JOB REPORT

High-precision work for the world’s heaviest aircraft.

Compaction control using HCQ-GPS-Navigator on the Airbus premises in Finkenwerder

The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest passenger aircraft, offering two complete passenger decks. To permit final assembly of the wide-body aircraft to be carried out not only at the Toulouse location but also at the Finkenwerder plant, expansion of the plant’s premises was a must. The terrain needed for the expansion, however, had to be created first.

To do that, the city of Hamburg converted the so-called “Mühlenberger Loch”, a mudflat area at the verge of the Elbe island of Finkenwerder, into a plateau of approx. 165 ha in size and surrounded by dikes. During the reclamation process, nearly 12 million cubic metres of sand were spread or washed up on top of the existing natural mudflat floor that consisted of clay, mud, and peat.

When a uniform subgrade level had been produced, work began on a sub-project to create the necessary infrastructure at the former “Mühlenberger Loch”. Demands placed on the quality of compaction were particularly high, because the previously boggy ground showed tremendous differences in density after completion of the pipe laying operations.

The contractor decided to use a 12-ton single-drum compactor model 3412 HT from Hamm fitted with HCQ GPS Navigator, a system for continuous compaction control. The system continuously measures the soil stiffness achieved while at the same time, a GPS receiver determines the exact position of the roller drum. On a screen in the driver’s cabin, clear graphical maps indicate where the specified density has been achieved, and which areas require additional roller passes.

The project manager was particularly impressed with the high degree of economic efficiency offered by the compaction control system, “The HCQ GPS Navigator and its colour display in the driver’s cab enable us to achieve optimum density of the existing soil with a minimum number of roller passes.” The entire area of more than 500,000 m² in size was compacted to perfect homogeneity using this method.