News

On 28.07.2017 the top heading breakthrough of the 2.1-km-long Stein Tunnel was celebrated after 12 months of construction. The Stein railway tunnel forms part of the St. Kanzian string of tunnels on the Carinthian side of the new Koralm railway line, which connects the cities of Graz and Klagenfurt (Austria). The breakthrough of the bench is scheduled to take place by the end of August.
The 0.5-km-long Lind Tunnel of the St. Kanzian string of tunnels had already been completed on 21.02.2017 after 8 months of excavation. The waterproof permanent linings, consisting of reinforced concrete, will be installed in the near future. Track construction will not go underway before the structural works for the St. Kanzian string of tunnels will be completed at the end of 2019. The section between Althofen on the Drava River and St. Kanzian is due to go into operation by 2022.

After completing the conceptual design, permit application design, and tender design services, ILF Consulting Engineers have been awarded a contract by the Austrian Federal Railway ÖBB in mid 2015, entrusting them with the construction design and on-site geotechnical monitoring services.

A video of the breakthrough can be found here: https://kaernten.tv/shows/122

Image source: Land Kärnten, Fotographer: LPD/Just

ILF Consulting Engineers participated actively in this year’s “Green Energy Summit” in Yangon (Myanmar) from 14th to 15th August 2017.  The summit is excellently designed to provide a platform for international energy industry players and potential investors for updates on the market potential and development plan of green energy sector in Myanmar.

ILF’s experts presented our expertise in Renewables, including Photovoltaics, Biomass, Waste-to-Energy, Hydropower, Thermal Energy and Oil&Gas. Moreover, Frank Zimmermann had a talk about “Optimized Hybridization and Storage of Mini-Grids using Renewable Energy Sources”.

For further information about the Green Energy Summit, please visit the website: http://www.myanmargreenenergysummit.com/

Mr. Zimmermann while holding his talk about “Optimized Hybridization and Storage of Mini-Grids using Renewable Energy Sources”.

Together with nine other corporate partners, ILF Consulting Engineers and IGLZ (IF Lebenszyklus Bau) have joined forces to develop and implement the start-up contest “Digital Building Solutions” (DBS) and an event for the construction and real estate industry.

DSB is a “scouted” contest where relevant startups from the German speaking countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland present their innovation ideas on design, construction, operation and financing. The corporate partners have now assessed all ideas and cast their votes. The top-ranked startups selected for the final pitch will be meeting up at the award ceremony on 12 Sept 2017. The best startups from each subject area will be awarded a prize. ILF is a corporate partner and jury member.

More detailed information is available at: http://www.ig-lebenszyklus.at/digital-building-solutions/#corporate-partners

This year Astana hosts the international exposition – EXPO 2017. The theme of the EXPO is Future Energy. The objective is to spark a global debate between countries, non-governmental organisations, companies and the general public on the crucial question: ”how do we ensure safe and sustainable access to energy for all, while reducing CO2 emissions?”

Earlier this month ILF Consulting Engineers actively participated in two events, one of which was the “Kazakhstani-Austrian Sustainable Technology Day” and the other was the “50 Years of ILF” celebration held in the Austrian pavilion of the EXPO. During the Technology Day, ILF’s experts on Hydropower Engineering (John Thene, ILF Austria) and Smart Cities (Enrico Casaretti, ILF Abu Dhabi) presented their thoughts on the current situation in the renewable energy sector and shared insights on future developments. During the sessions government representatives, investors, engineers, and equipment suppliers from Kazakhstan and Austria had the opportunity to share knowledge and experience, make new connections, and meet new colleagues in a B2B format.

Legend: Speaker J. Thene (ILF)

Since June 2017 construction is under way for the 20 MW Mestiachala 1 and the 30 MW Mestiachala 2 hydropower plants in Georgia. Both plants are planned to be located on Mestiachala River in Georgia’s Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. The investment costs will be some USD 65 million.

The hydropower plants are being developed by the joint venture “Georgian Renewable Power” (GRPC).

ILF Consulting Engineers is in charge of construction supervision for both hydropower plants.

The Roads Department of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia awarded the contract for the Preparation of Feasibility Study for Upgrading of Tbilisi–Bakurtsikhe, Tsnori–Lagodekhi Road and Detailed Design for the Upgrading of Tbilisi–Sagarejo and Sagarejo–Bakurtsikhe Road to a Joint Venture with ILF Consulting Engineers.

The relevant road sections from Tbilisi–Bakurtsikhe (approx. length 80 km) and Tsnori–Lagodekhi (approx. length 40 km) start in the eastern part of Tbilisi and end near Lagodekhi district at the border to Azerbaijan.

The service includes topographic, hydrological and geotechnical surveying, preparation of an DEM, traffic survey and traffic forecast for the entire project area, determination of economic costs, road design for the alignment to a detailed degree, and economic evaluation of the alignment. The detailed design of the road will be executed in the second phase.

Last year, the transmission system operators TenneT TSO GmbH and TransnetBW GmbH awarded ILF Consulting Engineers and its partners with a contract for the permit application design of the north-south power lines across Germany that are to laid underground. At present, SuedLink is the largest infrastructure project in Germany and is scheduled to enter into operation in 2025. As the competent approval authority, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) currently holds a number of scoping conferences.

The communication and participation process entails intensive dialogue with the general public. The project team consisting of clients and ILF with partners won the “SABRE Award” (London) in the “Community Relations” category and the “European Excellence Award in Public Affairs” (Brussels).

What is more, the online participation tool (Web-GIS) set up and managed by ILF won the “German Award for Online Communication” in the “Public Affairs” category.

On account of the age of the existing gas turbines and in response to the newly adopted Emission Control Act (EG-K 2013) Trans Austria Gasleitung GmbH (TAG) decided to replace the respective compressor units step by step. The NOxER 2 project comprises the Baumgarten, Eggendorf, Grafendorf and Ruden compressor stations.

ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH was already involved in the design during previous project phases. As a result of the long and good working relationship in the past, ILF has now been awarded a contract as a subcontractor of Saipem for the execution phase. ILF will render design services for procurement support and detailed design (civil, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and automation engineering) and construction supervision services for the Baumgarten, Eggendorf, Grafendorf, and Ruden compressor stations. For the Ruden station the services furthermore include basic engineering and authority engineering.

Now that most of you have seen the film for the first time on the occasion of the various celebrations marking ILFai??i??s 50th anniversary, we are pleased to inform you that it is now available for download from the following link.

On June 21, 2017 the TBM breakthrough of the 3.2 km long Belchen rehabilitation tunnel (Switzerland) was celebrated after 16 months of excavation. The rehabilitation tunnel will serve as a third tube in addition to the existing Belchen motorway tunnel on the N2 between the Härkingen motorway junction and the city of Basel.

ILF Consulting Engineers was commissioned to provide the design (tender design to detailed design) and site supervision services for the tunnel.Following the completion of the rehabilitation tunnel, the refurbishment of the existing tunnel tubes is now scheduled to get underway. On June 22, 2017 ILF and its partners were awarded the design contract (conceptual study to permit application design).

Link to a short film on the breakthrough: https://youtu.be/Qj_GyEzrGms

The huge Crankworx mountain bike festival will take place in and around Innsbruck from June 21 to June 25, 2017. On several spectacular trails, the world’s best riders will battle for the prestigious trophies of what is known as the world’s biggest mountain bike event.

ILF Consulting Engineers was responsible for the permit application design of all bike trails which was successfully approved by the authorities.

You can see the result of ILF’s design services and of course watch the impressive competitions at the Valley Station of the Muttereralmbahn cable car in the village of Mutters. Please find a little teaser by clicking the link below: http://www.muttereralmpark.at/webcams

On 24.05.2017 a final blast marked the event to celebrate the top heading breakthrough of the second tube of the 3-km-long Perjen Tunnel on the S16 Arlberg Expressway between Landeck and Zams (Austria). Only three weeks later, the breakthrough of the bench occurred on 14.06.2017.

As soon as the new second tube of the Perjen Tunnel will be completed in 2018, traffic will be transferred from the existing tube to the new tube. Starting in 2019, the existing tunnel will be closed for rehabilitation after 33 years in service and will be opened to traffic again at the end of the same year.

After rendering the overall design for the first tube, ILF has been awarded a contract by ASFINAG in February 2016, entrusting ILF with carrying out the geological documentation of the second tube.

ILF Consulting Engineers (together with partners) will be responsible for repairing and expanding water supply and wastewater disposal infrastructure in Kara-Suu and Kyzyl-Kiya on behalf of the respective city administrations. On the one hand, the project is aimed at increasing the quality of life of the people living in the two Kirgiz cities and, on the other hand, at strengthening the cities’ water supply and wastewater disposal companies.

The contracts are financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and include design services, preparation of tender documents, support during procurement procedures, management of contracts incl. site supervision and institutional strengthening.

Environmental protection plays an important role at ILF – not only when planning and implementing projects in areas such as renewable energy – but also in everyday life. Hence, ILF puts a strong focus on choosing public transport when going on business trips.

René Zumtobel (Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB, Regional Manager responsible for passenger traffic in the Tyrol) handed over an environmental certificate to Bruno Mattle (Managing Director ILF-AUT) in May 2017. He thanked Mr. Mattle that ILF employees had made such intensive use of  rail transport in 2016: “I want to thank ILF Consulting Engineers for supporting public transport in such a way.” ILF employees travelled by rail over a total length of 230,000 km – this is equivalent to six times the length of the equator. By doing so, ILF employees saved 37 tons of CO2. The Green Points that ILF collected help to support the ÖBB project “Wir pflanzen uns einen Wald“ (Let’s plant a forest).

Legend f.l.t.r.: B. Mattle (Managing Director ILF), R. Zumtobel (Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB, Regional Manager responsible for passenger traffic in the Tyrol), © ÖBB_Rieder

ILF Consulting Engineers will take part in the ai???12th Pipeline Technology Conferenceai??? held in Berlin from 2 to 4 May, 2017.

Our experts will present our technical expertise in leak detection (Maria Pimentel) and bankability of large scale pipeline studies (Dr. Stefan BA?rkle) and will chair the ai???Automationai??? session (Tobias Walk).
You are most welcome to visit us at stand 40 in exhibition hall 1 (Estrel Convention Center, Berlin, Germany) to learn about our competence and experience in the field of pipeline engineering. We are looking forward to your visit and to interesting questions and discussions.

For further information, please visit the website at http://www.pipeline-conference.com

The German gas grid operator bayernets GmbH starts with the realization of an 86.5 km long high-pressure gas pipeline including its associated facilities. The pipeline with a maximum nominal width of DN 1200 and a nominal pressure of MOP 100 will be routed from Burghausen to Finsing (MONACO project) to expand the companyai??i??s supra-regional gas transmission network.

Bayernets GmbH has awarded ILF Consulting Engineers with a contract to perform technical and ecological supervision services, claim management, safety and health coordination services and supervision of commissioning.

ILF will take part in the “International Trade Fair for Alpine Technologies” (Interalpin) held in Innsbruck from April 26 to 28, 2017.

You are most welcome to visit us at stand A04 in exhibition hall A (hall 1, Innsbruck Exhibition Centre – Austria) to learn about our competence and experience. Come and discuss with us how we can support your projects in the field of ski resort planning, village planning and snow making systems. We are looking forward to your visit and to interesting questions and discussions.
For further information, please visit the website at http://www.interalpin.at/.

A few days ago, ILF purchased a hydrogen-powered car from Hyundai Austria on the occasion of the official opening of the Green Energy Center in Innsbruck, Austria. The hydrogen that is available at service stations is converted into electric energy by means of a fuel cell without generating any CO2 emissions. The electrical energy is buffered in an accumulator and practically powers the car noiselessly.

With this move, ILF is taking active measures to reduce CO2 emissions and is committing itself to sustainable mobility. Additionally, practical experience will be gathered with a promising technology.

Legend f.l.t.r.: Komm. Rat Michael Heilmann (Direktor Fleet Hyundai), Franz HAi??rl (Obmann Tiroler Wirtschaftsbund), MMag. Peter-Patrick Baumgartner (Regional Director, ILF Group), Dipl-Ing. Klaus LAi??sser (CEO ILF Group ), und Dr. Ernst Fleischhacker (CEO fen-systems)

ILF Consulting Engineers signed a contract with the Department of Energy Business (DEB) from the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

ILF will monitor the construction works of Nam Ou 1, Nam Ou 3, Nam Ou 4 and Nam Ou 7 hydropower plants in Laos with a total installed capacity of 732 MW. Nam Ou is with its 448 km one of the most important tributaries of the Mekong River and flows from Phongsaly Province to Luang Prabang Province. The Nam Ou Hydroelectric Projects are being developed by the Sinohydro Corporation and the Government of Laos.

Legend f.l.t.r.: Mr. Daophet (DEB), A. KLUMP (ILF), Dr. M. BEISLER (ILF), S. KEOVICHIT (DEB), Dr. A. VONGSAY (DEB), R. REZAEEHA (ILF), Dr. S. PHRAKONKHAM (AA), Prof. Dr. H. KLAPPERICH (TU Freiberg)