A wooden treetop path with a length of 540 m (1,772 ft) 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 Lookout 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 24 cm / 72 cm (9.5 in / 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 situated at an altitude of about 350 m (1,148 ft) above sea level in snow load zone 2a (sk = 1.06 kN/m² / 22.13 psf) and wind zone 1. It is located in an area outside of earthquake zones. The maximum traffic load on the walkways was set at 5 kN/m² (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 Design, Fire Resistance Design Harrer Ingenieure GmbH, Karlsruhe www.harrer-ing.net Preliminary Design Miebach Engineering Office, Lohmar www.ib-miebach.de |
| Construction | Timber Structure Schaffitzel Holzindustrie GmbH + Co. KG Schwäbisch Hall, Germany www.schaffitzel.de |
| Investor | German Youth Hostel Association Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk, Landesverband Rheinland e. V., Germany panarbora.de |
