Technology that works wonders

The challenge:

Sometimes you simply have to get (or dive) to the bottom of things. Or create a barrier between bodies of water and entire infrastructures. But how do you keep the power of a flood at bay?

The solution:

“Flood prevention systems” is catch-all project name used at ThyssenKrupp to describe all sheet pile wall projects across the Group. Solutions based on sheet pile wall technology are used for end-to-end flood protection. This can be as a permanent solution on dikes, for temporary flood protection against rising water, or even a complete solution on construction sites situated below sea level. In this specific area, sheet wall projects tend to work in the same way: with water at its normal depth, huge hollow compartments are placed, folded together, at the bottom of the sea. As soon as the water is in danger of flooding, gates are raised hydraulically, creating buoyancy so that they stand upright. This makes it possible to hold back huge volumes of water. Afterwards, the sheet pile walls are flooded and fold together again. The approach makes it possible to achieve a number of things: a project named MOSE is protecting the lagoon around the historical city of Venice from the rising waters of the Mediterranean. By contrast, in South Korea, sheet walls were used during the construction of a tidal power plant. Once the turbines had been installed at the bottom of the sea, the hollow compartments could be removed again without difficulty. Or another example: in the Maldives, these flood prevention systems are helping bolster the economy by protecting the harbor area from storms, also making things a lot easier for local fishermen. In a nutshell: many areas of the world rely on ThyssenKrupp technology to prevent flood damage.

Forger of the future:

Byung-Yong Jang knows our flood prevention systems intimately: as a construction engineer at ThyssenKrupp GfT Bautechnik, not only is he closely involved in technical issues, he also overlaps with marketing. He never ceases to marvel at how versatile sheet pile walls can be: “Sure, sheet walls are hardly spectacular, but they’re quite complex constructions.” Several times a year, the engineer travels the world, hauling new contracts on board and preparing the waters for more. His job offers plenty of variety, constantly touching on new issues – although he’s scheduled to move on soon to a new position in Australia, where he’ll be helping a new partner company and coordinating business with ThyssenKrupp in Germany. Commenting on the move: “Actually it’s what every engineer would wish for: constant personal development, with new areas of responsibility.”

In summary:

The idea of “standing still” is foreign to people at ThyssenKrupp. As an engineer, you’ll frequently plunge into new areas of responsibility and navigate new waters with co-workers – and develop forward-thinking solutions along the way.

Like to see further? Please explore some of our other flagship projects.