Karl
Building sites, Bishops and the Bamberg Rider
Standing on the ‘Upper Bridge’ in Bamberg, looking across the river Regnitz to the old City Call, feels like a step back in time to the Middle Ages.
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Standing on the ‘Upper Bridge’ in Bamberg, looking across the river Regnitz to the old City Call, feels like a step back in time to the Middle Ages. That’s because the historic old town is one of the largest and more-or-less intact medieval town centres in Germany. It was declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1993. Directly behind the Regnitz is the Domberg – site of the city’s early 13th century cathedral and Bamberg’s most famous landmark, the stone statue of the Bamberg Rider. Whenever construction work is being carried out in the city Karl Gerüstbau GmbH, a scaffolding erection, rental and formwork construction services provider, is never far away. The family owned company focuses on historical building and monument protection with its purpose-built and special scaffolds. It enjoys an excellent reputation in the region and is perfectly equipped for all of its scaffolding projects with the Layher systems.
“We specialise in scaffolding solutions for listed building monument protection, as well as historical building and church renovations – to some extent because Bamberg has such exceptional historic architecture,” explained Udo and Thorsten Karl, Managing Directors of the company that is headquartered just outside Bamberg’s city gates. Karl Gerüstbau uses Layher Allround Scaffolding material because of its versatility, and is often the first company to try out the scaffolding manufacturer’s innovations. When new products are being used for the first time the Layher engineers and product managers are always on hand to provide advice and support in the planning and build phases. “We appreciate the personal service and the fast decision-making processes at Layher. In fact, we believe they are the reasons why our partnership is so successful,” emphasised Udo Karl in our interview. The Bambergers also pointed out the importance of the versatile Layher accessories that are integrated into the systems and have standard dimensions to maximise flexibility of use in the Allround Scaffolding structures. “The Layher Allround Scaffolding offers us endless possibilities. All the innovative products and accessories are practice-tested and noticeably improve the efficiency and reliability of our work. The accessories are also all dimensionally and statically perfect for the material we already have, including earlier generation products, which saves time during assembly and money,” added the scaffolding experts.
Ideally prepared with innovative solutions
Karl Gerüstbau was one of the first companies to use the Allround STAR Frame, the Allround Shoring TG 60, the Allround Bridging System and the innovative and advance Allround ARGS System in practice. “We are committed to continuous improvement as the foundation for our long-term success and the Layher solutions and accessories are part of that process. So we’re always interested to hear about their new products and test out the ideas from Eibensbach at our construction sites. And, I have to say, we’re always amazed by the improvements they keep on making to existing products,” said Kevin Fleischmann, master scaffolder and foreman at Karl Gerüstbau.
In and around Bamberg
“We currently have some exciting projects here in Bamberg and the surrounding area that showcase the scope of our services and the wide range of applications for the Layher scaffolding systems,” said the foreman, who visits the sites on a daily basis. The scaffolding company connected Bamberg Cathedral’s two towers with a suspended scaffold and float-mounted Allround Bridging System elements to simplify access to the site for the renovation of the cathedral, and significantly reduce scaffolding material requirements, in a project commissioned by the Cathedral Building Office. Another project is in progress within eyeshot of the historical building to construct the new headquarters for a regional company. The Karl Gerüstbau experts are using the innovative and advance Allround ARGS System there to ensure compliance with the effective safety regulations. At the Dürer Secondary School in Nuremberg Allround Shoring TG 60 is being used for concrete engineering because, when assembled in conjunction with the Allround Scaffolding, TG 60 is extremely economical and reliable. Managing Director Udo Karl is a big fan of Allround Shoring: “The fast build without the need to use even a single coupler considerably shortened the construction workflow. It allowed us to complete this construction phase in just two months rather than the scheduled three. The scaffolding assembly sequence with the automatic advanced guardrail offers my scaffolders maximum possible safety.” Just outside Bamberg at Seehof Palace – the former summer residence of Bamberg’s prince bishops – the Allround Scaffolding was used in conjunction with a Layher cassette roof to protect the building structure during renovations. The roof elements are designed to fit the scaffolding system dimensions perfectly, and they can be simply and securely mounted. The entire scaffolding build is digitally planned in advance for precise material and logistics scheduling so that the site personnel can work as efficiently as possible.
A scaffolding family through and through
Karl Gerüstbau was established in 1997 in Weiher near Viereth by scaffolding expert Otto Karl. It expanded very quickly thanks to growth in regional demand. Responding to market requirements the company supplemented its professional scaffolding erection services with formwork construction services and as the company grew, more and more family members joined it. In 2005 it was transformed into the limited liability company Karl Gerüstbau GmbH that is now managed by Udo and Thorsten Karl. They attribute the company’s success to the use of innovative Layher products, which has allowed them to build competitive advantages over time and enabled them to reposition themselves in the market with a broader range of services. 30 excellently-trained professionals with many years of experience in the scaffolding and formwork construction business currently work at the company’s 15,000 m² warehouse. “We always employ people who have excellent qualifications and we hold regular training events to maintain our high quality and safety standards. We also send our personnel over to Layher in Eibensbach for training in the use of new products, as we did recently when the new advance Allround ARGS System was launched. Whenever we talk to the managers at Layher they’re always interested to hear our honest opinion about the daily practicalities of using their products. It’s definitely what I’d call a partnership of equals. The Layher brand stands for innovation, safety, quality and cost-effectiveness, and those brand attributes help us to further our own success,” concluded Udo Karl.
