Water lily event platform
420 tonne steel construction
Project description
Central Switzerland celebrated the region’s 200 year history of tourism in 2015. For this purpose, the cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden came together to celebrate this important year in hospitality and created a sponsoring association with the participation of the government and support from private individuals.
The heart of the 2015 anniversary year was the water lily, a floating event platform. The water lily platform was planned and built by Shiptec AG. It was accepted and approved as a ship (in accordance with the Swiss Shipbuilding Regulation) by the Lucerne Road Traffic Department (Strassen-Verkehrs-Amt Luzern). In terms of the scope of the project, the water lily can be compared with various major renovation projects for passenger ships. There were also similarities in the project organisation.
The platform was welded together out of individual sections to create a pontoon, some of which floated in the water. Shiptec was able to build on experience gained from past projects and the know-how of its employees. The stands were built in the centre of the water lily from ready-made individual pieces. The leaf-shaped elements were lifted onto the construction with a crane and assembled. Hydraulic cylinders that open and close the petals were installed.
Some flexibility was required regarding the schedule and the special requirements. It required a different kind of steelwork to normal shipbuilding. The greatest challenge was the engineering, planning and challenging logistics to meet the tight schedule. The engineering team made up of ten members had a lot of work to do when drafting the project, as well as with the calculation of the loads, the strength and safe buoyancy in a normal and in a partially flooded state (for passing under the Achereggbrücke bridge). The safety requirements of the federal office and owner were consistently met.
In just 7 months, a 420 tonne water lily event platform was created out of huge steel elements in front of the shipyard in Lucerne. With twelve sweeping petals mounted all around it, the platform had a diameter of 48 metres. These were designed to provide space to stroll around the arena. When unfolded, the sculpture’s moveable sepals towered around 16 metres in the air. These eight petals or sepals enclosed the inner area with its stands arranged in a circle. The tips of these petals doubled as a hinged roof to the arena.
In principle, the water lily was a non-powered pontoon, which had to be pushed and/or pulled from berth to berth by two push boats.
At the end of March 2015, the water lily was handed over to the ‘200 years of central Switzerland’ association.
