in St. Thomas is still under construction and is to be completed by the end of 2024.

The principal – DB InfraGO – planned one to two outdoor platforms with a length of around 170 metres, including widened areas for shelters, for each of these projects.

The new prefabricated concrete platforms were ‘elevated’ within the framework of a concept developed by the local authority as a precautionary measure to counter flooding and heavy rainfall events. A 25-centimetre-wide gap was planned between the top edge of the ground and the bottom edge of the platform structure to allow water to drain unhindered. The mass of the prefabricated concrete elements provides the required protection against uplift.

Climate-resilient and permanently stable construction methods are now more in demand than ever in view of the significant damage that platforms have suffered and in light of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events with heavy rain and flooding that climate researchers are predicting.