Optima Warehouse

Optima – Maschinenfabrik Dr. Bühler GmbH is a global market leader in the manufacture of machinery for the packaging industry. At its Radolfzell-Stahringen site, a new steel-frame warehouse is being built, with a four-story office wing adjoining it on the east side, which is being constructed as a front building using cast-in-place concrete.

The warehouse has a floor plan measuring approximately 85 m x 27 m. The building’s load-bearing structure consists of steel frames spaced at 5-meter intervals. Lateral bracing is provided by anchoring the steel columns to the pile cap slabs. In the longitudinal direction, the force flow is guided through hinged cross-beams. Additionally, the building is stiffened longitudinally at several points by roof and wall bracing systems. The roof surface is constructed of trapezoidal sheet metal and is prepared for the installation of a PV system. The building is also accessible to two overhead cranes on crane runway girders as well as a forklift.

Radolfzell-Stahringen is located in Earthquake Zone II, which means that special attention must be paid to the structural bracing of the building. Deep foundations using large-diameter bored piles were required because the geotechnical engineer determined that the alluvial deposits immediately beneath the site had very low bearing capacity. The large-diameter bored piles transfer vertical loads exclusively to the underlying ground moraine. Negative skin friction must be assumed in the area of the alluvial deposits. All bored piles are connected by a continuous pile-head beam grid.