The deep foundation phase of the Gigafactory project finished by Aarsleff Group

20.5.2021

The world’s leading manufacturer of electric cars has established its first and largest production facility in Europe in Berlin Grünheide, Germany. The “Gigafactory” has a production capacity of up to 500,000 electric cars per year. The deep foundation of the project was realised by Aarsleff Group. Junttan was included in this project as the contractor, our valued customer Aarsleff Grundbau GmbH, used both Junttan PMx24 and PM26 pile driving rigs in the project. According to Aarsleff Grundbau’s Managing Director, Peter Wardinghus, the equipment performed very well – confirming the long-time experience with Junttan equipment.

“High speed innovation” is the credo of the client and gave an exciting challenge to this deep foundation project. The Gigafactory was awarded directly by the client and the piling work for the stamping plant started in May 2020. In the factory, the stamping plant is the production unit where the car body parts are moulded meaning the deep foundation is exposed to very particular loads. Static and dynamic pile loading tests were carried out before commencement to verify the design. Subsequently, the structural piles were installed over a short period. Junttan PM26 piling rig and Hitachi 180 with 9 ton drop weight installed safely up to 50No. Centrum piles daily, each 11m long with a cross-section of 40x40cm.

The building area was categorized as a drinking water protection area. Thanks to Aarsleff’s environmentally friendly foundation technology, using prefabricated Centrum piles instead of foundation elements manufactured on site, the jobsite was able to meet the very sensitive requirement of this categorization.

In addition to the pile foundation works of the stamping plant, the job award also included the installation of a retained sheet pile wall. This was installed close to the pre-founded adjacent foundation of an assembly hall. Due to the previously mentioned environmental requirements, the sheet pile walls were not secured with grouted anchors but, instead, with an anchor wall 50m away.

The entire foundation was realised by the Per Aarsleff Group in line with the “One Company” concept. The direct contractor, Aarsleff Grundbau GmbH entered an internal joint venture with the sister companies Per Aarsleff A/S and Neidhardt Grundbau GmbH. As a result, Aarsleff Group were able to successfully execute this extraordinary project in close cooperation with the shell construction company in a very short time.

Further information, please contact: info [at] aarsleff-grundbau.de

More information on Junttan equipment HERE.