Hessen Mobil explains: “We are wrongly so often the black sheep”

01.09.24 – Construction sites, delays and diversions: Yes, these things are often annoying. And what's more, it's easy to criticize those responsible for any construction projects from the comfort of your office chair if, for example, the start of construction on a project has to be postponed again. But that's exactly what Hessen Mobil wanted to draw attention to on Friday morning at its headquarters in Fulda. “We are so often wrongly the black sheep. Many citizens simply don't know that planning is the biggest and by far the most lengthy hurdle in a construction project.”

Hessen Mobil is the mobility service provider for the whole of Hesse. The regional office in Fulda is responsible for the East Hesse area, which includes the districts of Fulda, Hersfeld-Rotenburg and Werra-Meißner. For this occasion, Hessen Mobil invited various press representatives to provide a small insight from the idea to the implementation – in this specific case with cycle paths. The technical planning at Grabenhöfchen in the Rhön served as an example project from the East Hesse Cycle Paths Department. This department was only founded in Fulda at the end of 2022.

Head of department and press spokesman Nico Beck.

“Every now and then we receive complaints and people ask themselves: 'Why are the construction work only starting now? Why is the building being built the way it is – it can be done better!' The answer to this is not as simple as one might wish. There are so many people working on this from a wide range of disciplines with incredible know-how, all of whom have put a lot of thought into “trying to show what has already been achieved before construction started,” explains department head and press spokesman Nico Beck right at the start.

Christian Horn from the press office.

Madeleine Siebert, Head of the Department.

Jonas Eberlein, from the Local Mobility Department.

“Planning is the biggest part of every project” From the idea to implementation, there are a number of steps, approvals and discussions involved, and planning, as in the case of the example project at Grabenhöfchen, can take up to five years. “Planning is the biggest part of every project. Construction is quick in comparison,” emphasizes Madeleine Siebert, head of the specialist department. “Of course, the planning and construction time always depends on the project. But we at Hessen Mobil can only get started when other internal or external parties give their consent and the preliminary planning is complete. You need approvals, you have to acquire the land, you have to draw up an implementation plan, before “the construction work including diversions can even be planned, let alone the construction project can be carried out, so that after a disagreement we have to start all over again.”

Planning should include things like surveying, topography and traffic surveys as well as counts. “The recording of nature and the landscape alone takes a growing season, i.e. a year. Possible interventions in the landscape must be compensated for later. And of course, subsoil investigations to determine the soil conditions are also part of the process.” Internal (construction department, funding or water law) and external (owner, Deutsche Bahn or Hessen Forst) parties are involved in all of these specialist contributions. “That also depends on the project, but the nature conservation authority is always involved,” she notes. Construction can only begin once everything has been approved.

Anne Katrin Christen, project manager.

Andreas Müller, technical employee of the specialist department.

Traffic safety is the top priority In concrete terms, this means in the Grabenhöfchen example: “As we want to further expand cycle paths here, traffic counts were carried out, for example. We observed where people were crossing roads. It also had to be clarified how well traffic could be managed with our planning.” “Ultimately, traffic safety is our top priority,” explains Anne Katrin Christen, project manager. They always try to adapt the plans and the conditions as optimally as possible. However, it is clear that there are simply more options with new buildings. “You have to keep an eye on everything from the start. This also includes things like checking the lines, i.e. where and whether electricity or other lines are available in the area.”

In order to then implement the corresponding planning visually, a program is used that digitally reproduces the terrain in a 3D model. “The model consists of all the surveying data that we produce. This means we can plan not only the location, but also the height and depth of our facilities,” explains specialist planner Andreas Müller. Planning is well advanced for Grabehöfchen itself. “The land acquisition has been completed and the approvals from the local nature conservation authority and the compensation measures have been agreed. Everything else is still to come – but we are confident,” the project managers conclude. (ms) +++