DLR is supporting the city of Bremerhaven and the port operator Bremenports in clarifying the situation at the mole tower in Bremerhaven. The Bremerhaven lighthouse, which is considered one of the city's landmarks, had sagged and then stood askew. Thanks to the capabilities of the DLR Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures in the field of underwater sensors, images of the quay’s sheet pile walls could be provided, which contributed to the provisional safeguarding of the facility.
After the mole tower had sagged last Thursday (08/18/2022), the Bremerhaven DLR team was ready to support the local authorities with an autonomous underwater vehicle, the 3.50-meter long SeaCat. The SeaCat is equipped with a multibeam and a sidescan sonar, which allow the creation of underwater 2D and 3D images. This enabled the sheet piling of the quay on the north mole, on which the lighthouse is located, to be checked for damage to the masonry. The measurements and recordings were then sent to the responsible authorities.
The data is to be analyzed in order to use a virtual model to clarify how to proceed with the further safeguarding of the mole tower. The DLR institute will continue to work together with the city of Bremerhaven and Bremenports in order to contribute to the protection of the maritime infrastructures of Bremerhaven.
