New power supply line under river Elbe (Hamburg) with Bagela cable pushers
New power supply line under river Elbe in Hamburg
Hamburg Wasser operates 2 large sewer pipe lines under the river Elbe with a diameter of 1800 mm and a length of 3 km.
Hamburgs sewage is pumped trough on pipe line to the sewage treatment plant Köhlbrandhöft. The second culvert is needed as an compensating pipe between the Elbe and the side waters.
As in the summer of 2018, inland waterways came to a halt due to low tide, was a godsend for the sewage treatment plant.
How does the Hamburger say: " Wat den Eenen sin Uhl, is den Annern sin Nachtigall!“ (similar to:” One man’s meat is another man’s poison”)
So far, the culvert pumps have been driven by external electricity whereas the treatment plant has been generating excess electricity with biogas.
Due to the low water levels the compensating pipe could be used for a short time as a sewer. After cleaning the culvert, Elkom installed cables on synchronously operating Bagela cable pushing units and cable laying rollers. The cables were lowered from a Bagela cable drum trailer with adjustable drum brake to 30 m depth. Within 2 days the cables were laid.
The sewage treatment plant now operates the pumps with its own electricity and feeds additional energy into the grid.
According to Hamburg Wasser this cable connection saves Euro 250,000.00 per year therefore it was a good investment for the future.
And Hamburg made a notable step forward to become greener.