13 September 2011 Page 1 / 4 Layher climbs Mainz Cathedral GÜGLINGEN-EIBENSBACH. Optimally solved: For the redevelopment of the western cross-tower of Mainz Cathedral the team of scaffolding company Gerüstbau Hecht realised with the Layher Allround system efficiently the necessary supporting structure and work scaffolding thanks to a clever special solution and well thought-out logistics – and thus contributes to the preservation of a historically important building. In the thousand years of its existence, Mainz Cathedral has lived to see many things: church services and coronations of kings, lootings by Napoleonic troops and misuse as a military hospital, barracks and later even as a cowshed. It lived through seven fires and the hail of bombs in World War II. Its well-rounded history necessitated a great number of structural alterations and renovation work, and thus created the rugged “Cathedral Rock” made of red-coloured sandstone that is visible from almost every part of the city. Raised Wilhelm Layher GmbH & Co. KG Press Contact: Scaffolding Grandstands Ladders Ochsenbacher Strasse 56 D-74363 Gueglingen-Eibensbach 13 September 2011 Page 2 / 4 around 1000 AD, the building that is counted among the Imperial Cathedrals in its today’s form is a three-nave Romanesque pier basilica, which offers examples of all the great stylistic periods, from the early Romanesque period to the Gothic period and Renaissance and up to Baroque, the Rococo period and Historicism. Even today, the church with its impressive altars and funerary monuments is regarded as the ecclesiastical building with the most memorials in Germany. It is not surprising that the conservation of the enormous cathedral, which is about as long as a football pitch with its 116 m, is extremely important. 2001 saw the beginning of another multi-annual renovation that was divided into individual steps of redevelopment. Currently, damages on the cupola of the at least 83 metres high western cross-tower are repaired, most of which are caused by the weather – in contrast to the lightning strike of 1767. For this purpose the façade is cleaned, afterwards curators of monuments and art historians analyse the damages. Finally, it is the stonemasons’ turn who spruce up stone by stone – with material taken from a local quarry where stones were presumably cut already a thousand years ago. A team of scaffolders is also decisively involved, as preliminary investigations had revealed that to ensure the best possible access it made sense to put up scaffolding around the entire tower, all the way up to the weathercock. An interesting challenge for which Hecht Gerüstbau GmbH and engineering company Noack developed a clever solution: A scaffolding structure in several parts to serve as access as well as supporting structure and work scaffolding – optimally adapted to the ornament-decorated building thanks to the Layher Allround system. One of the main difficulties was that the roof of the transept was not capable of bearing loads. Therefore, the scaffolders first built a supporting structure including a goods and passenger hoist from the “Leichhof” side – the “Leichhof” used to be the cathedral’s burial ground. As bridging of the roof, the team thought up a special solution. The company Gerüstbau Hecht had U-profiles welded onto double-T-beams on which the Layher steel decks were mounted. The assembly of the 22.0 metres long and 3.2 metres wide scaffolding bridge including guardrail was carried out on the ground, then the structure weighing 12.0 tons Wilhelm Layher GmbH & Co. KG Press Contact: Scaffolding Grandstands Ladders Ochsenbacher Strasse 56 D-74363 Gueglingen-Eibensbach 13 September 2011 Page 3 / 4 was lifted into place by means of a crane and put onto the supporting structure and in the window reveals. The advantage: After their multi-annual use in Mainz, the scaffold components can be removed and used again elsewhere. From the bridge the scaffolding was erected with another goods and passenger hoist to serve as access to the tower gallery on the tower cupola. Only from there, the scaffolders began assembling the actual work scaffolding – a tapering, metre-wide structure with load class 4 (3 kN/m²) and width class W 09 (0.9 – < 1.2 m), as during the works building parts had to be stored there temporarily. The last ten metres of the scaffolding structure up to the weathercock were realised free-standing by means of bracing against tensile and compressive forces. Layher platform stairways as well as altogether three goods and passenger hoists from GEDA offer comfortable and economical transport of tools and material required for work as well as comfortable ascent for the craftspeople of the subsequent trades, but also ensured the best possible logistics during the erection of the scaffolding. A team of only three people realised the circa 84 metres high and 950 square metres large Allround Scaffolding that weighs around 80 tons. Only some events like the birthday of the cardinal or a summer festival created delays. In this way, the company Gerüstbau Hecht contributes to an efficient redevelopment of this Mainz landmark with a well thought-out scaffolding solution made of Allround system and at the same time to the continuation of the eventful history of the cathedral which is closely linked to the former archbishop Willigis – a person shrouded in mystery. The man from Lower Saxony moved up through the social classes to become the probably most important bishop of the German Empire, although he had not been born into any of the influential noble families. He led the biggest archbishopric north of the Alps and the largest ecclesiastical province second only to Rome. Nevertheless, all this was not enough for Willigis. He wanted to turn Mainz into a “Rome on the Rhine” and to express his position in the empire and in the church – Mainz is the only diocese to carry the title “Holy See” apart from the diocese of Rome. He thus created an outstanding testimonial of Christian belief in Europe. Wilhelm Layher GmbH & Co. KG Press Contact: Scaffolding Grandstands Ladders Ochsenbacher Strasse 56 D-74363 Gueglingen-Eibensbach 13 September 2011 Page 4 / 4 Wilhelm Layher GmbH & Co. KG is the largest manufacturer of scaffolding systems. What began in 1945 with the production of agricultural implements made of wood has developed into a future-oriented and innovative company. Customers around the world rely on the complete range of practical scaffolding, protection and event systems, rolling towers and ladders, as well as the comprehensive service package. With integrated solutions, Layher makes “more possible”. More than 1,200 highly qualified and dedicated employees also ensure this – whether at the highly automated headquarters in Güglingen-Eibensbach or in the more than 30 subsidiaries worldwide. Layher is the winner of the 2011 Competence Prize for Innovation and Quality Baden-Württemberg. For further information on the company and on the versatile scaffolding systems made by Layher, visit www.layher.com. Wilhelm Layher GmbH & Co. KG Press Contact: Scaffolding Grandstands Ladders Ochsenbacher Strasse 56 D-74363 Gueglingen-Eibensbach .