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The SBB has commissioned Network 41 to replace the visual display panels at Zurich main station. The new system will ensure travellers throughout the station can find the right departure times and platforms.
Anyone who uses public transport will have seen the digital display panels in SBB stations. They provide departure times and platforms for departing trains plus additional information. The old display panels in Zurich main station are no longer fit for purpose and need to be replaced. Network 41 has been mandated by SBB Region Ost to assume the overall management and electrical planning for this major project.
Coordination between stakeholder groups
“We have to replace over 80 display panels”, says Gregor Felder, project coordinator for electrical planning at Network 41. We have to build new mounting panels for some of them and we’ll put the rest up on the walls. Besides dismantling the old monitors and putting up the new ones, Network 41
will plan and coordinate the exchanging of the hardware and replacement of the current copper cables by fibre optic cable for the supply line. This will ensure secure forwarding of the data from the central station depositary to the monitors.
The three-person Network 41 project team has put together the installation schedule, which will now be reviewed by the client. The project does not pose any major problems from a purely technical and practical perspective, however it is not a conventional proposition. As project coordinator Gregor Felder points out: “Zurich main station is a very sensitive location with large visitor streams and specific processes.” As a result, the project has a relatively large number of stakeholder groups: besides the client, there is the Change Team that is involved in all structural amendments in the station area, the station manager and the station architect. As overly lengthy outages are not acceptable, good cooperation with the technicians and manual workers is a priority. There is also the Canton Zurich Blindenverein (Association for the Blind), as the new display panels must not disadvantage the visually impaired.
Another special feature of the project: every location has its own specific features, meaning we have 80 individual plans, some of which need other participants, such as structural engineers, glaziers or tenants.
Implementation must be planned
These challenges make precise planning all the more important. The deployment of manual workers needs to be closely coordinated. A logistics concept will ensure that the right material arrives at the right place at the right time. Intervention applications must be issued plus access requests for the requisite rooms behind the scenes, structural calculations are also required for the construction site.
Once the construction programme has been approved, Network 41 will request offers for the works and organise the coordination with electricians, metalworkers, architects, tilers and materials suppliers until the SBB TC connects the servers.
Work will start in August 2019 and is expected to take one to two days per location. Most of the work will be at night to minimise disruption. The work is scheduled for completion by December 2019, followed by the acceptance inspection, the safety verification and handover to the SBB.
The SBB is renewing a number of stations on the line between Winterthur and Rapperswil. For six of the refurbishments and new facilities, Network 41 is responsible for the planning and site management of the technical installations.
Extended platforms, new customer centres, pedestrian underpasses – the SBB is investing heavily in updating the railway infrastructure in the Tösstal region. Refurbishment and new construction work always involves the installation of new facilities such as speakers, clocks, ticket and drinks machines as well as renewing the lighting. In some cases there is also a need for new engineering rooms, as well as new heating and ventilation systems or access control facilities.
"Work for the SBB is not something that comes up every day and it's very different from other assignments," says project coordinator Gregor Felder. "This applies in two ways. Firstly, special regulations apply to the SBB. Secondly, the employment contract is very interesting because the SBB hands over an entire project for independent completion."
The railway runs on 16 2/3 Hertz while the public power supply is 50 Hertz. This is why the earthing system has to be specially planned and designed so that no disruptions occur.
"Working with the SBB gives you insights into the diverse departments of the railway company – and that's really fascinating," says Gregor Felder. "Another thing that is different about working for the SBB is how contracts are awarded. The SBB pays close attention to quality and asks for references. The key factor is whether you have the key personnel to handle a project."
Planning the new installations at the stations is only part of the work, however. Coordination of all the installations is almost more demanding: orders have to be handled on schedule, and the installation teams have to be on site at the right time. Sometimes cranes and other equipment is needed which has to be specially connected to the earthing system. Safety regulations have to be observed at all times while the work is being carried out. Work on the railway tracks or electrical distribution units has to be announced several weeks in advance. "It's a real challenge to handle all these various elements," says Gregor Felder.
Network 41 has been working for the SBB in Tösstal since the beginning of 2015. Three Network 41 staff are mainly deployed to take care of this new construction and refurbishment work at stations between Winterthur and Rapperswil. The contract expires at the end of 2019.
From sockets and ventilation systems to fire protection – everything is planned down the last detail and intelligently managed. Network 41 completes the elaborate electrical planning work for the Wiggerweg residential complex in Strengelbach AG.
A huge wiring diagram in a total of 221 pages reflects just how much work project manager Alex Zemp and his team put into the professional networking of the large-scale residential estate in Strengelbach. Network 41 was responsible for the entire electrical planning on the estate. “All in all we spent 780 hours on the planning for Wiggerweg over the last three years, including coordination with our partners,” says Alex Zemp. This highly complex work is barely noticed by non-experts. But professionals will instantly take note of the intelligent overall concept that enables use of power and heat in the buildings in the first place.
Nothing is left to chance
“Electrical planning is so diverse – I can hardly list everything we hooked up to the power grid,” says the project manager. It’s true: the list of devices and components is very impressive – ranging from simple sockets through to intelligently controlled emergency lighting systems: everything that required a power supply was precisely planned in advanced by Network 41 experts. This also includes the connections and cables for heating, ventilativentilation, blinds, washing machines, lights, kitchens, bathroom facilities, multimedia systems, and intercom systems as well as smoke and heat extractor systems. “Everything can be intelligently controlled and adapted to individual customer preferences. The various items can even communicate with each other,” adds Alex Zemp.
Intelligent Lighting
One impressive example is the planning for the exterior lighting and ambient lighting on the residential estate. The Network 41 lighting concept not only ensures minimum power consumption and optimum illumination, it also features intelligent lighting control: the lamps darken automatically at night and are interconnected by means of LOGO control. According to Alex Zemp, the biggest challenge on this project was the sheer scale and the need for ongoing coordination with various partners: “There were also lots of statutory requirements and individual adaptations. It all takes a lot of patience. But it was worth it in the end – after all, we don't just offer run-of-the-mill solutions.”
Living with perspective – this is the slogan of the HOCHZWEI complex to be completed in the Allmend area of Lucerne by the end of 2012, in the immediate vicinity of the new Swissporarena.
Constructed under the ownership of Credit Suisse, the two high-rise residential buildings comprise 283 rental apartments and comply with the rigorous requirements of greenproperty, Switzerland's first seal of quality for sustainable buildings. In order to ensure sustainability in the area of gas, water and power consumption too, the energy service provider ewl (energie wasser luzern) commissioned Network 41 to design and install the network for the deployment of intelligent meters.
This laid the foundation for future technologies such as smart metering. The installation was based on the structural concept which defined the exact positioning of the technical components. This ensured that EMC requirements (electromagnetic compatibility) were met.
The engineering conception complies with the network standard 10GB Base-T. Quality testing of cable functionality was carried out to the European standard (LinkWare Cable Test Management Software).
The housing estate Leuenfeld in Oensingen (SO) is to be completed by 2013, comprising 540 households, a swimming pool, a day nursery and a get-together area. The building owner and client Schmid Immobilien AG commissioned Network 41 to equip the estate in preparation for future communication solutions including telephone, internet and TV/radio.
In order to appeal to owners, tenants and service providers alike, Network 41 joined forces with Swisscom and the Oensingen TV association to install the first nethome Fibre Spot in Switzerland. This telecommunications infrastructure ensured cost optimisation as projected by Schmid Immobilien AG as well as providing a wider range of services. Each residential unit was fitted with four fibre optic cables in star formation, two of which are currently in use.
The central utility room allows other providers to be fed into the nethome Fibre Spot at any time. The set-up also ensures individual use by residents of TV, internet and telephone services.
In addition to planning the nethome Fibre Spot, Network 41 also carried out the electrical engineering work and project planning for the utility room. Network 41 conducted negotiations with the service providers and was responsible for advising owners on an individual basis, in particular regarding the options and system components for building automation. This pioneer project demonstrates Network 41’s status as a leading specialist in the field of network planning in Switzerland.
