The Substation - Hamburg East - is currently being renovated and expanded to be able to meet the increasing requirements for the power supply in the future. Since March 2020 the big construction company EUROVIA has been carrying out earthworks on a construction site of more than 100,000 m² in the Northeastern corner of Hamburg, Germany.

The Hydrema 912FS manages a 10 ton payload and is still light-footed.

Project manager Christoph Grenzdörfer from EUROVIA can still clearly remember the ground conditions in the area: "As the ground up here in the Northern part of Germany often is very soft and extremely impassable, we would not know how to remove the excavated material in an economically profitable manner, without the HYDREMA dump trucks".

Two HYDREMA 912 FS dump trucks are in use on the site, transporting the excavated material via a long gravel road to the intermediate depot, but also bringing in new material to fill in between the closely spaced pillars.

The sheer size of the site quickly strikes you. The substation is located on an area of around 18 hectares in the Oststeinbek Municipality on the border between the neighboring regions of Hamburg City and Schleswig-Holstein. The substation and the nearby commercial area of the Oststeinbek community are directly adjacent to the A1 motorway.

Future-proofing the electrical network 

Since its construction in the 1970s, the substation has become a vital hub for the electricity network in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With a complex future ahead, the substation must be able to cope with the variable and highly volatile energy feed from the many windmills. For this purpose, four-phase shifters - comparable to a valve - are installed at the substation, which controls the flow of electricity as required.

In order to have enough space, parts of the existing system will be dismantled, while the foundation work for the new installation is carried out. This also features a new operational building. The expansion takes place during ongoing operations. That is always a challenge, as we must guarantee the security of supply even during the renovation period. The installation will be fully operational by 2023.

The 912FS moves quickly and gently on the new foundation.

The agile helper

Christoph Grenzdörfer and his 25 employees hope to have completed the extensive earthworks by the end of 2022. The 912 FS from HYDREMA are essential helpers. "Moving around the large area and still getting into the narrow areas - that is what distinguishes the 912 FS dumper from HYDREMA," says the EUROVIA project manager.
 
Thanks to its central, articulated steering, the compact dump truck offers its driver a feeling of security. Sales Manager for Germany, Martin Werthenbach adds: "Controlling the HYDREMA from the large cab with the great all-round view is also a lot of fun for many operators because they don't have to look back. When you've got around the corner with the front, you know that the rest of the machine will also take the tight corner, because the wheels on the rear axle follow the wheels on the front axle along the same track.
 
After tipping, the operator can relax, as the machine fully automatically brings the dump body back into its resting position. So the operator can drive forward again at full throttle. "

The large construction site is at home: the 912 FS moves 10 tons at 40 km/h.

Grenzdörfer emphasizes: "Since the machine itself has only 8 tons of unladen weight despite the 10 tons payload, the soft ground is spared and not damaged by driving. This is particularly important for us when driving on and filling the newly set foundations. "
    
The operator of the substation - and client for the earthworks - are 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, whose shareholders are the listed Belgian holding Elia Group (80 per cent) and KfW Bankengruppe (20 per cent).