Ferropolis – The Iron City Extraordinary preservation measures to ensure the safety of the pop group PUR in the Iron City Ferropolis – the Iron City – is one of Germany's biggest venues for events of all kinds. That seemed jeopardised by an increasing corrosion problem. Countermeasures are now to be undertaken by ilako GmbH to assure the continued safety of the site. The excavators and spreaders in the former open-cast mine Ferropolis bear witness to a fascinating technology. They are, however, increasingly falling prey to corrosion, a fact that poses a double threat to the Iron City. On the one hand, cables could snap or girders be weakened to the point where parts of the structure would be in danger of toppling into the auditorium during a show; on the other, guaranteed safety standards are a basic condition for further subsidies which also affect improvements to the infrastructure around Ferropolis. A specialist in steel and concrete protection, ilako GmbH will be carrying out work to preserve the load-bearing structures of four of the five strip mining machines – two excavators and two spreaders – during the winter months up until March 2004. The Iron City With room for 25,000 people, the open air museum is one of Germany's biggest venues for events. In the course of the coming year the Iron City will once again host numerous celebrities from the entertainment world, including PUR, one of the most successful German pop groups. Ferropolis, the old Golpa-Nord open-cast mine in Sachsen-Anhalt, was shut down in 1991. Discussions commenced in 1989 as to how this redundant industrial site might be used and culminated in the project of an "industrial garden landscape", from which the vision of an "Iron City" arose. The idea was to move five big excavators and spreaders onto a peninsula in the mine workings rather than scrapping them. This remaining plateau in the disused Golpa-Nord strip mine is now a pedestal for thousands of tons of iron. Ferropolis has become a museum illustrating the development of lignite mining technology through which visitors can wander at will, with sculptures and artistically designed landmarks providing an impressive backdrop for performances and events. The challenge of corrosion protection Corrosion protection is an important field of industrial damage prevention. For the experts at ilako GmbH, Ferropolis represents a very special challenge. Coating the various assemblies, for example the suspension and traction cables, is highly complicated. It is also very unusual that a project of this size should be undertaken in winter. This will impose very great demands on materials and personnel, not least because of weather conditions and the consequent slower drying of the coatings used. The artistic effect is a major aspect. ilako will only be treating the load bearing structures and the fresh coating will accordingly quickly become stained by rusty water – an intentional effect. On completion of the work, the excavators and spreaders will be safe for several years to come and Ferropolis will once again be able to guarantee the safety of visitors to the open-air museum and its impressive stage for major events in the coming year. Dessau, 01-15-2004 Sources to download: Article as word document 29KB HiRes Image(JPEG) 922KB Further information and press contact for Germany: Koppcom Press and publicity work Pigageallee 27 D-40597 Düsseldorf Phone: 02 11/9 26 22-00 Fax: 02 11/9 26 22-01 E-Mail: info@koppcom.de www: http://www.koppcom.de

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