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At the heart of Fischer Seelenbinder & Associates lies the passion and
commitment of two distinguished engineers, Wolfgang Fischer and Henning
Seelenbinder. These engineers have undertaken many exciting initiatives, one of
which is the foundational designs of a stereoscopic system telescope in Gamsberg,
Namibia.
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The interesting venture began its construction phase in March 2007 and according
to Wolfgang represents the fifth and largest known telescopic field. “This
project was done in a joint venture with Refa Construction Management. We were
responsible for the geotechnical investigations for the earthing design and
construction drawings.”
“The construction drawings for the foundation were detailed in AllyCAD. We
prefer this program because it is quick and easy to use. A particularly useful
feature of the software is the specialised toolkits. As engineers, we operate
in a multidisciplinary environment and having Toolkits that range from
mechanical through to structural is a huge plus,” explains Wolfgang.
One of the requirements of the telescopic project was that the design would be
compatible with local standards while still conforming to the specifications as
provided by the client’s German consultants. The client, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft,
is the lead institute of a group of participating European scientific
institutes.
But what was it about this particular project that made it so memorable?
According to Fischer, it was the complex nature of the project that made it
interesting. “This venture required a high degree of dimensional accuracy for
the geometry of the foundation. This was however not an easy task as the site
was founded on decomposed granites, quartzite’s and conglomerates, leaving room
for only nominal differential settlement tolerance.”
Despite these challenges, the team at Fischer Seelenbinder & Associates have
never missed a deadline and have delivered on client expectations project after
project. “The concrete foundation was completed on schedule in June 2007 by
Murray and Roberts in Namibia while a specialist team from the Max-Planck
Institute in Heidelberg installed the HD bolts, base plates and rails for the
telescopic boogies.”
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To Wolfgang and Henning, part of the allure of being a civil engineer is the
satisfaction of seeing the detailed designs come together in the finished
project. This coupled with the fact that no two projects are ever the same keep
them routed to the profession.
“Henning Seelenbinder went on retirement but
decided to come back to work. We’re all in agreement that there is no difference between practicing a hobby
and doing what you love to do. Being a civil engineer and solving difficult
engineering problems when producing designs is what we love to do. To us,
retirement is not an option,” says Wolfgang emphatically, adding that the team
consists of four employees with future plans to increase the staff complement to
an additional two.
“We would like to keep the team small. Each of us share the same belief in
quality and service delivery and we all contribute with the same commitment to
projects. As consulting engineers, project managers and specialists in
construction dispute resolutions, we intend to take on more projects. In fact,
the greater the complexity the better we enjoy it,” he says in closing.
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