Project status: Completed

The overarching goal of this project is to make use of the previously untapped potential of durable regional wood qualities. For this purpose, a rigid, durable, and easy-to-handle longitudinal connection for wooden piles in hydraulic engineering is to be developed and designed, allowing individual pile segments to be joined to form a fully load-bearing pile of any desired length. By joining individual pile sections:

• recovered old timber (hydraulic engineering timber) can be given a new use by refurbishing intact pile sections and joining them into new piles of sufficient length.

• damaged piles do not need to be fully replaced—only the damaged areas must be renewed—so intact parts remain in place and can continue to be used.

• the use of domestic wood can once again become competitive, as durable heartwood sections can be joined into wooden piles with high and nearly constant durability and load-bearing capacity over theoretically any length.

In this project, suitable longitudinal connections are validated and evaluated through extensive climatic, static, and dynamic test series. On-site tests carried out under realistic working conditions are intended to demonstrate practical suitability under various real boundary conditions. In parallel, a load model and a finite element model for design purposes are implemented, and practical recommendations for potential users are developed. For the use of reclaimed timber, a procedure for selecting deconstructed hydraulic engineering timber with regard to reusability is also planned. A particular focus must be placed on the drivability of the joined piles, as piles in hydraulic engineering are typically installed as so-called displacement piles using impact or vibratory driving.

To the final report (Link)