COWI

?? Making waves for greater biodiversity and ecological recovery in our coastal waters in a new nature-inclusive Joint Industry Project ?? “After 200 years of human-induced wildlife decline in our seas, it is time to start designing projects that regenerate lost habitats over a wider area. For that reason, we are delighted to work with Wood Thilsted on this nature-inclusive Joint Industry Project”, says Alistair Kean, Director of Sustainability at COWI in the UK and adds: “We know that wind farms do create additional habitat for a wide range of species; the question is how to do this in a way that maximises biodiversity and helps promote wider ecological recovery in our coastal waters.” The Joint Industry Project will explore nature inclusivity at every phase of wind farm development, from initial planning and construction to decommissioning, considering the full scope of a wind farm – from offshore turbines to onshore substations. “Although renewable energy projects are in the long-term less damaging to the planet, they do have an environmental impact, and we feel that it is our duty to design offshore facilities to have as much biodiversity benefit as possible,” Alistair continued. Tackling the twin challenges of climate and nature loss is a generational challenge that demands a globally coordinated response. The strength of this initiative lies in collective insight and cross-disciplinary collaboration with leading players in the industry such as Arup and NIRAS.

Thrilling Progress: Wind Farm in Windy Iceland – Finally!???? The country's national power company Landsvirkjun recently had a groundbreaking ceremony for the building of Búrfellslundur, Iceland's first wind farm.?? The wind farm will have an installed capacity of 120 MW, with an annual production capacity of 440 GWh, in a 17-square-kilometer area in the South of Iceland in an area where several hydropower plants are located.?? Representatives from the municipality, COWI, Borgarverk (civil contractor), and Landsvirkjun celebrated the milestone, along with Mr. Guelaugur Tórearson, Iceland’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate.? The wind turbines will be erected in 2026 and 2027, with the first phase of the wind farm set to be operational by fall 2026. Landsvirkjun received its final operating license at the beginning of September. With all permits now in place, construction has officially begun at Búrfellslundur.? COWI has been involved in the project since the beginning through environmental impact assessments (EIA). Landsvirkjun received international awards in 2016 for the EIA.?

???Paving the way for frequent driverless trains – one station, platform and wildlife corridor at a time!?????? The future of public transportation around Copenhagen looks bright: The prospect of driverless S-trains arriving and departing at a metro-like pace will benefit busy commuters and occasional passengers. Covering 87 stations and hundreds of platforms and fences, a project of this magnitude and scale requires attention to every detail – and quite a few never-done-before solutions??? For instance, exploring how to best avoid gaps between trains and platforms at every station.?“It will be the first time this is done in Denmark, so we have to look abroad for best practices. Right now, we’re inspired by solutions from France and Germany,” says Project Director Kristian Stub Jacobsen.? The team is currently looking at elevating small parts of the existing platforms and using humps to make it easier to enter the train.? “Technically, it’s a challenging and exciting task. Socially, it’ll make public transportation more accessible to people with reduced mobility, which feels very meaningful since it helps make society more inclusive,” Kristian adds. COWI is assisting?Banedanmark?in realising the driverless S-train system around Copenhagen, which will double the number of trains when finalised by the end of 2037??? Apart from evening out gaps, the experts are also busy designing beautiful and safe fences around the train tracks, creating wildlife corridors for all sorts of animals??????????But that’s a story for another day.?

Wind and heat ??? – how to build comfier cities! Dripping of sweat as you step outside the door in the summer – or struggling with a gust of wind that destroys your umbrella in the fall. Not that comfortable, right? As we build denser areas and taller buildings in growing cities – we run the risk of creating areas that are excessively hot and windy. ? “Whether it's Gothenburg or Manhattan, in order to achieve good urban planning, we need to optimise for both heat and wind conditions and air quality," says Marie Haeger-Eugensson, Research and Development Manager at COWI in Sweden. ? Experts advocate incorporating solutions that avoid so-called 'heat islands' and reduce wind speeds on street level at an early stage in urban planning. How? One example is using wind technology that engineers use for bridge construction. Read more here ?? https://lnkd.in/gPjNs9ZT ?

Congratulations to the winning projects ?? Excitement continues in our office hallways following the IABSE 2024 Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner 2024. The root of our excitement is that the prestigious IABSE Project and Technology Awards went to two remarkable projects with significant COWI involvement: the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and the Padma Multipurpose Bridge. Learn more about the two?projects: Category: International Community Development ??Padma Multipurpose Bridge helps improve the lives of millions of people by creating a fixed link from southwest Bangladesh to the rest of the country. The bridge is a 6.15-kilometre-long structure with 150-metre-long composite truss spans supported by piles driven up to 130 m into the underlying strata. The bridge features a post-tensioned segmental concrete upper deck for highway traffic and a lower deck for heavy rail. COWI collaborated with the client, BBA, from the beginning, providing technical development and more recently technical support, including a major highway deck redesign to expedite construction. Category: Infrastructure ??Mumbai Trans Harbour Link is the longest sea bridge in India, stretching over 21.8 kilometres, with more than 16 kilometres across the sea, connecting South Mumbai with Navi Mumbai. COWI was responsible for the tender and detailed design as a consultant to the Package 1 Construction Joint Venture comprising Larsen & Toubro from India and IHI Corporation from Japan. Package 1 included nearly 10 km of marine bridge and a complex interchange at Sewri with 6.3 km total length of ramps. The marine bridge consists of precast concrete segmental bridges with spans of 60 metres and a total length of 7.5 km. Additionally, four major steel bridges with orthotropic steel decks and spans up to 180 m, totalling 2.3 km, were constructed for navigational purposes. Congratulations to our visionary clients for developing these landmark pieces of infrastructure. We are honoured to have been part of these winning projects ??

Did you know that the Great Belt Fixed Link and some of the most prestigious bridge constructions around the globe have one person in common? That person is Klaus H. Ostenfeld, also affectionately known as “the bridge builder of Denmark”. Today, we celebrate and congratulate Klaus, former CEO of COWI and President of IABSE, on receiving the prestigious IABSE - International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Award of Merit in Structural Engineering, which he received last night in Zurich for his significant impact on the field of structural engineering through his extensive career spanning almost six decades ?? Since 1976, the Award of Merit has been presented to individuals for their outstanding contributions to structural engineering, with a specific reference to their usefulness for society. Klaus has made significant contributions to numerous high-profile construction projects around the globe, which include the Great Belt Fixed Link project, ?resund Fixed Link between Denmark and Sweden, the Far? Bridges, the Normandy Bridge in France, and more recently, several mega-bridge and tunnel projects in China and Bangladesh. Klaus’s career is marked by his passion for engineering and development, analytical thinking, broad vision, and the profound respect he has earned from engineers spanning all career stages and geographical boundaries. An example of his visionary thinking is when he initiated and directed the team for the strategic development of IABSE from 2012. Outside of work, Klaus enjoys many interests as a passionate flutist in amateur classical music ensembles, an instrument-licensed pilot, skiing, mountain hiking, and tour biking with friends and family, including his wife Annette, three children, and eight grandchildren. Tina Vejrum, Senior Technical Director in COWI and current President of IABSE, said: "I am very delighted to see Klaus receive this well-deserved recognition. The honouring of his exceptional work, dedication to technical excellence, and contributions in the field of structural engineering has received support from some of the most distinguished international academics and practitioners. I am so fortunate and privileged to have worked closely with Klaus for many years, and I am deeply grateful for his mentorship. He is truly a role model for many. The International Award of Merit serves as a tribute to the high standards and innovative spirit that characterize Klaus and his career." Watch Klaus discuss his experience working on the design and construction of a major landmark project in Denmark, the Great Belt Fixed Link, which opened 25 years ago ??

What does the North Sea have to do with de-fossilizing the energy system? ?? If you ask Jakob Dybdal Christensen, Market Director in COWI, sustainable hydrogen produced by offshore wind in the North Sea, is a crucial part of the future energy system in Northern Europe; ”If we could fully electrify the world, that would be just great. But unfortunately, we can’t. Long distances make transportation on battery power impractical or way too expensive and there are technical limits to electrifying certain industrial processes.?By utilizing low-cost renewable energy to produce sustainable hydrogen we can make viable alternatives to fossil fuels used today in aviation and the maritime industry.” Admittedly, green fuels are still a bit pricey compared to their fossil competitors – but the technology is in place, and that’s the important part. Hear Jakob explain more in the video??

Moving 8,000 liters of water per second sounds like a lot to handle, but nonetheless, this is what a new pump and lock station in Aabenraa, Denmark, is designed to manage to prevent flooding of the local river M?lle?en. Impressive, isn’t it? ????? Inspired by the ships docked in the nearby harbor, a viewing post on top of the building allows visitors to enjoy a panoramic overview of the surrounding area, reminiscent of the lookout found on the mast of an old ship. ? As the first of its kind in Denmark, the new station is not only a functional installation but also a destination for locals and tourists. The station recently won an award after a popular vote among the citizens of Aabenraa and has become a popular spot for both locals and tourists. It's a great example of an engineering and architectural collaboration that inspires and supports surrounding communities.

Why don’t you use drones? Of course we do! ? We use drones for virtual inspections. But sometimes we still have to climb the actual bridges. Drones make the job much more efficient and are here to stay. But relying on drones alone is not always an option. Drones are being used for inspections, but they can't replace climbing entirely. Sometimes the results of a virtual drone inspection require further inspection by climbers ?? This stunning footage was taken by our traveling climbers David Detterberg and Jarmo Koskinen as they inspected the Skottleikbrua & Dalevatn bridges in Norway.

If the global cement industry were?a country, it would be the world's third or fourth largest emitter of CO?, making it a key sector in the response to climate change ?? For the past ten months, COWI has been assisting Limak Cement, Türkiye's second largest cement producer, in its ongoing efforts to lower the climate impact of the cement industry. COWI has provided advisory on EU regulations and waste management in order to produce and use more alternative fuels. Together, we have also worked on setting a roadmap for the entire Limak Group, involving future carbon capture storage and usage projects. Globally, the sector needs to capture 40% of its emissions to reach 2050 targets, so implementing carbon capture technology on a large scale is vital in bringing down the industry’s footprint. Already a front-runner in this regard, Limak Cement is currently operating the country's top-four most energy-efficient plants and pioneering several research and development projects, including the use of hydrogen as a fuel source, carbon capture and gasification. Yesterday, our close cooperation was extended by entering a formal strategic partnership during a ceremony in Ankara. Under this partnership, COWI is joining several other international companies working with Limak Cement. This forum for exchange of knowledge is key to helping drive innovation and the transition of the cement industry as a whole. Photos: Limak Cement