A wooden treetop path, 1,772 ft long, is connected to the lookout tower. Dlubal Software customer Harrer Ingenieure from Karlsruhe, Germany was in charge of the structural analysis and the fire resistance design.
Modeling and Design of the Tower in RFEM
A spatial beam structure model of the whole structure was created in RFEM for the calculation of the lookout tower.
Twelve columns are arranged in both the exterior and interior circles with dimensions of 9.5 / 28 in. To consider the eccentricity of the connections of the supporting girder to the member axis of the columns, rigid-rigid and rigid-release connections were planned.
The construction consists of glued-laminated timber Gl32c with the exception of the round steel crossing diagonals, supporting girders, support rings, and the connections.
Tension member systems with steel grade S 460 (Macalloy and BESISTA types) were used for the round steel diagonals.
The lookout tower is located at an altitude of 1,148 ft above sea level in snow load zone 2a (sk = 22.14 psf) and wind zone 1. It is situated in an area outside earthquake zones. The maximum traffic load on the walking routes was set to 104.43 psf.
The design of the wooden elements was performed in the RF‑TIMBER Pro add-on module, the design of the steel elements in RF‑STEEL EC3.
| Structural Engineering | Structural Planning, Fire Resistance Design Harrer Ingenieure GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany www.harrer-ing.net Preliminary Structural Analysis Ingenieurbüro Miebach, Lohmar, Germany www.ib-miebach.de |
| Construction | Timber Structures Schaffitzel Holzindustrie GmbH + Co. KG, Schwäbisch Hall, Germany www.schaffitzel.de |
| Investor | German Youth Hostel Association Landesverband Rheinland e. V. panarbora.de |
