bilfinger berger magazine 2010 # 1

01 2010

An issue devoted to nature and industry in the Alps

8 Switzerland World records for hydroelectric power | 34 Germany A village in the wind | 42 Italy Valleyof the ice cream makers | 46 Austria Underground gas storage | 50 France Route des Grandes Alpes

Bilfinger Berger Magazine

Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 20102 \\ IMPRINT

Bilfinger Berger Magazinewww.magazine.bilfinger.com

Published byBilfinger Berger AGCarl-Reiss-Platz 1–5 68165 MannheimGermanyTel. + 49 (0) 621 459-0Fax + 49 (0) 621 459-2366www.bilfinger.com

Editorial director: Michael WeberProject management:Dr. Daniela SimpsonEditing: Dr. Daniela Simpson; Bernd Hauser, agentur.zs, WeinstadtPhoto editing:Helge Rösch, agentur.zs

Cover photograph:tickera/photocase.comDesign and layout: Steven Dohn, Theo Nonnen, Bohm und Nonnen, DarmstadtLitho: Goldbeck Art, Frankfurt am MainPrinting: ColorDruck, LeimenTranslation: Baker & Harrison, Munichand Bruce MacPherson, WiesbadenCirculation coordination: Business Service Weber, Mannheim

Bilfinger Berger Magazine is publishedin German and English.All rights are reserved. Items by namedcontributors do not necessarily reflectthe opinions of the publisher. Thereprinting or electronic distribution ofarticles or excerpts of articles is pro -hibited without the express permissionof the publisher. Bilfinger Berger Magazine is printed on FSC certified paper.

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HERBERT BODNERChairman of the Executive Board of Bilfinger Berger AG

INDUSTRY AND QUALITY OF LIFE

When we think about the Alps, clichés are generally thefirst things that come to mind: green meadows, snow-capped peaks, picturesque villages.

But the Alps have far more to offer than settings forpostcards. They are home to 14 million people in sevencountries with a diverse range of cultures and languages.They are not just the most densely populated, but also themost heavily used mountains in the world. As a holidaydestination, this mountain range accounts for a quarter of the world’s tourism. The Alps serve as Europe’s largest water reservoir and some of the continent’s most impor-tant freight and passenger transit routes pass over, underand around them.

The very fact that nature, industry and quality of life are so closely intertwined here makes the region espe -cially fascinating. It is a microcosm that, in many respects,could serve as a model for the rest of the continent.

Bilfinger Berger is participating in some highly innova-tive projects in the Alpine region, and we take a closer lookat them on the pages that follow.

I hope you find the articles in this issue both informa-tive and enjoyable.

Yours truly,

4 \\ CONTENTS

22 the facilitators

In Geneva, Switzerland’s manage -ment metropolis, international corporations want to focus entirelyon their core business. The demandfor professional facility services isstrong. Bilfinger Berger lightens theload for global players by managingtheir properties.

26 sure-footed

Bettina Sulliger-Perren, 40, is one ofonly a few female Swiss mountainguides. How does she cope as a wom -an in this male domain? We talkedabout skeptical clients, guardian angels and the joy of getting to thetop.

28 getting there

Bilfinger Berger’s miners areworking their way south, blastingthe tunnel tubes for the GotthardBase Tunnel, the longest of its kindin the world.

01 2010

Bilfinger Berger Magazine

2 Imprint3 Editorial4 Contents6 Kaleidoscope

8 under pressure

How do you squeeze three-meter-diameter pipes into a steeplysloping pressure shaft four kilome-ters in length? MCE of Austria wasup to the job when it rehabilitatedCleuson-Dixence, Switzerland’s larg -est hydroelectric plant. The com -pany has been part of the BilfingerBerger Group since 2009.

16 the simple life of luxury

A 14-square-meter hut with no elec -tricity or running water: For authorStefan Scheytt it’s just the place fora holiday with three children.

2616

COVER STORY /// THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING

THE MOUNTAIN GUIDEVACATION WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

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42 valley of the

ice cream makers

In Germany, spring begins when theItalian ice cream shops open theirdoors. But where were the gelatieriin the winter? We visit the Zoldo Valley in the Dolomites, home of theice cream makers.

46 underground storage

Experts predict that in the comingdecades natural gas will become the most important energy source.All the more vital, then, to keep gason tap. In Upper Austria BilfingerBerger is helping to build one ofEurope’s largest natural gas storagefacilities.

50 roads of the world:

route des grandes alpes

It is the epitome of Alpine highways:The Route des Grandes Alpes travers -es 16 passes on its way from LakeGeneva to the Côte d’Azur. A dreamfor ambitious cyclists and motoristswho are not in a hurry.

/// N EWS

48 structural funds / Bilfinger Bergershares in major road and tunnel building projects in Poland.ring road / Technically challengingfollow-up order in Stockholm.magnetic systems / Particles success-fully collide at CERN with the help ofsuper magnets from Bilfinger Berger.facility management / Facility service contracts with WestLB, AXAand IVG.

49 desert power / Bilfinger Berger joins the Desertec initiative whichaims to provide Europe with envi -ronmentally friendly energy.maintenance / Industrial Services are growing throughout Europe withlong-term contracts. public private partnerships / New orders in Australia; Hungary’s M6opens to traffic.

34 a village in the wind

The Bavarian village of Wildpolds-ried generates a whole lot of cleanelectricity. Not that the inhabitantsare dyed-in-the-wool environmen -talists. But they can do their figures.

38 the oil catchers

Lingering on the site of a former refinery in the town of Korneuburgon the Danube is one of Austria’sworst pollution problems. BilfingerBerger developed a concept to re -solve it. Now the ground is being revitalized with activated carbon filters and soil bacteria.

40 alpine rocker

As a young rebel, musician Hubertvon Goisern left his home in UpperAustria behind him. On foreign soilhe found his roots — and combinedrock’n’roll with yodeling and accor-dions. A portrait of the inventor ofAlpenrock.

4028 46

FINAL STRETCH FOR THE GOTTHARD HUBERT VON GOISERN PLENTIFUL SUPPLY OF NATURAL GAS

6 \\ KALEIDOSCOPE Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

AT THEPEAK OF PLEASURE

SHOWCASE EVENT

The downhill is the showcase event of the Winter Olympics.The gold medals are generally won by Alpine nations:

Men Women

2010 Didier Defago CH Lindsey Vonn USA2006 Antoine Deneriaz F Michaela Dorfmeister A2002 Fritz Strobl A Carole Montillet F1998 Jean-Luc Cretier F Katja Seizinger D1994 Tommy Moe USA Katja Seizinger D1992 Patrick Ortlieb A Kerrin Lee-Gartner CAN1988 Pirmin Zurbriggen CH Marina Kiehl D1984 Bill Johnson USA Michaela Figini I1980 Leonhard Stock A Annemarie Moser A1976 Franz Klammer A Rosi Mittermaier D

RICHARD’S SAUSAGES I.

For 40 years Richard Ritsch, 54, has stood on the Stilfser Joch, the high-est pass in Italy, selling sausages with sauerkraut and “incredibly goodbread,” all for five euros. Many regulars plan their journey over the Alpsto include a stop at “Richard’s Sausage Stand” 2,757 meters above sea level. “I’ve got the best sausages in Europe,” says Ritsch with confidence:“The higher up you go, the better they taste.”

RODENTS’ RETREAT

The marmot (Marmota marmota) is the largest rodent among the Alpinefauna. Up to 15,000 are caught each year in Switzerland and Austria.Their cortisone-rich fat is valued for its medicinal properties and usedin ointments. Even today, the cute little creatures sometimes end uproasted or casseroled. Try these restaurants: www.alpetta.ch | www.jesacherhof.at | www.laret.ch

NATURALLY TASTY II.

At his inn, the Gasthof Rössli in Escholzmatt in the Entlebuch district ofSwitzerland, Stefan Wiesner cooks with the ingredients nature provides:smoked snowflake soup, filet of lamb on willow, veal marinated with ant sauce or smoked with spruce, with mistletoe ice cream for dessert.Wiesner is one of Switzerland’s most creative cooks and boasts 17 GaultMillau points.www.gasthofroessli.ch

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BIG WORDS

“I still stand in wonder at the Alps a few hours distance from here, I have truly never experienced such an impression, they are as it were a glorious saga of the heroic youth of Mother Earth and a reminder of the chaos that once was, as they look down in their majesty, the sun by day and the stars by night gleaming a brighter blue above their snowy mantel.”Friedrich Hölderlin, 1801

HIGHEST HUT IV.

At an altitude of 4,544 meters, the CapannaRegina Margherita ski hut on the summit of theSignalkuppe in Italy’s Valais Alps is Europe’shighest building. The hut, which accommo-dates up to 70 climbers, has to be supplied byhelicopter. The timber structure is shielded bya copper cage — due to the frequent lighteningstrikes at this altitude.

GLACIAL VOWS III.

The great 23-kilometer long Aletsch glacier in the Valais canton of Switzer-land is the largest glacier in the Alps. In 1687, as it grew and grew, the vil-lagers of Fiesch and Fieschertal took a vow and promised in future to livea virtuous life if only the glacier would cease to grow. As a result of climatechange it is now so reduced that the communities are afraid the touristsmight stay away. The faithful are now thinking about rewording the oldvow and pray for the glacier to grow again. The modern villagers of Fieschand Fieschertal have requested an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

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Traunsee 191 m

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STILL WATERS RUN DEEPThe deepest Alpine lakes

Lake Maggiore 372 m

Lake Geneva 310 m

THE SEVEN ALPINE COUNTRIESWhat % of their geographical area lies in the Alps?

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8 \\ HYDROELECTRICITY Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

MCE HAS COMPLETED ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT ORDERS IN ITS HISTORY — THE REHABILITATION OF THE CLEUSON-DIXENCE HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION IN SWITZERLAND. THE COMPANY HAS BEEN PART OF THE BILFINGER BERGER GROUP SINCE 2009.

O L I V E R L I N K / T E X T / / / E R I C VA Z ZO L E R , M C E , E S S E N C E D E S I G N .CO M / P H OTO S

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CLAUSTROPHOBIC, 40 DEGREES CELSIUS: IN THE DOWNWARD-SLOPINGPRESSURE PIPE HUNDREDS OF METERS INSIDE THE MOUNTAIN, MENMONITOR THE WELDING COMPUTER. ANY DRAFT COULD DAMAGE THEQUALITY OF THE WELDING JOINT.


ONE OF THE PRESSURE PIPES IS LOWERED INTO THESHAFT, THE DIAMETER OF WHICH IS ONLY SLIGHTLYGREATER THAN THE PIPE ITSELF.

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/// The road gets narrower and narrower, winding ever up-ward in steep curves. There are no guardrails. “Just don’tlook down,” Walter Pölz grins. He keeps the Toyota 4 x 4headed for the top, slithers in the snow, drives on. Andstops. “We’re here.” He points up the slope: “Just over there,that’s where the leak occurred.” For a moment all is silent,the snow swallows every sound. The city of Sion and the riv-er Rhône are far down in the valley.

PRESSURE SHAFT INSIDE THE MOUNTAIN

It was inside this mountain in December 2000 that a steelpipe more than three meters in diameter ruptured 70 me-ters from the surface. It carried water from the Lac des Dixreservoir nearly 17 kilometers away at an altitude of 2,300meters or more down to the Bieudron power station in thevalley, one of the four stations that comprise the Cleuson-Dixence hydroelectric complex.

For the first 16 kilometers, the water passes through ahorizontal tunnel. Then the shaft dips down, dropping atan angle of 34 degrees to emerge at the Bieudron stationat a height of just 481 meters. Inside this steeply sloping,4.3-kilometer pressure shaft, the water picks up the speedrequired to drive Bieudron’s three mighty turbines. For nineyears the turbines stood still because the repairs neededto the shaft were so extensive. The power station finally reopened in January 2010.

“NO OTHER COMPANY IN EUROPE COULD DO THAT”

Walter Pölz was in charge of the works to repair Bieudron’spressure pipes. The job was so demanding that MCE wasthe only company that could meet the technical require-ments for the project. “The client wanted the new pipes tobe manufactured and erected by one and the same com-pany. We were the only company in Europe capable of do-ing that. The engineering came from Andritz Hydro.”

The 63-year-old Pölz is an unassuming man. He neverforgets to make the point that it was teamwork that madethe job a success. In the course of the project he had about150 men under his command. Workers constantly had to bereplaced. “It wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea,” says Pölz.

MCE MANUFACTURED ALL 400 PIPES AT ITS PLANTS IN WELS AND LINZ.THE PIPE WALLS ARE UP TO EIGHT CENTIMETERS THICK.

“WE GAVE THE POWER STATION ITS WATER BACK,” SAYS PROJECT MANAGER WALTER PÖLZ. “THAT’S A GREAT FEELING.”

VIDEO: WALTER PÖLZ TALKS ABOUT THE REHABILITATION

OF THE CLEUSON-DIXENCE HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION.

www.magazine.bilfinger.com


ADDED MUSCLE FOR TH E SERVICES BUSI N ESS

MCE INTEGRATED INTO BILFINGER BERGERThe Cleuson-Dixence contract is a high-pro-file project for industrial and power servicesprovider MCE, which was acquired by Bilfin-ger Berger in 2009. Of MCE’s total output volume, € 730 million was allocated to the Industrial Services division and around € 130million to Power Services. Bilfinger Berger isbroadening the scope of its services for theenergy and process industries and consoli-dating its presence in Austria and Germany in particular. The acquisition was financedthrough a capital increase. (si)

TRUCKS HAULED THE PIPES WEIGHING UP TO 60

TONNES AROUND STEEP, WINDING CURVES TO THEACCESS TUNNELS. THE SECTIONS AT THE TOP WERETRANSPORTED BY AN AERIAL ROPEWAY.

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New pipes had to be laid inside the old ones. The workersdescended into the depths in special cars lowered downthe angled pressure shaft on a steel cable. “Down in thepipe it was hot and the air was bad. We also had to avoida chimney effect and stop the draft so conditions would be right for the welds,” Pölz explains.

THE TIME PRESSURE WAS INCREDIBLE

MCE was awarded the contract in October 2006: the largestand most extensive hydroelectric project in the company’shistory. The repair work in Sion had to begin just sixmonths later. During this time all of the erection sequenceshad to be planned down to the last detail, while at thesame time the manufacture of more than 400 steel pipesbegan in the Austrian towns of Wels and Linz.

The pipes, each up to twelve meters long and between twoand a half and three meters in diameter, were brought bytrain from Austria to Switzerland. In Sion they were thenoffloaded onto semi-trailers and hauled up to the site. “Itwas an epic journey just getting the pipes up the moun-tain,” Walter Pölz recalls. “The trucks had to come up here,even in winter, carrying 60 tonnes of steel pipe, just imag-ine it,” he continues, pointing down the narrow road. “Andthe pipe sections needed at the very top were brought upby an aerial ropeway.”

To reach the more than four-kilometer long pressureshaft, four access tunnels were blasted into the mountain.Work proceeded at all four sites at the same time. The semi-trailers had to reverse into the tunnels. The heavy steelpipes were then transferred onto wagons that took them

ROPED AND READY: SPECIALISTS SLOWLY SLIDE A PIPE SECTION INTO THE DIAGONAL SHAFT.


by rail deeper into the mountain where cranes were wait-ing to lift and tilt them. Then, little by little, they werewinched inside the old pipes and lowered down into thedepths, ready to be welded in place. “That was precisionwork. The new pipes are only 30 centimeters smaller in di-ameter than the old ones.” After welding, the voids werefilled with concrete.

“Not only was it a masterpiece of logistics just to move400 steel pipes up the mountain,” says Walter Pölz. “We al-

so had to design special equipment to install the pipesonce they had arrived.” For example, MCE developed a jigthat used hydraulic cylinders to precisely center the pipesas they were lowered down the existing shaft.

TEN DAYS FOR ONE PIPE

“Sometimes it could take days before a pipe was in theright position,” Pölz continues. “The very first pipe that hadto be lowered to a depth of almost a kilometer took us

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The water for Bieudron power stationcomes from the Lac des Dix, Switzer-land’s largest reservoir. At more thanfive kilometers in length and up to 227meters deep, it holds 400 billion liters of water. The reservoir is contained bythe Grande Dixence dam, a wall 700 me-ters long and 285 meters high — thetallest dam wall in Europe.

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HYDROELECTRICITY

ENDLESS ENERGY —BUT NOT IN GERMANY

Hydroelectric power supplies 17 percent of the world’s electricity needs, making it the most important source of renewable energy. Advantages include the fact that water can be stored until it is needed, energy is generated with no harmfulemissions, the technology requires low maintenance and the efficiency exceeds90 percent.

And yet hydroelectricity accounts for only 4 percent of the power generated in Germany, and the proportion is unlikely to increase. Why? Because nearly all suit-able waterways have been exploited. In Austria and Switzerland the geography ismore generous. In these countries 50 to 60 percent of the electricity is generatedby water. (si)

nearly ten days. It was only twelve hours before it reachedthe bottom, but the welding went on for nine days.“ Thedeeper down a pipe is located, the greater the pressure ex-erted on it by the water. For this reason the pipes right atthe bottom are eighty millimeters thick, and welding takesa proportionately long time. “By lowering one tube down,welding it, then lowering the next one, we worked our wayfrom bottom to top from all four access tunnels at thesame time.”

A UNIQUE FEAT OF ENGINEERING

And then there was the “bend” in the shaft: When the orig-inal pipe burst the rock was so badly damaged that a by-pass had to be built. This reaches vertically downward for73 meters, then turns at right angles and runs for 90 me-ters horizontally until it meets the old pressure shaft. MCEwas faced with the difficult task of routing the pressurepipes round the bend in the bypass. Once again specialcranes were developed with which to move the tonnes ofpipe and join them together in a perfect fit. “That was aunique feat of engineering; nothing like that had ever beendone before,” says Pölz. There were nights when he couldn’tsleep a wink for worrying about the tight schedule, thetechnical challenges and the dangers to his men manipu-lating massive loads in the dark confines of the shaft. “Es-pecially on sites like this, men can be very badly injured;that worried me a lot. Thank goodness everyone was verycareful and nothing happened,” he continues.

A POWER STATION WITH THREE WORLD RECORDS

Since January 2010 the water from the Lac des Dix has onceagain been flowing through the tunnels and pipes. It takes50 minutes to travel almost 17 kilometers from the damwall to the Bieudron power station — a huge cavern insidethe mountain, larger than the nave of the Cologne cathe-dral. The water pours out of the pressure pipe into theblades of the mighty Pelton turbines at a rate of 75 cubicmeters per second.

The power station holds three world records: for the1,883 meter fall of the water, for the 423 megawatt outputof each turbine and for the 35.7 megavolt amperes at each pole of the alternating current generators. “We gave Bieudron its water back; without us nothing here would beworking,” says Walter Pölz, gazing with satisfaction at thepowerful generators. “That was by far the most difficultproject in my entire career.” //

BIEUDRON POWER STATION:HALLOWED HALLS OF THE MODERN ENERGY INDUSTRY.

16 \\ FAMILY VACATION Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

/// Father is a bit afraid — and the bad thing is, the kids notice it. “Thisis nothing unusual in the mountains,” he says. But his tone of voice,which is intended to sound calming, is a bit shaky and uncertain. Andhe senses that the kids sense it, too.

We’re huddled together on a craggy bit of rock in the Lechtal Alpsat a height of around 1,900 meters. Somewhere behind us is the Da -winkopf mountain and somewhere in front of us the Hoher Riffler peak.But we can’t see either of them. Strictly speaking, the only things wecan see are each other and the rock formation that we hope will pro-vide a bit of protection. Otherwise, all we see is fog. More fog than we’veever seen before.

It’s late afternoon and we’ve already been hiking for six hours withthree children, one of whom we’ve been carrying by turns on our backs.We want to return to the Alpine hut where we’re vacationing; suppos-

edly only one and a half, two hours tops, away. But the fog has takenus by surprise. Suddenly, it envelops the pasture so thickly that we canonly see five, six meters in front of us. We’re scared that we’re really go-ing to lose our way now, as we did on the way up at noon — by sun-shine. A bit helplessly, we begin to search for protection near the rockswhere we can wait it out. But for how long? In two hours it will be dark.What to do? Gather our courage and march through the fog? It’s alsoturning noticeably colder and wetter as father utters his helpless “in-the-mountains-this-is-nothing-unusual.” We are silent as we huddletogether and yearn for our hut. For Larchi.

DORMITORY FOR THE HAY HARVEST

The Larchi hut is located a short distance behind the Alberg Tunnel inTyrol, just above the little village of Strengen at a height of 1,500 meters.

THEIMPLE

LIFE14 SQUARE METERS OF AUSTRIA:

THE LUXURY OF SIMPLICITY IN A TINY ALPINE HUT.

ST E FA N S C H E Y T T / T E X T / / / C I R A M O R O / P H OTO S

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Relatives who live here in the area once built it as a dormitory for thehay harvesting days on the steep surrounding slopes. Larchi can onlybe reached by foot and is anything but luxurious — except for the lux-ury of the simple life. The hut consists of one room with a fireplace, awood stove, an old kitchen cupboard, an oversized bunk bed for two on top and two on the bottom, a fold-out sofa, a table and corner seat-ing with a crucifix hanging above it and a drawing of “Sitting Bull,” whoappears to be knowingly surveying the place. Larchi has no electricityand running water is available only from the well in front of the hut:a rivulet from a mountain spring, always icy-cold. During arid sum-mers, it sometimes dries up — which then means having to fetch wa-ter with canisters from a spring that is located higher up. The outhouse,which is 20 meters down the slope, is flushed with sawdust, and theamazingly cold refrigerator is a four-sided brick construction in the

cellar with wooden doors in which scythes, whetstones, axes and sheepskulls are strewn about. Everything just as we wanted it to be: modest,reduced; just us and the mountains and nature.

This is the third time we’ve spent our holidays here. For the children,the biggest difference between vacation and everyday life may be thefact that we, their parents, are with them 24/7. We only go into the village every third day to buy food; the simplest way down takes three-quarters of an hour. If you forget something, you think twice about going a second time to get it. Which means that there are sometimesthree days without red wine or apple juice or butter for bread. That’sjust how it is — and most of the time, it’s just fine that way. We par-ents don’t think about the daily newspaper or telephone; the childrendon’t seem to miss their audio books or TV. On the best days in theLarchi hut, a kind of flow seems to set in: The hours roll by timelessly

PERSONAL HYGIENE OUTDOORS, THE OUTHOUSE FURTHER DOWN THE HILL.


while each one of us is immersed in what we’re doing. And should oneof us look up from what we’re doing, the family might seem as if theypopped out of a perfect photo album: The children play near the well,searching for lizards in the crevices of the stone wall and grasshoppersin the field, they create patterns on the floor of the outhouse with thesawdust, carve, read, wander along the mountain stream, poke aboutin anthills, roll down the meadow, build a secret Indian camp some-where in the forest where the dolls, which have been fashioned fromleaves, moss and twigs, are tied up like hostages. We parents wash thetableware at the well, make the hut a comfortable place to live, read,cook (mostly some sort of stovetop dish), chop, saw and carry wood. Thepace of what we do is always just a bit slower than in our normal life:not with the drive of a determined, goal-oriented mountaineer with altimeter, but rather like a relaxed hiker climbing a mountain, hands

clasped behind the back and in rhythm with his own breathing. Dur-ing the evening hours we sit at the corner table by candlelight, underthe crucifix and the steady gaze of “Sitting Bull.” This is the time whenLarchi, which is pretty dark even during the day, really becomes like acave: Shadows dance along the walls, the air smells like smoke andwood, the kettle hisses on the stove, behind a curtain our youngestchild lightly snores while sleeping in her bunk bed. We play “Memory”and “Old Maid” and other board games, and go to bed much earlier thanwe usually do, as playing by candlelight is quickly tiring.

THE WOOD CRACKLES, THE TENSION IS TANGIBLE

Idyllic? Yes. A picture of harmony? Definitely not. There’s simply toomuch noise caused by bee stings and splinters, not to mention the fre-quent arguments owing to the fact that life in an Alpine hut is any-

THE CHILDREN KEEP A RESPECTFUL DISTANCE TO DANGEROUS-LOOKING MUSHROOMS.

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thing but a place of retreat. Sometimes the tense mood hovers in theone and only room like the wet wash that hangs over the stove. On rainy days in particular, while the wood in the fireplace crackles andpops, the tension in the room is almost tangible. However, as our old-est daughter says, everything that takes place on vacation in the Larchihut is “real.” And when asked just what she means, she relates howthose who sleep in the upper bunk bed bang their head every morn-ing on the wooden beam; or how it’s really scary in the pitch dark ofthe night to walk through the damp meadow to the outhouse whosedoor is creakier than in any horror film; or what fun it is to dip the self-picked parasol mushrooms in egg and then fry them up. The feelingthat everything here is very “real” is also something that we adults feel.Two hours of chopping wood and filling every basket and storage spacewith it; mornings, kindling the fire and warming the hut and, voilà, a

feeling of self-sufficiency sets in, no matter how ridiculous it seems. Alog cabin located on an Alpine pasture, fewer traces of civilization —and suddenly: a new adventurer is born. Even whipping cream with ahand beater becomes an element in the self-fulfillment fantasy world.“Somehow tastes better than at home,” the children confirm.

ANIMAL BONES AND MOUNTAIN INDIANS

“Very much the real thing” is the animal bones that we find in the morn-ing on our hike to the Dawin mountain farm. The children immediate-ly start to guess who the victim was — a deer, a calf, a wild boar? Andthen about the hunter: “Dad, are there wolves here? Or lynx? Or evenbears?” The bear and wolf questions take on more and more phan -tasmagorical and threatening contours— and luckily stop abruptly when we lose our way, climbing further upwards through the forest,

KEEPING AN EYE ON EACH OTHER: THE FAMILY SURROUNDED BY THE PANORAMIC LECHTAL ALPS.


crawling under electrified fences and following our instincts. Sudden-ly, three boys appear out of nowhere. Matthäus, 13, the oldest, is wear-ing a wooden carrying frame and a spool of wire. The three cowherdsare going to take down a pasture fence, which they will then put up inanother area. At home, our kids would have found Matthäus’ Seppl Hut,a traditional Bavarian hat, to be totally un-cool; however, the fact thatMatthäus so unerringly winds through the forest, as if intimately know-ing every stump and path, turns his hat into a symbol of his skill. Andwhen the boys go on to relate that they’ve lived alone in a cabin in thewoods for several days, they become genuine mountain Indians for ourchildren. Matthäus knows, of course, the way to Dawin, and also remainscompletely cool when, right before our eyes, he reaches into his backpack

and accidentally cuts his finger on his axe. Pale but composed, he crouch-es on the ground and shows us the way with his bandaged thumb.

“WE ARE HEROES”

At the Dawin mountain farm, which is open to the public, there’s fresh,creamy milk served in heavy porcelain mugs, and the cheese and hamare piled in slices on small wooden planks. The dairymen let a few pigsrun around freely; they sniff inquisitively at our backpacks, and we feel somewhat awkward about answering our daughter’s persistentquestions as to what the ham and the pigs have to do with each other.In the meantime, our older kids collect dozens of frogs in the meadowand condemn them to taking a dip in the cattle trough. On the way back

FRESH SPRING WATER IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE.

FIRST AID FOR THE SHEPHERD BOY WHO CUT HIS FINGER ON HIS AXE.

NO LUNCH WITHOUT WOOD FOR THE STOVE.

THE “LARCHI” HUT:A SANCTUARY FOR RAINY DAYS.

// 21

to Larchi, we encounter a few cows that are being urged on by a shep-herd boy who’s wearing a t-shirt that reads: “Wir sind Helden / We areheroes.” Our oldest daughter is now convinced, once and for all, thatshe also wants to be a herdsperson one day. “And not just for one sum-mer.” After the cows, the fog rolls in, forcing us to take a break on thecraggy path. We sit and wait. But after half an hour, we begin to fearthat we will have to hike through a pitch-black forest — which is greaterthan the fear of hiking through fog, and so we set out once again. Twohours later, shortly after nightfall, we actually arrive at Larchi. The hutsoon fills with smoke and noise. How silly of us to have imagined thatthe children would now be exhausted from the long hours of hikingand all the excitement, and would be happy to simply fall into their

beds. First, they argue about lighting the fire, then smoke billows outof the cracks and crevices of the stove, since it’s been clogged with toomuch newspaper. And our littlest one seems to want to make up forall the running around that wasn’t possible during the long day shespent in the baby sling.

BABY SNORING AND WELL WATER

And of course our kids don't forego horsing around and, when they go to bed, also don’t miss out on banging their heads on the woodenbeam. When their jabbering is finally over, the only things that can stillbe heard are the baby’s snoring and, outside the hut, the icy water asit trickles into the well. //

SITTING BULL MAKES SURE THAT NOBODY CHEATS DURING A GAME OF MEMORY.

22 \\ FACILITY MANAGEMENT Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

MAKING IT HAPPENG U N D U L A E N G L I S C H / T E X T / / / E R I C VA Z ZO L E R / P H OTO S

CÉDRIC CASSARD ORGANIZES INTERNAL RELOCATIONS WITHIN THE COMPANY'S OPEN-PLAN OFFICES.

// 23

/// Global corporations like Caterpillar are always on themove. Employees from around the world commute be-tween offices. Departments are extended or merged de-pending on what’s happening in the marketplace; entireteams move to new workstations whenever a new projectis launched. Caterpillar personnel, who number some 500in Geneva, are accustomed to seeing their office landscapechange around them all the time. Many even move theirworkstations to a new spot several times a year.

At the European headquarters of the world’s largestmanufacturer of construction machinery, Cédric Cassardand two of his colleagues are responsible for organizing relocations — 520 last year alone. Cassard works for HSGZander, a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger Facility Services.“The trick is to reconcile the requirements of the corporatehead office in the US, the legal standards and the safetyrules with what staff expect.” Cassard plans relocations on the computer down to the last square centimeter. As a result, the act of moving furniture, wiring up the PC andreconnecting the phone can all be accomplished in lessthan 15 minutes.

KEEPING COSTS UNDER CONTROL

Relocation management is one of a total of eighteen dif-ferent services that Bilfinger Berger handles for Caterpillarin Geneva. The spectrum ranges from gardening and main-taining the air conditioning system through planning andmonitoring operating costs for the company’s 29,000-square-meter property. These activities are part and par-cel of HSG Zander’s facility management services. “All theway up to administration, we can handle the vast majori-ty of tasks that are not related to our clients’ core business,”says Hans-Peter Bursa, Managing Director of HSG ZanderSwitzerland. “We lighten the load, quite literally.”

THE DEMAND FOR PROFESSIONAL FACILITY MANAGEMENT IS STRONG IN GENEVA, AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE. BILFINGER BERGER IS THE PROVIDER OF CHOICE AMONG DISCRIMINATING GLOBAL PLAYERS.

A GENERALIST IN DEMAND: FACILITY MANAGER EMILIO ABADIN IS THE MAN.

24 \\ FACILITY MANAGEMENT Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

Facility managers are people who “make things happen.”Emilio Abadin, also of HSG Zander, shares this view. He supports a number of clients in Geneva. Not only is he re-sponsible for the Caterpillar building, he also takes care ofthe Colgate and Lexmark offices. It’s a job with a great deal of diversity. “I sit down with clients on a regular basisin order to find out firsthand whether they’re satisfied andlearn what they need. And, of course, I’m in constant con-tact with our employees as well as with subcontractors andsuppliers,” he explains. Abadin used to run his own serv-ice company on a small scale but he could “barely speak aword of English.” HSG Zander gave him plenty of trainingopportunities, particularly in foreign languages.

Now he juggles numbers and languages in cosmopoli-tan Geneva. “I keep an eye on costs, optimize processes andtrain my people to be always on the ball.” Environmentalprotection and energy efficiency are also matters close tohis heart: “I’m always looking for ways to save energy andwater. It makes sense for our clients to invest in these ar-eas.”

René Gisiger, HR Manager at Caterpillar in Geneva, is com-pletely convinced of the benefits his external facility man-agers deliver: “Outstanding construction machines are our business; nothing should distract us from that. HSGZander ensures the optimal management of our building.Working with them is a win-win situation.”

IN BLACK AND WHITE: ONE-STOP SERVICE

Gigi Chatriant and Radia Benteboula, dressed in theirsmart blue-and-white uniforms, are there to welcomeCaterpillar’s visitors. They are also employed by HSG Zan-der and every one of their working days is multicultural.People from more than twenty countries all work here un-der one roof. The two receptionists speak fluent English andFrench, as well as a bit of German, Hebrew and Spanish.Hocine Meskine and his coworkers in the porters’ office alsotake the international dimension for granted: “Caterpillarhas a great many overseas clients. With all the differenttime zones, there are always a few dozen people on dutyin the building at night, making phone calls and handling

CATERPILLAR'S HR MANAGER RENÉ GISIGER DELEGATES RESPONSIBILITY TO THE FACILITY MANAGEMENT TEAM.

// 25

international business.” For Meskine that means shiftwork, as the security post must be staffed 24/7.

Since Bilfinger Berger took over the facility manage-ment of the Caterpillar building, it has examined the costeffectiveness of every single service and made adjust -ments to optimize them. “It’s a never-ending process,” saysAbadin, as he once again sits down for discussions withCaterpillar’s René Gisiger. Advising and supporting hisclients personally is every bit as natural to Abadin as sub-jecting his team’s performance to regular measurementand evaluation: “How long did it take us to clear technicalfaults in areas like the heating or air conditioning system?Did we clean the carpets thoroughly? Did we provide val-ue for money with the catering services?” The goal is to en-able Caterpillar to see in black and white what serviceshave been provided at what level of quality, and EmilioAbadin himself wants to know as early as possible wherethere is room for improvement: “To me, facility manage-ment means giving our clients what they need before theyeven know they need it.” //

HOCINE MESKINE HANDLES SECURITY FOR THE BUILDING'S OCCUPANTS.

RADIA BENTEBOULA AND GIGI CHATRIANT WELCOME VISITORS IN A VARIETY OF LANGUAGES.

HSG ZAN DER WITH AN I NTERNATIONAL FOCUS

FACILITY MANAGEMENT FOR GLOBAL PLAYERS

HSG Zander, a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger FacilityServices, has offices in 20 European countries. “We of-fer the multilingual capability and top-rate servicethat international clients in Switzerland demand,”says Hans-Peter Bursa, Managing Director of HSGZander Switzerland.

In addition to Caterpillar, his client roster includesmultinationals like Colgate Palm olive, Lexmark, IBMand Alstom, for whom the company not only man-ages administrative buildings but also productionplants. Serving Alstom’s 58 production and admin -istrative buildings, HSG Zander provides one-stopservice, handling everything that previously kept 55different providers busy. (si)

26 \\ INTERVIEW Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

There are 1,500 mountain guides inSwitzerland, only 20 of whom arewomen. Why is that?It’s a hard life, the tours are ex-hausting. Since I finished my train -ing 15 years ago, not one otherwoman in Zermatt has chosen thiscareer — and this is a mecca formountain climbers.What makes you the exception?

I’m persistent. When I was learning the job, I did twice as much training as my male col-leagues. Weighing only 50 kilos, I tried everytrick imaginable to reduce the load I was car-rying: I replaced the metal push handles onthe zips of my jacket and rucksack with nyloncords, to name just one example.Could you imagine living somewhere flat?No, anyone who has spent his or her life so closeto the mountains would miss them too much.What do you have against wide open spaces?I need something to the left and somethingto the right in my field of vision, then my eyeshave some orientation.

Are tourists surprised when they find out thata woman is going to guide them through themountains? When they see me, the first question peopleask is if I’d be able to hold them if they fell. Are reactions like that annoying?Initially, I was a bit concerned. Nowadays Itake no pleasure in explaining myself. I tellmy colleagues in the office to make it clear in advance to the guests that it will be awoman guiding them.Can you recall your most difficult guest?There was one guy who wanted to go skitouring, but he couldn’t ski. He couldn’t man -age the turns — so he just roared along par-allel with the slope and then did a kind ofkick-turn. I died a thousand deaths thinkinghe was going to lose control. After all, weweren’t on the slopes, we were on the glacierwhere there are dangerous crevasses and youhave to be able to control your skis.How did you become a climber?Of the 76 mountains in Europe over 4,000meters, we have 38 on our doorstep here in

// 27

SURE-FOOTEDBETTINA SULLIGER-PERREN, 40, IS ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF FEMALE SWISS MOUNTAIN GUIDES.WE TALKED ABOUT MALE ENVY, GUARDIAN ANGELS, AND THE JOY OF GETTING TO THE TOP.

JA N R Ü B E L / I N T E RV I E W / / / H E I N Z H E I S S / P H OTO S

Zermatt, and I always thought, I want to beup there. The mountains pulled me in, it waslike a challenge.What does it feel like when you reach thesummit?We humans are not exactly the most agilecreatures, and climbers are always pushingtheir limits — and elated to make it all theway. At the summit you have the world atyour feet. All your cares are left far below. Really, that’s how it is.Do you defeat a mountain, do you conquer it?Those aren’t the right words, nature and themountains are always stronger. We guideshave a different philosophy, we respect themountain. Before every climb we sensewhether the mountain is well disposed to-ward us, we check the weather conditions.It’s like being in touch with the mountain, it’s not a staircase to climb up and down.Did you have any role models for your career?Ulrich Inderbinen made a big impression onme. He worked as a guide in Zermatt for 80years, he even climbed the Matterhorn at the

age of 89. I personally experienced the senseof responsibility he felt toward his guests; it was as if he could feel what they could doand which route would be too much for them.They were always satisfied with him. He livedfor the mountains, there was a silent under-standing between them. That impressed medeeply.Did he support you?Yes, even though other men found it hard todeal with me entering their domain. Ulrichdied six years ago, aged 103. When I am up inthe mountains, in the peace and quiet, I canfeel him close to me. In the same way that I believe that all the old guides who havepassed away still watch over us on a tour.You believe in guardian angels?No, I imagine the old guides as coaches up inheaven, pointing us in the right direction andhelping us make the right decisions whenthe going gets tough.The graveyard in Zermatt is full of climberswho missed their footing. Isn’t your profes -sion a little too risky?

I don’t think climbers die because they takerisks. What will be, will be. Anyone who spendsa lot of time in the mountains is risking deathjust by being there so often. Personally, I don’tbelieve I would live longer if I had chosen an-other career. God has his plans for us.For all our lives?No, only our deaths. I would rather end mytime in the mountains than lying in a sickbed.What do you tell your children when youhead off into the mountains?I have a very positive attitude: climbing pro-vides me with fulfillment. Of course I take therisk into account and I try to minimize it bybeing cautious. That is exactly what I tell mychildren.And what does your mother say?She is not keen on the climbing, she is afraidfor me. But it is different for her. She comesfrom Magdeburg on the lowland plains ofnorthern Germany. She has her view — and Ihave mine. //

28 \\ GOTTHARD BASE TUNNEL Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

/// “220200” proclaims a notice on the wall, meaningthat we are in tunnel 2, precisely 20.2 kilometers fromthe northern entrance. A metal barrier blocks the tun-nel bore, with an aperture no larger than a chessboard.Volker Kapfhammer slides the bolt and even as he warns,“Mind the wind ....” the air whistles through the opening,tumbling the visitors’ safety helmets from their headsas if a hurricane were blowing beyond the partition inthe northern tunnel section. “Without the partition, thesuction would blow us away. The Sedrun access shaftacts like a huge chimney,” Kapfhammer explains.

It was at Sedrun that we entered the mountain, firston a narrow gauge railway along a 1,000-meter gallery,then in an elevator down an 800-meter shaft, and fi nal-ly on foot northwards along the future railway tunnel.Now we are facing the metal wall; through the aperturewe glimpse an illuminated tube. The walls and floor are freshly concreted, the track bed is recognizable, herethe tunnel is finished: Job done for Kapfhammer and the 600 people whose work he organizes. With all hisstrength, the Bilfinger Berger engineer braces againstthe wind and closes the aperture. Now only the monot-onous hum of the ventilation system fills the void. Onthis side of the partition the rock walls are only partial-ly coated with shotcrete. Here in the southern part of the Sedrun section, the drilling and blasting continueswith the rubble manhandled up and out through the access shaft.

THE HARDEST PART OF THE TUNNEL

“Of the five construction sites undertaken in the Gott -hard massif since November 1999, Sedrun is the mostdemanding,” says Volker Kapfhammer. The village thatgave its name to the section lies 800 meters above thetunnel floor, accessible only via two vertical shafts. Menand machines have all had to be brought into the inte-rior of the mountain by elevator. And every lump of ex-cavated rock has to take the same route out: a herculeanfeat. As one of four partners in the Transco consortium,Bilfinger Berger was awarded the contract to build theSedrun section in December 2001: In the years that fol-lowed, miners were to blast two tunnel tubes each twokilometers northward and four kilometers southwardinto the mountain at the very heart of the 57-kilometerGotthard Base Tunnel.

IN THE SEDRUN SECTION OF THE GOTTHARDBASE TUNNEL, MINERS ARE WORKING THEIRWAY FURTHER SOUTH, BLASTING THE TUBESFOR THE WORLD’S LONGEST RAILWAY TUNNEL.

P H I L I P P M AU S S H A R DT / T E X T / / / F R A N K S C H U LT Z E / P H OTO S

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// 29

THE NORTHERN PART OF THE SEDRUN SECTION IS COMPLETE.

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TO THE RIGHT, THE MAIN TUNNEL, AND TO THE LEFT, A CONNECTING TUNNELWHICH WILL BE FILLED IN ONCE THE WORK HAS BEEN COMPLETED.

Paris

Zurich

Gotthard Tunnel

GenevaLyon Milan

Genoa

Marseilles

Bologna

Rome

LuxembourgFrankfurt

Munich Vienna

Zagreb

Ljubljana

ALPTRANSIT PROJ ECT BRI NGS RELI EF

SWITZERLAND IS ACTING TO COUNTERTHE GROWING VOLUME OF TRAFFIC

Switzerland’s Federal Office for Spatial Development estimates that by2030, the volume of traffic moving through the country will increaseby between 46 and 104 percent compared to the year 2000. With thisin mind, Switzerland has been working for years to transfer freight traf-fic from road to rail by constantly developing its rail network. The mostimportant transport project is AlpTransit, the new north-south rail linkthrough the Alps. The Zurich – Milan route forms the main axis and isof major importance for through traffic between Germany and Italy.When the 57-kilometer Gotthard Base Tunnel opens in 2017, some 300passenger and freight trains are expected to pass through every day.Once it is complete, the journey time by high-speed train betweenZurich and Milan will be cut from 3:40 to 2:40. Even the airlines will find it hard to compete. (si)

// 31

When work first began, the geological zone between Se-drun and Faido to the south was one of the areas least ex-plored by geologists. Because the mountains rise to a heightof 2,500 meters above the planned line of the tunnel, ex-ploratory drill holes could not predict what kind of rock toexpect. The only thing they did know was that here in theTavetsch intermediate massif there was everything fromhard granite to almost sand-like dolomite. While huge tun-nel boring machines chewed their way through the rockfrom the northern and southern ends of the route, in theSedrun section there was and is no alternative to conven-tional blasting. Tunnel boring machines would simply jam and fail for weeks at a time in this, the most difficultsection of the Gotthard, where crumbling shale, brittlegneiss and even the feared kakirite are regularly encoun-tered. Still, the Sedrun miners consistently advanced by upto twelve meters per day. They were so successful that fouryears ago the client, Alptransit Gotthard AG, extendedTransco’s contract by a further 1.5 kilometers to the south.Kapfhammer estimates that they will make the final break-through and complete the tunnel in autumn 2010.

ROLES REVEALED BY HELMET COLOR

In three shifts a day, seven days a week, the miners, fitters,concreters, mechanics and electricians push forward.They’re all kitted out with headlamps, dust masks, protec-tive goggles and rucksacks containing an oxygen supplythat guarantees their survival for at least 20 minutes. Only the color of their helmets distinguishes one orange-overalled tunneler from another: green for the electricians,blue for the fitters, yellow for the construction teams. FranzSchwinger, a seven-year veteran of Sedrun, wears a yellowhard hat: He is a miner, his job is to stabilize the freshlycleared passage using the shotcrete buffalo, a remote-control shotcrete pump. One of Bilfinger Berger’s Austrianemployees, he has spent half his working life in tunnels.“But this one is something special,” he says. “It makes you proud to be here.” The Gotthard Base Tunnel will notonly enter the Guinness Book of Records as the world’slongest railway tunnel, it will bring the people living northand south of the Alps closer together. It will also be a hugerelief to an Alpine region plagued by heavy trucks. Every excavator, every one of the big drilling machines, every narrow gauge locomotive working down here, first had tobe laboriously dismantled on the surface, then lowereddown the shaft and reassembled. Heinz Rieder from theBernese Oberland is one of 20 or so construction plant me-chanics from all over Europe who care for the machines dayand night. Like everyone else here, they work ten days at astretch before finally taking a four-day break with theirfamilies in Austria, Italy, Eastern Germany or the Ruhr area.“We’re a well-oiled team,” says Rieder in his Swiss German

dialect. “And if words fail us we use hands and feet to getthe message across.”

The miners in the Sedrun section constantly run into a type of rock that is extremely fragile: You can crumblekakirite into a heap of dirt between your fingers. Workingin these fault zones under the huge pressure of the moun-tain above is very risky. Boring machines would stand nochance here, and even with conventional mining tech-niques, extensive safety systems must be implemented.

The idea that saved the day came from the German coalmining industry. Coal miners have long stabilized miningshafts using steel rings made of several components whichallows them to be shifted up against each other. They ab-sorb pressure and deflect it away from the tunnel into the

VOLKER KAPFHAMMER ORGANIZES THE WORK OF 600 PEOPLE IN THE SEDRUN SECTION.


surrounding mountain. The steel rings support a maximumload of up to 180 tonnes per square meter and are installedat close intervals one behind the other as soon as each sec-tion of rock is removed. Each time the pressure of themountain acts on the rings, the pressure that is createdwhen they are forced together discharges with a loud crack.

ONLY THE PORTA ALPINA REMAINS A DREAM

Nothing is overlooked: Depending on the mountain above,the temperatures at the work face can reach 50 degreesCelsius. It takes a sophisticated ventilation system to low-er the working temperatures to a more bearable 28 de-grees. In an emergency, water that suddenly gushes inwould have to be pumped out through the shaft. Thepumps are ready. If need be they can lift 100 liters per sec-ond to the outside world 800 meters above. Everything

is taken care of — well almost: Nothing has come of the op-portunity the inhabitants of Sedrun dream about. They hadhoped that one day in the caverns beneath their village arailway station would be built, the Porta Alpina, where trav-elers from Milan and Zurich would alight to ski and hikein Sedrun’s picturesque surroundings. Too expensive, saidthose responsible in Switzerland, and too much of a safe-ty issue. The plans were cancelled. “Maybe one day,” saysVolker Kapfhammer as the elevator carries us back up theshaft. “One day the dream will come true. In any case, wehave already done the excavation work. The undergroundchambers are ready for use at any time.” As Kapfhammersteps out of the train that has carried us the thousand me-ters to the exit, a fresh wind is blowing through the valley.He breathes deeply: Today has brought him another fivemeters closer to his goal. //

EVER SOUTHWARD: THE MINERS WILL KEEP DRILLING AND BLASTING UNTIL THEY BREAK THROUGH.

// 33

THE TUNNELERS USE TRAVELING FORMWORK TO LINE THE TUBES WITH CONCRETE.

A TIRED CREW HEAD OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN. THEY ARE PROGRESSING FIVE METERS A DAY.

34 \\ RENEWABLE ENERGY Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

/// What Wendelin Einsiedler fears morethan anything is when the blades stand still.“They’ve got to get moving again,” the windfarmer exclaims, hopping about his office onone foot, then the other. Outside the boughsare bending and breaking, everything is in a whirl on this stormy Sunday. Apart from hiswhite giants. In the gusty wind, the turbineshave shut down to keep them from bucklinglike the trees. Einsiedler at his computer ismaster of twelve wind turbines. At the touchof a button he sets the blades, each the length

THE BAVARIAN TOWN OF WILDPOLDSRIED GENERATES MORE THAN THREE TIMESAS MUCH ELECTRICITY AS IT CONSUMES. THE VILLAGERS AREN’T NECESSARILY DIE-HARD ENVIRONMENTALISTS,BUT THEY CAN DO THEIR FIGURES.

C H R I ST I N E K E C K / T E X T / / / H E I N Z H E I S S / P H OTO S

of two large trucks, in motion again. Click,and Haarberg North on the neighboring hillstarts turning. Click again and Langenbergstarts up. The storm has turned the day’sschedule upside down. The CSU regional partyassembly is about to begin. People are waiting,the 53-year-old with the tousled hair mustgo. “Franz,” he urges his brother, one foot al -ready in a rubber boot, “Haarberg South hasstopped again. You do it!” The wind man, ashis friends call him, has brought the ecologi-cal upswing to Wildpoldsried. When it comes

A VILLAGE IN THE WIND

SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOFTOPS GENERATE AN INCOME OF € 70,000 ANNUALLY FOR THE VILLAGE. ONLY THE PROTECTED CHURCH TOWER DEFIES THE TREND.

// 35

to climate protection, the village is in the big leagues. While others have spent yearstalking, its 2,500 inhabitants acted long ago.The community generates three and a halftimes its own electricity needs. Wildpoldsriedcreates energy out of the raw materials thatnature provides in this part of Bavaria. Thewind that blows so plentifully in the foothillsof the Bavarian Alps. The forest timber. Thesun that shines here for 1,755 hours a year.The fodder from which the farmers make bio -gas. Not even the power of the village streamis wasted.

ECO POWER PAYS

And yet they vehemently reject the “alter -native” label. There is not one Green partymem ber on the local council. The one-time“organic” shop no longer stocks organicproduce. Such healthy living was too expen-sive for the thrifty Bavarians. It is not envi-ronmental awareness that motivates them.Money talks in Wildpoldsried. Profit is themost important principle in this community.Mayor Arno Zengerle of the CSU party hasmade the climate a town hall issue. Seatedbetween a feng shui fountain and a motor -cycle calendar, the 52-year-old conservativetalks with wistful pride about annual bulkorders for solar energy systems. Generatingenergy has become the most popular pass -time in Wildpoldsried. The villagers are all for it, they all want to earn a profit. Getting amention on the community website is betterthan winning a trophy. Everyone likes to seehis photo online with the data that matter:Farmers tipping slurry and silage into a bio -gas fermenter. The wind man in whose tur -bines the villagers have invested their savings.The operators of the village’s three hydroelec -tric plants — one of them the mayor himself.

A wrench in one hand, torch in the other,Arno Zengerle hunches over his turbine. “Going again at last,” he rejoices, “the past

LORD OF THE WINDS WENDELIN EINSIEDLERBELIEVES IN THE POWER OF THE ROTARY BLADES.

36 \\ RENEWABLE ENERGY Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

month was far too dry.” Almost every day he looks in at the disused sawmill. Today therain that followed the storm has set the planthumming. A meter below ground, the waterpiped from the village stream is driving theturbine blades. It used to power a saw, now it runs the mayor’s generator instead. Thegauges show an output of six kilowatts. Forevery kilowatt hour of power he feeds intothe grid, the mayor receives just under tencents. The plant earns only a few euros a day.But that’s not the important thing. The may-or has a passion for technology, and since he took his turbine apart and rebuilt it, a loveaffair has blossomed.

BRAINSTORMING IN A MONASTERY

The development of renewable energy hasalways been more than just a hobby for ArnoZengerle. “We have to consider what we arehanding down to our children,” Zengerlewarned his councilors back in 1999. They re -treated for a weekend to a former Benedic-tine monastery. There, in closed session, thecouncilors decided there should be moregrass roots democracy. The villagers shoulddecide what they wanted. The anonymoussurvey form that subsequently droppedthrough their letter boxes was three pageslong. Questions ranged from local publictransport to proposed designs for the villagecenter. The locals were also asked to com-ment on two planned wind turbines: 92 per -cent were in favor. Based on the villagers’answers, the local council developed a roadmap for the future. Less oil and more timberwas what the community wanted. Building a heating plant especially for the village wasless a matter of fine words than of a goodbusiness plan. The plant that burns wood

SIGMUND HARTMANN IS THE GUARDIAN OF THE VILLAGE’S PELLET-FIRED HEATING SYSTEM.IT SUPPLIES HEAT TO 30 BUILDINGS.

// 37

pellets cost half a million euros — and savesalmost 150,000 liters of heating oil and 470tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. SigmundHartmann recites the figures to every visitorwho comes to inspect the plant in the cellarbeneath the village hall. It is plain to see thatthe facility is his pride and joy. The 68-year-old retired steelworker even helped to financethe plant. The system pumps heat throughunderground pipes to the town hall and thesports hall. Church-goers are also snug andwarm. Just like the Hartmann family in theirhouse nearby. More than 30 public and pri -vate buildings are connected to the villageheating system. “As a community project it’svery worthwhile,” says the guardian of thesystem. The Hartmanns would have needed a new heating system anyway, and this onesaves them around € 400 per year. Like manyfamilies in the village, they also have a solarsystem on their roof — for hot water. Gettingaway from oil was a big thing for the Hart-manns. “First of all, because the smell hasgone from the cellar, secondly because it ischeaper, and thirdly because Straubing iscloser than Saudi Arabia,” says Sigmund Hart -mann. A 15-tonne truckload of pellets is de -livered — from Straubing — every week or two.

TEACHING JAPAN A THING OR TWO

Wildpoldsried’s fame has spread far beyondthe local region, as the entries in the commu-nity’s visitors book prove: From Japan andLake Constance, from the ranks of the Greenparty and the conservative CSU, a steadystream of visitors come to see what they canlearn from this energy-oriented village. Themayor is fond of telling the story of how hedrummed up support to renovate the olderbuildings. In the middle of winter a film was

taken from a hot air balloon. The main pointsof interest were the village roofs. Those onwhich the snow lay deep were well insulated.Where the snow had melted, the ownerscould see how much heat they were wasting.Mayor Zengerle had his eye on more thanjust the villagers; he also combed throughthe council’s energy bills. Each month the staffare required to monitor how much heatingoil, electricity and water are consumed bythe kindergarten, school, town hall and firestation. A closer look at the meters soonshowed who the energy guzzlers were: The

kindergarten boiler was on maximum, aneasily avoidable waste. A faulty valve meantthe heating at the fire station kept runningthrough the summer. No one had noticed.Like a man with his heart set on breaking his own record, Arno Zengerle shows off thelatest figures. “The solar energy units onpublic buildings alone brought us in € 70,000last year,” he grins. But he is still on the look -out for more suitable roof space. He woulddearly like to kit out the historic village churchwith some solar panels: “But it’s a protectedmonument, and we’re not allowed.” //

THE LANDSCAPE IS GREEN AND THE FINANCES ARE IN THE BLACK: MAYOR ARNO ZENGERLE TAKES A WALK THROUGH THE LOCAL RECREATION AREA WITH ITS PLANT PURIFICATION SYSTEM.

38 \\ WASTE SITE CLEAN-UP Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

/// Once upon a time the citizens threw their rubbish on-to the streets — and were overrun by rats. The mayor prom-ised 100 gold ducats to anyone who could rid the city of theplague. Then a stranger appeared on the scene. When heplayed his flute, the rodents came out of their lairs and fol-lowed the man down to the river where the fast-flowingwater washed them away.

In the Austrian version of the fairy tale, the Pied Pipercatches his rats in Korneuburg, a small town on the Da nubenorth of Vienna where an updated version of the story is

currently taking place — but it takes more than a flute torid the town of the effects of pollution.

In World War II the oil refinery on the edge of town wasa target for allied bombers. The blind eye turned overdecades of operation and even after the plant closed in 1961did the rest. Hundreds of thousands of liters of oil foundtheir way into the subsoil. When residents living in near-by residential areas voiced increasing concern that theirdrinking water tasted oily, the federal environmentalservice launched an investigation of the polluted “Tutten-

APPLYING THE PIED PIPER PRINCIPLE TO TOXIC WASTE

BILFINGER BERGER IS HANDLING ONE OF THEBIGGEST WASTE SITE CLEAN-UP PROJECTS IN AUSTRIA.

B E R N D H AU S E R / T E X T / / / E R I C VA Z ZO L E R / P H OTO S

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LITERS OF OIL HAVE SEEPED INTOTHE SOIL AT THE FORMER REFINERY SITE. NOW SEPARATORS AREEXTRACTING IT FROM THE GROUNDWATER.

dorfer Breite” site: An area of 18 hectares proved to be con-taminated with hydrocarbons to a depth of six meters —the remnants of the site’s oil-refining past.

FILTERS AND SOIL BACTERIA

BALSA, the federal agency charged with cleaning up toxicwaste sites, issued an invitation to tender to resolve whatwas becoming an urgent problem that drew ever-louderprotests from the people of Korneuburg. Bilfinger BergerBaugesellschaft, an Austrian subsidiary, presented an in-novative clean-up concept and in 2008 the company wasawarded the contract for the project.

Engineers built a 1,200-meter long containment wall at right angles to the direction of groundwater flow andreaching deep down into an impervious layer of clay. A se-ries of “gates” were installed in the underground wall.These perforated glass fiber pipes nearly two meters in di-ameter are filled with activated carbon granules. “Thegates were developed by Bilfinger Berger and we have apatent on them,” says geotechnical engineer ThomasPirkner. The groundwater flows through the filters, leavingthe hydrocarbons trapped inside. Once the activated char-

coal is saturated, it is sucked out and replaced with freshgranules, thereby preventing any further contamination ofthe adjacent areas.

However, the polluted refinery site also had to becleaned up. Inside the protective underground barriers, athick film of oil floated on top of the groundwater. Bilfin-ger Berger first sank eight wells in which oil separators arenow busily extracting the oily residue. The second step isboth unusual and unique in Austria on this scale: a micro-biological rehabilitation of the soil. This process relies on

natural soil bacteria to do the cleaning. A total of 40 shaftswere dug on the site through which the soil organisms thatdegrade the toxins are now being actively cultivated.

“All soils contain bacteria that break down hydrocar-bons naturally,” explains environmental engineer RainerAdami who is overseeing the project. “In order to help thesemicroorganisms cope with such large quantities, we areadding nutrients and oxygen.” Extractors draw off air fromthe base of the shafts, creating a negative pressure belowground. The soil compensates by absorbing air on the sur-face, thereby providing the bacteria with fresh oxygen. Theenvironmental technicians are using some of the othershafts to introduce artificial fertilizers dissolved in water:The nitrates give the bacteria a healthy appetite.

THE GOAL IS TO ACHIEVE DRINKING WATER QUALITY

Staff from Bilfinger Berger will be monitoring the site for a period of ten years. “We are confident that we willachieve our goal,” says Michael Zorzi, General Manager ofBALSA, the client. “When the clean-up is completed, thegroundwater in the Tuttendorfer Breite should be fit todrink once again.” //

// 39

BI LFI NGER BERGER BAUGESELLSCHAFT

FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN VIENNA

Bilfinger Berger’s Austrian subsidiary operates mainly in Austria, Hungary, Ro-mania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In Vienna, the company is involved in several spectacular infrastructure projects including the construction of the13-kilometer long Wienerwald Tunnel and the renovation of the Vienna Westtrain station, which has protected monument status. Two basement floors arebeing installed while the station remains in operation. The company special-izes in civil and environmental engineering. (si)

THE FILTERS ARE PACKED WITH A TOTAL OF 120 TONNES OF ACTIVATED CARBON.

CLEANING UP: MICHAEL ZORZI, THOMAS PIRKNERAND RAINER ADAMI (FROM LEFT).

A SAMPLE FROM BELOW GROUND: THERE ISOIL FLOATING ON THE GROUNDWATER.

40 \\ PORTRAIT Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

T I L M A N WÖ RT Z / T E X T / / / R A I N E R K W I OT E K / P H OTO

MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS, CITIZEN OF THE WORLDAFTER FLEEING HIS HOMELAND, HUBERT VON GOISERN FOUND HIS ROOTS WHILE ON FOREIGN SOIL — AND INVENTED “ALPENROCK.”

www.hubertvongoisern.com

// 41

/// The small town of Bad Goisern, population 8,000, occupies an idyllic valley setting at the head of the Goiserer Tal in Upper Austria. A single road leads to the town, and ends there. To go further meansclimbing over the Dachstein massif. For young people here there is noavoiding the question: Should they stay within the confines of the valley? Or should they leave? What would happen to their identity? Bad Goisern has produced two famous inhabitants who gave two con-trasting answers — both have become leadingfigures of vastly different movements and at-titudes to life in Austria.

One was Jörg Haider who died two yearsago in a fatal accident. As leader of the rightpopulist Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), he hada predilection for being photographed in leder -hosen. He gave speeches in which he lumped“foreigners, asylum seekers and social securi-ty spongers” together in a single breath. Iden-tity through separatism was the answer thatHaider publicly represented.

The town’s other famous son is a formerneighbor of Jörg Haider who was two classesbelow him at the local school: Austrian rock starHubert von Goisern. Von Goisern is regarded as the inventor of “Alpenrock,” a style of musicthat combines rock’n’roll with yodeling, accor-dions and fiddles.

It would be a bit of a cliché to say that Hubert von Goisern, 58, is the Austrian Bob Dylan, but the comparison is at least fitting interms of the status he enjoys in his home coun-try. He sings in a language they understand,but also manages to play music that appealsto young people. Goisern’s deeply dialectical“Hiatamadl” (Shepherd girl) spent three monthsin the top ten. The lyrics are a linguistic challenge even to Germanspeakers, but the song has since become a sort unofficial anthem of the Republic of Austria. However, Hubert von Goisern has also writtenmany thoughtful songs, such as this reflection on life entitled “Leben”(Life): “Nothing belongs to us and nothing is free / that’s why life itselfis the greatest art.”

The invention of Alpenrock began at the music society in Bad Goi -sern, where an adolescent Hubert Achleitner, as he was then called,played junior trumpet. His fellow musicians balked at the long hairwith which Hubert demonstrated his inclination toward the thenemerging world of rock. They were afraid people would think there was“a girl playing in the band.” But Hubert refused to cut his hair and com-plained at the absence of rock numbers from the program instead, until eventually he had to relinquish his trumpet. Hubert felt an urgeto leave the valley. “Headed for freedom, for blues and rock’n’roll.”

Austrian-style music was too folksy for him, seeming to “seek an iden-tity in separatism,” as he says today. It was only after he had spent along time traveling that he rediscovered its true worth. He lived for halfa year in the Philippines among players of nose flutes and was fasci-nated by their open-heartedness towards strangers. “They didn’t mindme singing along in my own way. I thought, once upon a time it musthave been that way with us too.” Hubert Achleitner, the man who felt

compelled to leave, now felt compelled to re-turn, to “dig out the roots of musical tradition.”He learned to play the accordion and to yodel,combining folk music with rock and blues. Healso took the name “von Goisern.” Partly as a self-deprecating joke, but partly also as an acknowl -edgement of his rediscovered home. His songsspoke to a yearning hidden deep in the soulsof many Austrians who sought to reconcile theirtwin identities as men of the mountains andcitizens of the world. Critics placed Hubert vonGoisern in the right-wing camp. In fact some ofhis fans are of that ilk. But for most Austrianshis Alpenrock style has simply rehabilitatedfolk music and made it worth listening to.

On his travels through Africa and Tibet, Hubert von Goisern also sought inspiration inother cultures. Five years ago he accompaniedthe Egyptian singer Mohamed Mounir. Short-ly after the tour he released his album “Trad II”which proved to be not so much an Afro-Aus-trian amalgam as a reinterpretation of Austri-an folk songs. Recently he has attracted atten-tion with his shipboard tours on the Rhine andDanube. At dozens of wharfs he moored up, in-vited local bands onto his floating stage andplayed jam sessions. He chose his guests with

care, wanting to play with musicians who were also searching for theircultural roots in their own homelands. The Ukrainians played polka rockwith trumpet and harp, the Romanians fired up their violins and blewthe sounds of the Carpathians. “We aim to extend this cultural part-nership between regions along the 2,889 kilometers of this river all theway to the east,” Hubert von Goisern described his ambitious project.“It would be a great achievement if we could get more people to ac-cept this musical diversity.”

Hubert von Goisern’s first musical echo from this journey to the eastwas a CD titled “s’Nix” (The Nothing). It combines rock and pop with alittle yodeling, but no Carpathian horns or harps, nothing multicultur-al, just the Goi sern sound.

Von Goisern is still von Goisern, with one foot firmly planted in hisvalley and the other forever tramping. But the further he goes, the closer the bond with his own origins. //

NOTHING BELONGS TO USAND NOTHING IS FREE

— THAT’S WHY LIFE ITSELF

IS THE GREATEST ART

HUBERT VON GOISERN, „LEBEN“ (LIFE)

42 \\ THE ICE CREAM MAKERS FROM THE DOLOMITES Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

ICE CREAM SHOPS IN GERMANY ARE TRADITIONALLY RUN BY ITALIANS.THE SHOPS ARE ABANDONED IN WINTER AND OPENED AGAIN IN EARLY APRIL.BUT WHERE DO THE ICE CREAM MAKERS SPEND THE WINTER MONTHS?P H I L I P P M AU S S H A R DT / T E X T / / / R A I N E R K W I OT E K , F R A N K S C H U LT Z E / P H OTO S

// 43

/// The Zoldo Valley slowly empties out. It is the end of February, and some have already loaded their suitcases andboxes into their cars bearing German license plates anddriven down the narrow road that runs alongside the rag-ing mountain river Maè to Longarone, then on to the Au-tobahn, heading for Brenner. Their destination: countlessGerman cities, from Aachen to Zittau. The last wait untilMarch; then they too close up their houses and set out ina northerly direction to reopen their ice cream shopsthroughout Germany after the winter break. The only oneswho remain in the narrow valley nestled into the Do lo-mite mountains are the elderly and the children of the icecream makers.

PARENTS IN GERMANY, CHILDREN IN ITALY

Fausto Bortolot, 68, sits on the terrace of his house in Zop-pé and lights his pipe while surveying the sun-kissed sum-mit of Monte Civetta. On the other side of the Zoldo Valley,the Dolomite foothills tower over 3,200 meters. There’s noneed for Bortolot to explain why he loves this small cornerof the world so dearly, or why, after 53 years in Cochem ander Mosel, he still calls this place home. In the living roomof his large house five children are sitting around a chess-board. They are the Bortolot’s grandchildren whose parentsleft the valley just a few days ago — for a long eight months.The daughter-in-law is still here, but will be leaving the day after tomorrow: “The separation is worse for me as amother than for the children,” she says.

ROOTS GO DEEP IN THE ZOLDO VALLEY

In the small village school in Zoppé, four of five pupilsquickly raise their hands in answer to the question whoseparents work in Germany as ice cream makers. They hap-pily wave their hands in the air and don’t seem at all sadthat they will only hear their fathers’ and mothers’ voiceson the phone or via Skype during the next months. It’s away of life that they’re used to. Most of the sons anddaughters of ice cream makers who work in Germany on-ly attend kindergarten there. As soon as they start school,the serious side of life begins — as does the long separationfrom their parents. “We all have deep roots in this valley,”explains Bortolot. “And we want to pass them on to ourchildren.” The children shouldn’t forget where they comefrom and where they will return to when they are old. Of the approximately 5,000 ice cream shops in Germany,a little over half are run by the Zoldani: Lazzarin, Fonta -

A ROOM FULL OF GRANDKIDS: THE BORTOLOTS AT HOME.

EVEN THE KNICK-KNACKS IN THE LIVING ROOM ATTEST TO PRIDE IN FAMILY TRADITIONS.

44 \\ THE ICE CREAM MAKERS FROM THE DOLOMITES Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

nella, Soravia, Zanolli, Panciera, to name a few of the fam-ilies. It was a case of pure hardship that drove the first ofthem to the capital city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire atthe end of the 19th century. Until that time, the inhabitantslived from the inhospitable land, as raftsmen or producingcharcoal from the trees covering the mountains; some hadsmall mines from which they were able to extract a bit ofiron. Time and again, however, avalanches and devastatingfloods completely destroyed their work. In 1882, the Maècarried away almost all of the workshops and mills, forc-ing the valley residents to seek their fortune beyond themountains. Initially, the Zoldani, as they call themselves,sold cookies, candied pears and roasted chestnuts fromtheir wooden carts, until a few of them discovered mobileice cream. The mass made from milk, eggs and sugar waschilled in small manually-operated machines in which ice and salt were mixed to a temperature of – 17° Celsius.

WHILE DARIO OLIVIER WORKS HARD IN HIS ICE CREAM SHOP IN WITTEN IN THE RUHR AREA ...

... THE RETIREES AT HOME GATHER IN THE “BRUSTOLON” BAR.

THE SCHOOLDAY IS FINALLY OVER! “FROZEN STUFF” ISN’T SOMETHING JUST SERVED IN A CONE IN THE ZOLDO VALLEY.

// 45

Things continued along this way for the Zoldani, who per-fected their ice cream making skills in Germany, Polandand Austria well into the 1930s. The Second World War on-ly briefly interrupted the unstoppable rise of “gelato ital-iano.” Post-war reconstruction ushered in the best of times:In every German city, the ice cream shop became a gather-ing place for teenagers and families.

HANDMADE IS HOMEMADE!

Just below Zoppé, in the small village of Bragarezza, DarioOlivier loads his suitcases into his silver-grey Mercedes. Today he’s returning to Witten an der Ruhr, where, in 1930,his grandfather opened one of the first ice cream parlorsin the Ruhr region. Dario Olivier is also vice president of“Uniteis,” an association of Italian ice cream producers inGermany. He knows that many families are currently go-ing through tough times: “Selling ice cream is not as attrac-tive as it used to be. Many children are aware of the otheropportunities out there and no longer want to follow intheir parents’ footsteps.” Even more than the future gen-eration’s freedom of choice, however, Dario Olivier fears thecompetition of the soulless ice cream industry with theirfinished products, as well as the many newcomers whoopen an ice cream shop and have neither experience norpassion for what they do. “When someone has sold screwstheir entire life, they can’t just simply switch over to icecream,” says the Zoldani with conviction. Legally, though,they can: The production of ice cream is not subject to established training regulations — something that DarioOlivier and the other members of Uniteis want to change.Recently, they received a license from the Rhein-MainChamber of Commerce for a two-year training program asa state-approved ice cream producer. “For us, it’s all aboutprotecting the quality of handmade ice cream.” And it’s also about hygiene and reliable products — and guardingagainst undesired competition.

A COLORFUL MIX OF GERMAN DIALECTS

Dario speaks with the accent common to the German spo-ken in the Ruhr area; in fact, just about everyone in Zoldospeaks with the accent from the area in which they selltheir ice cream. In the “Brustolon” bar, where the ice creamretirees meet for a daily round of cards, the various accentsare most noticeable in greeting and in parting.

As the sun sets in the Zoldo Valley, the last rays turn thepeak of Monte Pelmo red. And for a few minutes, the rockstake on the color of raspberry ice cream. //

ICE CREAM IS AS EXCITING AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN. HOWEVER, SELLING ICE CREAM ISN’T.

DARIO OLIVIER WITH A SUNDAE: WHO IN THE TOWN OF WITTEN CAN RESIST?

46 \\ NATURAL GAS STORAGE Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

/// For Europe, the start of last year was marked by a heated dispute.The Ukraine defaulted on its gas payments and Russia suspended sup-plies to its neighbor. At that point, the Ukrainians threatened to pro-hibit the transport of Russian gas through its territory and demand-ed higher transit fees. The state gas company in Russia, Gazprom, ac-cused the Ukraine of helping itself to millions of cubic meters of gasin the pipelines destined for Central Europe, and turned off the tap.Supplies to Central Europe were held up for two weeks. Consumers be-gan to wonder whether they would find themselves huddled indoorswearing every sweater they owned. In poorer countries such as Serbia,heating systems failed.

In Austria, however, Markus Mitteregger, Director of Natural GasStorage at energy exploration and supply company RAG, had soothingwords for his countrymen: “We are the leaders. No other country in Europe has more storage capacity.” Austria is twice blessed in that ithas extensive deposits of natural gas, and when these are exhaustedthe fields can be used to store gas from Russia. Back in 1997 in Haidachon the border between Salzburg and Upper Austria, RAG tapped intoa huge deposit at a depth of 1,600 meters. Sealed by an upper layer

of clay, a total of 4.3 billion cubic meters of methane were locked in the pores of a 100-meter thick bed of sandstone covering an area of 17.5 square kilometers. RAG drilled down, and the gas obligingly flowedto the surface like carbon dioxide in a bottle of mineral water when the cap is unscrewed. However, the process also works in reverse. Oncethe gas has been extracted, with some technical effort, fresh gas canbe forced back into the sandstone pores, creating a vast reservoir of akind that could never be built above ground. And that is what hap-pened in Haidach.

DOUBLE THE CAPACITY

In 2007 RAG and its partners WIN GAS and Gazprom initiated the firststage of the Haidach gas storage facility. Since then 1.2 billion cubic me-ters of gas have been bunkered there ready to be drawn off at times ofpeak demand — or during a gas dispute in Eastern Europe. The secondstage of the project is now underway to double the capacity, makingHaidach the second-largest gas storage in Central Europe. As in the firststage, BIS VAM Anlagentechnik, a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger Indus-trial Services, is responsible for erecting the complex technical plant:

UNDERGROUND GAS STORAGEGAS ON TAP IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT.IN UPPER AUSTRIA BILFINGER BERGER IS HELPING TO BUILD ONE OF EUROPE’S LARGEST NATURAL GASSTORAGE FACILITIES.

B E R N D H AU S E R / T E X T

// 47

Huge compressors are required to pump Russian gas into Austriansandstone. The pipes must withstand pressures of up to 250 bar. Bil-finger Berger is erecting two compressor stations each comprising 850 tonnes of pipe and 1,700 tonnes of other equipment: filters, ad -sorbers, dryers. The installation work began in September 2009 and is due to be finished by September 2010.

IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL GAS INCREASING

At the same time, Bilfinger Berger is also working on another majorproject for RAG not far from Haidach: “Seven Fields.” This project in-volves linking seven smaller former gas fields on the border betweenUpper Austria and Salzburg with pipelines for use as another reservoir.Seven Fields and Haidach will between them be able to store enoughgas to meet the needs of 2.2 million homes for a year. “At any given timewe have 100 to 150 of our specialists working on site,” says Peter Lorenz,the manager responsible. “The trick is to coordinate our crews not just with one another but also with the trades that come before andafter them in order to complete the project in the short time available.”Thus far natural gas accounts for a quarter of primary energy needs

in the EU. According to forecasts from Brussels, over the next ten yearsdemand will increase by 25 percent. By 2050 the International EnergyAgency (IEA) expects natural gas to become the world’s most importantenergy source. Those who invest in storage capacity now will secure astrategic advantage for themselves with the ability to make money asan intermediary via the Central European gas networks. The trend to-ward renewable energy supports this position.

Many experts regard natural gas as a bridge between fossil fuels andthe age of green energy. In comparison with coal and oil, burning nat-ural gas produces less carbon dioxide. And for now, wind and solar pow-er can only function in combination with other forms of energy thatcan be made quickly and reliably available when the wind ceases toblow or clouds block out the sun. “The combination of renewables withnatural gas is ideal,” says RAG Director Markus Mitteregger: “Gas-firedpower stations can be rapidly run up and shut down as required andthey are very efficient.” Stations equipped with the latest gas turbinesachieve an incredible 90 percent efficiency. By comparison, the averagecoal-fired stations are only 30 percent efficient, with newly built plantsreaching 45 percent. //

SPECIALIST EXPERTISE

GAS DRYING

Did you know that natural gas stored underground absorbs water?In fact gas has to be dried before entering the supply network, notleast to prevent the pipelines from corroding.

The construction of gas drying plants is a specialty of BIS E.M.S.,a Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services subsidiary based in Cloppen-burg. The company works throughout Europe from France and theUnited Kingdom to Austria and Romania. A variety of techniques areused in gas drying. The moisture can be extracted with the aid ofglycol or adsorbed via molecular screens that trap the larger watermolecules. Low-temperature processes are also sometimes used, inwhich the gas is cooled to up to –36° C. (si)

COMPLEX TECHNOLOGY IS REQUIRED TO COMPRESS THE GAS INTO THE 1,600-METER DEEP RESERVOIR.

48 \\ NEWS Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 2010

MAGN ETIC SYSTEMS TECH NOLOGY FROM BI LFI NGER BERGER POWER SERVICES

CERN REPORTS SUCCESSFUL PARTICLE COLLISIONS

At the end of March 2010, two opposing streams of protons collided in thenew LHC particle accelerator operated by the European research center CERNnear Geneva with an energy force never before achieved by science. For justfractions of a second the collision created conditions such as those that pre-vailed 13.7 billion years ago immediately after the Big Bang.

The particle beam is kept on course using high-precision dipole magnetssupplied by Bilfinger Berger Power Services. With a successful proton colli-sion under their belts, scientists can now begin some extensive experiments.They hope to discover unknown particles and gain new insights into the ori-gins of the universe. The project ranks as one of the most ambitious scien-tific undertakings of our time.

GROWTH I N FACI LITY MANAGEMENT

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SER-VICES FOR WESTLB, AXA AND IVG

Bilfinger Berger Facility Services has signed contractsvalued at a total of €70 million. Bilfinger Berger is to take over the management of WestLB’s WestFondproperties. In addition, the AXA Group has transferredmanagement of some 140 properties with a total floor area of a million square meters. Bilfinger Bergerwill also be looking after more than 200 propertieswith two million square meters of floor space for IVG.The tenure of the contracts is between five and eightyears.

POLAN D BEN EFITS FROM STRUCTURAL FUN DS

BILFINGER BERGER BUILDS ROADS AND TUNNELS

Poland is receiving support for the development of its transport infrastruc-ture from the structural funds set up by the European Union. By 2013 thecountry is to receive a total of €67 billion in funding. Bilfinger Berger is in-volved in several major projects including the nine-kilometer long southernsection of the Danzig ring road. The company will also build an eleven-kilometer section of motorway near Bialystok on Poland’s eastern border.Meanwhile in Warsaw, Bilfinger Berger is constructing a 2,000-meter railwaytunnel to the international airport serving the capital city. The total value ofthe project amounts to €210 million.

TECH N ICALLY CHALLENGI NG

FOLLOW-UP ORDER FOR THESTOCKHOLM RING ROAD

Bilfinger Berger is to design and build another sec-tion of the “Norra Länken” motorway ring road whichwill relieve the Swedish capital of through traffic. Thenew order raises the company’s stake in the bypassto over €200 million. Bilfinger Berger will be respon-sible for building a series of tunnels along the route.These technically challenging sections demand high-ly sophisticated design engineering and constructionskills.

PUBLIC INTEREST IS HIGH: THE NEW STOCKHOLM RING ROAD WILL PROVIDE RELIEF FOR THE INNER CITY.

CERN PHYSICIST IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE MORE THAN 1,200

MAGNETS THAT KEEP ATOMIC PARTICLES ON THE RIGHT PATH.

// 49

LONG-TERM MAI NTENANCE CONTRACTS

INDUSTRIAL SERVICES GROWING THROUGHOUT EUROPE

Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services has signedframework agreements with BP and other inter-national oil and gas companies to provide serv-ices at various locations in the United King-dom. The agreements run for five years and havean overall value of some €230 million. BilfingerBerger will be handling both regular mainte-nance duties as well as major overhauls.

The company also continues to strengthenits position in Scandinavia where it has receivedorders valued at more than €80 million. Bilfin-ger Berger has been awarded long-term con-tracts to maintain production facilities operat-ed by aluminum manufacturer Alcoa in Norwayand chemicals group AkzoNobel in Sweden.

In Germany, too, Bilfinger Berger is providingservices to the chemicals industry. BASF has ex-tended its framework agreements for plants in-cluding Ludwigshafen for a further five years.RWE Power has also signed three-year contractsunder which Bilfinger Berger will carry out scaf-folding works at various opencast mining sitesin North Rhine-Westphalia. The orders are col-lectively valued at €90 million.

Bilfinger Berger has completed the 65-kilometer southern section of the M6 mo-torway in Hungary — another PPP project — in the record time of just 18 months.The new section of highway entails an investment of around €500 million. Bil-finger Ber ger holds a 45 percent stake in the project company with an equity in-vestment amounting to €23 million. Over the 28-year operating period, BilfingerBerger will ensure availability in return for a contractually agreed fee from theHungarian state. The M6 is a central element in the expansion of Hungary’s mo-torway network. Bilfinger Berger is already operating another 58-kilometer sec-tion of the route which entered service in 2006.

In Australia, a project company headed by Bilfinger Berger will design, financeand build the Peninsula Link expressway near Melbourne and operate the routefor a period of 25 years. The PPP project structured on a guaranteed availabilitybasis constitutes an investment of €562 million. The Group has a one-third stakein the project company and will be investing €26 million in equity.

ELECTRICITY FOR EUROPE, NORTH AFRICA AN D TH E MI DDLE EAST

BILFINGER BERGER JOINS DESERTEC INITIATIVE

Bilfinger Berger has joined the Desertec industrial initiative (Dii) as an Associat-ed Partner. The goal is for Desertec to cover 15 percent of Europe’s electricity by2050 with sun and wind energy from North Africa in particular. The initiative willalso cover a substantial portion of the needs in the countries where the electric-ity is generated. “We view Desertec as an important element in securing a sus-tainable supply of energy and a great opportunity for our Company,” says Prof.Hans Helmut Schetter, member of the Executive Board at Bilfinger Berger respon-sible for technology and research & development, among other things. BilfingerBerger sees the project as a tremendous opportunity for its services business. TheCompany has many years of experience in the installation, maintenance and re-pair of facilities for the generation of both renewable and conventional energy.

SOLAR POWER PLANTS: BILFINGER BERGER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PIPE INSULATION AT SITES LIKE THIS ONE IN SOUTHERN SPAIN.

PARTN ERSH I PS WITH TH E PUBLIC SECTOR

PPP SUCCESSES IN HUNGARY AND AUSTRALIA

Bilfinger Berger Magazine // 01 201050 \\ ROADS OF THE WORLD

THE CYCLISTS’ CROWNING GLORY

The Route des Grandes Alpes is the epitomeof Alpine roads. Over a distance of 680 kilo-meters from Lake Geneva to the Côte d’Azurit traverses a total of 16 Alpine passes. TheRoute owes its origins to the “Touring Club deFrance” founded in the year 1890 to promotebicycle touring. It was in 1909 that Vice Pres-ident Léon Auscher put forward his idea tolink the principal centers of the French Alpswith a route that would open up the area for tourists. In July each year the Route desGrandes Alpes becomes the focus of world-wide attention as the ascents through thehigh Alps present one of the toughest chal-lenges of the Tour de France. The climb to the 2,645-meter high Col du Galibier (picturedhere) is a prime example. Here the riders passa memorial to Henri Desgrange, the founderof the Tour, who included the pass in his sched-ule 99 years ago with the words: “Comparedwith the Galibier, all the rest are just ordinarylittle hills. One cannot but respect the Gali-bier.” But the Route des Grandes Alpes is alsoa byword for beauty and recreation: It is prob-ably the most curve-filled route through theAlps to the Mediterranean, and certainly themost spectacular. It is passable from June tomid-October, not just for cyclists, but also formotorists who are not in a hurry.

BA R BA R A B O L LWA H N / T E X T / / /

T I M D E WA E L E / P H OTO

Evian

Saint Michel

Guillestre

Barcelonnette

Valberg

Nice

Albertville

Col du Galibier 2645 m

Geneva

Megève

Moûtiers

Briançon

Château-Queyras

Val d’Isère

Chamonix

bilfinger berger magazine 2010 # 1

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