Friday we all left the office early in the morning to go on a company trip, that we were all very excited about. We had made plans for a tour of the Great Belt Bridge (Storebælt) – from top to bottom – as well as a visit to the steel manufacturer Give Stålspær in Jutland.
Storebælt
Krabbenhøft & Ingolfsson installed sensors on the west part of the bridge and we are currently working on a software solution to read the data. Some of us have spend a lot of time on the bridge, while others just had their first visit. None of us were ever on top of the bridge before though. Our guide Peter, who is one of approximately 200 people employed on the bridge, showed us every conceivable part of the bridge – and it was amazing!
A rare view from the top of the Great belt Bridge.
Of course we needed a group photo from the top of the pylon. This is the highest point, on which you can stand, in Denmark. The elevator ride up there took more than 5 minutes – but we were very grateful for it. The outlook is at about 250 meters above sea level.
We went into the deep of the anchor block to see were the cables were connected. The large cables of the bridge actually consists of thousands of tiny metal wires. This trip is not for people with fear of heights!
We also went inside the bridge itself and even crawled down on the pillars to see, where some of our sensors are installed.
Give Stålspær
Michael greeted us with coffee and cake and a very interesting presentation on what happens with the drawings, they get from us. We have had several projects with GIVE Stålspær including the new multi hall for Falkonergaarden and the ice skating arena in Ørestad. GIVE has made an artform out of optimizing, and the amount of steel they produce is impressive!
After a round of questions we were led in to the huge workshop.
Steel laser cutter.
We got to see the skeleton of some of the balconies GIVE is working on.
Ever wonder what happens to the metal when you make a hole in a plate? These 10-12 mm “holes” are punched out of the plates and reused.
We ended the day with a late but well-deserved dinner back in Copenhagen to round up a fascinating company trip.