After the crane accident on Sunday in Mainburg, THW Freising was deployed with 38 volunteers in the neighbouring district. The building had to be secured from collapse.
Mainburg/Freising – It was a serious crane accident that shook the city of Mainburg in the neighboring district of Kelheim on Sunday morning: An approximately 30-meter-long construction crane fell over at around 11:15 a.m. and crashed into two Wolf company buildings. No one was injured, and the Lower Bavaria police headquarters estimates the property damage to be "in the mid-single-digit million range". The THW Freising was on duty until late in the evening to provide assistance. "We have restored the statics of the building," said THW local representative Michael Wüst, summarizing the mission.
+An approximately 30-metre-high construction crane crashed into two company buildings in Mainburg on Sunday morning. No one was injured – according to the police, the property damage is several million euros.
© THW
At 14:46 p.m., the Freising local association was alerted with its support component wood and the scaffolding system after the building had been checked and closed by a structural engineer. Immediately, 38 volunteers with eleven vehicles and trailers set off to load a lot of wood on the THW training ground and then drive to the site. There, it was then necessary to support the buildings that had been destroyed by the construction crane, because "the static stability was no longer guaranteed," says Wüst. In concrete terms, this means: "The destroyed concrete girders were replaced by a wooden structure" – for example in the basement of the company building. Wooden beams 24 by 24 centimetres thick were used, among other things – a feat of strength for the men and women of THW.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Roof sealed, crane supported
The roof also had to be "provisionally sealed and covered" by means of foil, Wüst reported, so that the damage to the building "would not result in water damage if it started to rain". In addition, the THW volunteers from Kelheim and Freising had to stabilise the overturned crane, the substructure of which hung in the air and threatened to tip back or overturn. The volunteers underpinned the crane with a so-called "cross timber stack". And on the other floors, too, hinged columns or load-bearing elements had to be rebuilt by means of a "tubular scaffolding", i.e. additional supporting components were installed to secure the building. Until about 21.30 p.m., THW Freising was at work in Mainburg.
+A three-metre-high stack of cross-timber was used to underpin the substructure of the overturned crane.
© THW
The women also lent a hand
For Michael Wüst and his colleagues, such a mission is one of the "classic tasks" of THW, and for missions of this magnitude, Upper Bavaria is also specialized. From the time required, which was about twelve hours on Sunday with all the rework, it was a "normal duration". The local representative is particularly proud of the fact that not only men but also women are involved in such missions. "They lend a hand in the same way," says Wüst. In total, the local association, which has around 100 active volunteers, has 15 women who are actively involved. They are a "super addition" and indispensable in civil protection and disaster control. Without women and girls, such tasks "cannot be maintained", says Freising's THW chief. And on Sunday, too, the women showed their skills on chainsaws and the like.
By the way, it is not yet clear why the crane overturned. "Initial indications suggest that the subsoil is sagging as a possible cause. The crane had been at the site for a few weeks due to roof work. However, more details on the cause of the accident will only be revealed in the following investigations," the police said.
Fire brigades prevent building fire
+Briefing of the fire brigades of the Kelheim district at the scene of the accident.
© Lorenz
Numerous fire brigades were also in action on Sunday: "A photovoltaic system on the roof was damaged and there were short circuits and smoke," said the Lower Bavaria police headquarters. And further: "A building fire could be prevented by the fire brigades deployed."
You can find even more up-to-date news from the district of Freising on Merkur.de/Freising.