Drone shot of the nearly 24m long and 54 ton bridge being placed between the Bentley buildings Admin I and Admin II.

Bentley builds a bridge to the future

Spectacular operation at Hechingen-based medical technology company: 23.5-metre-long prestressed concrete bridge anchored

With a sensational operation, the Hechingen-based medical technology company Bentley set a milestone for its new building project in the Lotzenäcker industrial estate on Monday morning. In a tandem lift, two truck-mounted cranes (one weighing 500 tonnes, the other 250 tonnes) hoisted the prestressed concrete bridge that connects the existing Admin I building with the Admin II extension building into position.

The heavy-duty manoeuvre started at dawn, as another truck-mounted crane was already needed to erect the 500-tonne crane that had arrived from Offenburg in Baden. Shortly after 9 a.m., the 54-tonne and 23.57-metre-long footbridge was already suspended from four massive steel cables on which it was pulled up to a height of ten metres. Next up strength and precision work were combined: the floating walkway had to be fitted with centimetre precision into two meticulously prepared hatches in order to dock with the stairways of the two buildings. Just under an hour later, Thomas Silberberger, Project Manager at the construction company FBW Fertigbau Wochner from Dormettingen, announced that the project was completed: “Everything went exactly as planned.”

Among the many eyewitnesses of the spectacular manoeuvre was Bentley CEO Sebastian Büchert, who was not only pleased with the progress of construction but also emphasised how important the bridge construction was for the entire company. “For me”, says Büchert, “the bridge is also a symbol for the beginning of reuniting our employees after the pressures brought on by the pandemic”. In the near future the bridge will connect administrative offices and production areas, lead to the shared new canteen in the extension building and let people know that on the inside and outside: “We are Bentley”.

The 21.5-metre-high new Admin II building is scheduled for completion in summer 2023. So far, construction has mostly gone without delay. The short-term goal is to get the composite thermal insulation system onto the façade in time for winter. “We’re eagerly waiting to be able to move into the new building next year”, says the Managing Director of the dynamically expanding company. When the employees move in the building will already be 70 percent occupied. And since it’s important to be prepared for future growth, they’ve already started planning the next extension at the medium-sized world market leader in the field of innovative vascular implants – to perfect the bridge to the future.

Contact: Matthias Bleesen, Communication & Event Coordinator, m.bleesen@bentley.global, +49 7471 984 995 631