CEMEX delivers concrete for main German inland navigation canal

643 CEMEX has played a key role in the construction of the new Minden waterway junction, one of the main transport hubs for inland shipping in Germany. The Mexican building materials giant partnered with a local supplier to deliver approximately 100,000m³ of concrete. Expected to ease the traffic of 4,000 freight shippers/year, the new lock system required several specialised products, including underwater concrete, self-compacting concrete, concrete for visible surface and chamber walls, high freeze-thaw resistant concrete, shotcrete, and concrete for bored piles.

“We take great pride in our participation in projects that help improve the connectivity of the regions in which we operate,” said Rüdiger Kuhn, president of CEMEX Germany. “We provide our customers with our concrete technology expertise to ensure their projects work seamlessly, even under challenging conditions.”

This project demanded both the company’s technological and logistical expertise because it was concreted in the largest possible blocks, of 800-900m³. Additionally, CEMEX developed concretes to produce the 5m-thick bed of the lock and the 4-5m-thick walls, which permanently operate under water.

CEMEX Germany and CEMEX Research Group AG designed the specialised concretes required for this project. CEMEX’s cement and ready-mixed technology centers are part of the company’s R&D collaboration network, headed by CEMEX Research Group AG in Switzerland.