Duisburg-Schwelgern · works harbour and blast furnaces

A ship in port (riding along, key F)

1. 01

   waiting at anchor

2. 02

   coming in

3. 03

   at the quay: being unloaded and loaded

4. 04

   leaving

What is shown – why – for whom

Facilities and areas in the model

• Schwelgern works harbour

  Push convoys with up to six lighters (about 15,000 t) berth here; grab unloaders empty about 10,000 lighters a year.

• Ore and coal stockyard

  Pile height = stock of the hub in the model; with low water on the Rhine less tonnage arrives per ship.

• Schwelgern blast furnaces 1 and 2

  Industrial customer: Schwelgern 1 produces up to 3.6 million t of pig iron a year (about 10,000 t a day). Hot metal travels in torpedo ladles to the steel plant.

• Rhine

  Through traffic on the Rhine: container, tanker and push convoys between Rotterdam and the Upper Rhine.

Processes in the model

How a works harbour can use the model

• Operations and planning

  In low water fewer tonnes arrive per ship, with the Rhine closed none at all. The pile height of the ore and coal stockyards follows the stock and shows it at once.

  For whomWorks logistics, port operations, planning

• Onboarding and training

  Ride along with key F: a push convoy waits, comes in, is unloaded at the quay and leaves again. One line says what is happening.

  For whomNew staff, port and steelworks trainees

• Local authorities and economic development

  The chain from Rotterdam via the works harbour to the Westfalenhütte plant in Dortmund shows how closely the Rhine, the steelworks and processing are linked in the region.

  For whomLocal authorities, economic development, structural change

• Schools, universities, museums

  How do ore and coal reach the blast furnace? Push convoy, grab, stockpile, conveyor and torpedo ladle stand in one sequence – also as a demo without anyone at the controls.

  For whomSchools, universities, industrial museums

• Public communication

  The ‘Dry summer’ scenario brings low water on the Rhine: ships sail half loaded, and fewer tonnes reach the works harbour. Four times the speed shows how it develops, and one tap brings back today.

  For whomPublic relations, associations

What you can change

What the model gives a works harbour

• 01

  The raw-material chain in one piece

  From the sea ship in Rotterdam to the torpedo ladle: the model shows every handover in one sequence, on the real site.

• 02

  Dependent on the Rhine

  In the model, 86 % of the volume arrives by water. Low water, flood and a Rhine closure show what that means.

• 03

  Reserves made visible

  The pile height follows the node’s stock on the Germany map and appears with live values in the site profile.

• 04

  Industry as a lever

  The industrial output control acts on 96 % of the volume here – more than at any other site in the model.

• 05

  For visits and big screens

  Runs in the browser and on large projections, with a demo that starts without anyone at the controls.

• 

  Dortmund · canal port and Westfalenhütte

  The canal port at the end of the Dortmund-Ems Canal as a walkable model: canal barges with two tiers of containers, three container gantries, four tracks and the route to the Westfalenhütte plant.

• 

  Duisburg · logport I (Rheinhausen)

  A trimodal inland port on the Rhine as a walkable model: Rhine barges with sea containers from Rotterdam, gantries and yard, trains to the south, Eastern Europe and Asia, trucks into the region.

• 

  Ludwigshafen · chemicals on the Rhine

  A large chemical site on the Upper Rhine as a walkable model: tankers at loading arms, tank wagons on the works railway, pipe bridges, the Friesenheimer Insel tank farm and the container quay.

• 

  Germany · freight flows and nodes

  All of Germany as a map of blocks: 27 nodes, 55 freight flows as bands of light, eleven bottlenecks with traffic lights. Controls, seasons, disruptions and ten scenarios change every flow at once, compared with today.

• 

  Hamburg · Container Terminal Altenwerder

  An automated container terminal as a walkable model: up to 14 container gantries, driverless transport vehicles, the block yard, a rail station for trains up to 740 m and the truck gate.

• 

  Bremerhaven · car terminal and river quay

  Bremerhaven as a walkable model: almost five kilometres of river quay for the largest container ships, straddle carriers, car trains and parking for about 95,000 vehicles at the mouth of the Weser.

• 

  Wilhelmshaven · JadeWeserPort and LNG terminal

  Germany’s only deep-water port as a walkable model: the container quay on the Jade with straddle carriers and rail, plus the floating LNG terminal, a tank farm and the crude-oil pipeline to the refineries.

• 

  Frankfurt interchange (A3/A5)

  One of Europe’s busiest motorway interchanges as a walkable model: the A3 and A5 cross, the weaving section becomes the bottleneck, and the tailback grows with freight, holidays or snow.