A Delicate Touch on a Major Construction Site

It rumbles, crashes, and roars. Fine dust swirls through the air, and pieces of debris tumble to the ground. High above the exhibition center, a massive excavator arm works its way floor by floor through the front administrative tower, while two more excavators clear away the rubble below. What looks like brute force is, in reality, precision work.

Demolition work on Messe Düsseldorf’s front administrative tower has been underway since February. It is being dismantled to make room for a new building, while the other tower is being completely renovated down to its core structure. A delicate touch is currently called for in many respects: As the work on the front tower progresses, it edges ever closer to the rear tower. Only around 1.7 meters separate the two construction sites. That is why, up top at heights of around 50 meters, the long-front demolition excavator “crumbles” the material into the smallest possible pieces, so that no large fragments plunge uncontrolled to the ground below. Two large protective mats, held in place by mobile cranes, cushion the vibrations. The rubble from both sites is then sorted by type – including wood, mineral wool, copper, iron, aluminum, and concrete, among other materials – so that it can be recycled.

By 2028, Messe Düsseldorf will have invested around €100 million in building its new administrative headquarters. The project is part of the master plan, through which the Düsseldorf exhibition venue is being steadily modernized by 2040. In the video, Sven Manemann, Demolition Site Manager at Moß Abbruch-Erdbau-Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, and Thomas Höllermann, External Site Manager for Goldbeck West GmbH, explain what will be happening at the new headquarters construction site in the weeks ahead.

Anyone wishing to follow the demolition work can find the latest insights online at any time.

See more photos from the construction site in the slider below.

Photos: Messe Düsseldorf/Andreas Wiese, Mhoch4