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Operating internationally with Swiss roots, WALO is a family-owned business now being led by the fifth generation. For over 100 years, WALO has been committed to the combination of consistency and innovation.


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WALO is active as an innovative total solutions company in all markets of the construction industry. With its decades of experience and the permanent development of sustainable as well as economical solutions, the family-owned company has established itself as a reliable partner in the construction industry and infrastructure projects in Switzerland and worldwide.


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We have successfully implemented many challenging projects and are proud to let our references speak for our work.


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Good construction and thus satisfied customers require precise work. All our employees, from unskilled workers to engineers, play a key role in ensuring that we achieve this goal time and time again.


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With our locations in three countries, we are by your side worldwide.


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Alz Channel, Germany

WALO successfully re-lined an 18 km long head race channel in Bavaria, Germany, facing challenges such as steep inclines and a tight schedule.

Case Study Description

Background

The All channel is a man made 18 km long head race channel, which provides water for power production and cooling purposes for Wacker Chemie AG, a chemical factory employing 10,000 people. The channel is located in Bavaria, Germany, 40 km north of the city of Salzburg.

The channel was built early in the 20th century and was lined with concrete slabs, installed between 1920 and 1922. Extensive rehabilitation of the surface of the channel was required to ensure the channel remains watertight and maintains maximum efficiency for the owner.

WALO was commissioned to re-line the major length of the channel with a 60mm thick Asphaltic Base Layer (ABL) and another 60 mm layer of Dense Asphaltic Concrete. The total area to be relined consisted of 142,300m2 on the slopes, 16,700m2 on the base and also an area of 46,700m2 (in the water exchange zone on the upper part of the slopes) needed a mastic sealing layer installed to provide optimum protection against UV radiation.

 

The Challenge

This was a turnkey project for WALO, who had total responsibility for all the details of the design and the engineering solution as a lump sum contract. WALO faced a number of challenges – as well as the channel being very long, its sides have an incline of 39°, meaning the lining teams were working on fairly steep and narrow slopes throughout. WALO’s new channel paving machine has been perfectly designed for carrying out exactly this kind of work. In addition to the new ’channel paver’, several new machines were manufactured and adapted for this challenging project.

The time available was also strictly limited, with the channel only remaining empty for eight weeks. In order to complete the work as quickly as possible, four to five of WALO’s specialist lining teams were working simultaneously, with one working on the horizontal placing while three to four others worked on the vertical placing. Prior to the lining works, the existing concrete surface was roughened and cleaned by high water pressure. To ensure the process was carried out efficiently and safely, it meant careful coordination of heavy machinery and the labor force, working in very close proximity to each other in a comparatively confined space. Despite these challenges, the entire project was carried out to schedule in three months and impounding started earlier than scheduled."

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Contact

Walo Bertschinger AG
Giessenstrasse 5
8953 Dietikon 1

Location
Germany
Service

Hydraulic Asphalt Engineering

Building time
2017
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We appreciate your interest in the WALO Group and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Walo Bertschinger AG

Headquarters
Giessenstrasse 5
Postfach, 8953 Dietikon 1

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