Tag Archive for: News

12th Merck company run

Donges SteelTec team impresses at the 12th Merck company run

Darmstadt 13 May 2025. Our Donges SteelTec team started the 12th Merck company run with a lot of joy, team spirit and a touch of nervousness. Over 7,000 runners from more than 300 companies joined forces to create an unforgettable event that was bursting with energy and team spirit.

Whether on the short 3.5 km, the medium 5 km or the 10 km challenge – each individual gave their best. The feeling of crossing the finish line together, the cheering spectators and the positive atmosphere in the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor – these are moments that we will remember for a long time to come.

After the run, we celebrated this special day with a cold beer, full of pride and gratitude for our team and our joint achievement.

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A6 Grumbachtal Bridge

Grumbach Valley Bridge gap closure successfully completed

The steel assembly of the Grumbach Valley Bridge near Sankt Ingbert was successfully completed with the lifting of the last two sections of substructure 1.

The two box girder strands of the substructure comprise a total steel tonnage of approx. 2,400 tonnes. The last two sections were lifted into place from a crane position behind the abutment on the Saarbrücken side of the bridge structure. Using a 750 tonne crane, the two sections were lifted off the heavy-duty transporters, turned and then lifted into their final position. This created the conditions for concreting the carriageway slab. Donges SteelTec has thus once again demonstrated its capabilities in the construction of large bridges.

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Change in production management at Donges SteelTec

Dr Peter Schäfer hands over the baton to Dr Aaron von der Heyden

After 35 years of dedicated service to our company, we have bid farewell to our long-standing Production Manager, Dr Peter Schäfer, on his well-deserved retirement. We would like to express our sincere thanks for his extraordinary loyalty, his tireless commitment and his great contribution to the successful development of our production. During his career, Dr Schäfer has made a significant contribution to the technological and organisational development of our company – always with an eye for quality, efficiency and teamwork.

Our Technical Director, Dr Aaron von der Heyden, will take over the management of production in future. By closely combining technical management and production, we are creating optimal conditions for the holistic further development of our production processes and for shaping the future of our company in a sustainable manner.

We wish Dr Schäfer all the very best for his new chapter in his life and would like to thank him once again for over three decades of valuable collaboration. We also wish Dr von der Heyden every success in his new role.

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Our construction site containers have a new look!

The first containers in the new Donges CI are used on the Mainflingen bridge construction site.

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C-XIII Interim Meeting 2025

Donges SteelTec welcomes international welding technology experts from the IIW in Darmstadt

As part of the C-XIII Interim Meeting 2025, an international group of experts from the International Institute of Welding (IIW) visited our company in Darmstadt last Thursday.

After a brief presentation of our company and our projects, the welding technology experts were given an insight into our production and processes during a workshop tour. The meeting with colleagues from all over the world provided a welcome opportunity to discuss current challenges and developments in steel construction and welding technology.

Many thanks to the IIW group for their visit and interest – we were delighted to be part of this meeting!

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PTS at Frankfurt Airport

New SKY Line railway completes first test run

The construction work on the PTS station at Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport is nearing completion, meaning that the Sky Line railway, which connects Terminal 3 to Terminals 1 and 2, was able to complete its test run for the first time. The first passenger last Monday was Father Christmas.

The trains are a driverless passenger transport system that will carry more than 4,000 passengers per hour and direction. The journey time from the long-distance and regional railway station to Terminal 3 is just under eight minutes – 365 days a year.

Thanks to the two-minute frequency and a top speed of 80 km/h, even tight transfer times to connecting flights of 45 minutes will be achievable.

Donges SteelTec was commissioned with the manufacture, delivery and assembly of the complex steel structure of the PTS station. The production and assembly of the conical round supports and the cast nodes posed a particular challenge.

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A6 Grumbachtalbrücke

Assembly start of the 2nd construction phase of the Grumbach Valley Bridge near St. Ingbert

In April 2023, construction work on the 1st construction phase of the Grumbach Valley Bridge was completed and traffic was diverted to the newly constructed structure. Following the demolition of the existing structure and the construction of the first substructures, our assembly team has now set up the construction site for the assembly of the steel structure of the 2nd construction phase (substructure 1) for the Mannheim direction of travel.

In the first assembly phase, two auxiliary supports were erected over the past few weeks to store the 262-tonne steel structures. The first large components were then transported overnight from our plant in Darmstadt to the construction site in Saarland using heavy goods vehicles. There they were first turned on the ground and then lifted into their final position using two 650 tonne mobile cranes. Once the steel parts had been successfully lifted into place, the component joints were welded and then coated with corrosion protection.

A total of 22 sections and 6 cross beams for the entire substructure are assembled in this way.

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BW3-1 Overfly

Overfly structure at Nuremberg East motorway junction moved to final position

Big praise for our project management and assembly team! Last Thursday, the final shifting of the 588 m long ‘Overfly structure over the A9 motorway at the Nuremberg East junction into its final position was completed with great precision.

Now the shunting rockers can be dismantled and the stacking towers erected so that the 8600 tonne steel structure can be stacked to its final height. The yellow front fork has fulfilled its function for moving the steel superstructure including the 5 pairs of pylons standing on it using the incremental launching method and can now be dismantled.

The ‘Overfly’ construction project comprises the construction of a 6-span bridge that spans the Nuremberg East motorway junction and crosses the A6 (Heilbronn – Amberg), the A9 (Berlin – Munich), the Amberg Munich ramp (2x) and the distributor carriageway (Berlin – Amberg).

Donges SteelTec manufactured and assembled the 588 m long six-span steel composite bridge, which impressively spans the individual support spans of 115 m with a total of 5 pairs of pylons. Up to 55 stranded cables form the cables of the stay cables. 8600 tonnes of steel were required for the construction of the flyover.

The incremental launching method of the steel composite deck slab with pylon spans of 64.00 m + 4 x 115.00 m + 64.00 m = 588.00 m over flowing motorway traffic posed a particular challenge for this bridge structure.

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Cologne Cycling Centre

Donges SteelTec manufactures and assembles the roof structure of the cycling center in Cologne-Müngersdorf

The ‘Radsportzentrum NRW’ is being built next to the RheinEnergieSTADION in Cologne-Müngersdorf as part of the expansion and modernisation of the Cologne cycling stadium.

Donges SteelTec was awarded the contract for the manufacture, delivery and assembly of the sophisticated self-supporting roof structure of the cycling centre.

From mid-2025, we will be manufacturing the approx. 2000 tonne steel structure for the roof of the cycling stadium at our plant in Darmstadt. Erection of the steel space frame made of round tube profiles is planned for early 2026.

The construction of the cycling stadium will also close a gap in  Cologne’s sports landscape that has existed for decades, as a playing field for basketball and volleyball is planned for the interior.

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Summer party at Donges SteelTec

Last Friday, the company premises of Donges SteelTec GmbH in Darmstadt were a hive of activity.

Around 300 current and former employees and their families met in the company’s courtyard in the afternoon to discuss current projects and reminisce about the many successfully completed buildings in recent years. The current projects were presented during a tour of the factory halls and the heavy steel structures for the Pfaffendorf Bridge, the Lufthansa Visitors Centre and the Salzgitter Fireproof Hall were shown up close.

The works council, above all its chairman, Ercan Kaya, who had organised the event and provided the food and drink, was highly praised. After the official opening by the Managing Director, Dr Wolf Cornelius, in the early afternoon, the ‘Donges family’ celebrated carefree and with many personal conversations and memories until late in the evening.

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