Really? 75 already ?
Hard to believe. Let’s celebrate!
In these times of international corporations, a family business celebrating a 75th anniversary speaks volumes: about freedom and entrepreneurship, about willingness to change and continuity, know-how and success. Not a given in today’s world! In any case, a good reason to celebrate!
Therefore, three cheers to our independence – GRASSL combines the advantages of a family-managed enterprise with those of internationally active corporations. We do our homework today in order to be your ideal project partners tomorrow. In all areas – design, checking, maintenance and supervision – we offer consistent state-of-the-art solutions. Digitally as well as analogue. With expertise and commitment, company founder Hans Grassl laid our foundations. We carry the GRASSL success story into the future in his spirit: we want to connect people, pave ways and create Baukultur. Our company philosophy commits us to sustainability. Even more in the next 75 years, in the face of ever-increasing challenges. Responsibility is timeless. We will keep at it!
The GRASSL Anniversary Project Days 2022 will see us share best practices of a large array of our work. Intense networking and the creation of smart synergies will meet exclusive glimpses into our work, detailed presentations, in-depth workshops on special topics and interesting construction site visits. At GRASSL, we are at your service- for buildings and engineering structures, be it road, rail or water, and always for the people.
2017–today
2022
TRUSS ARCH MOTORWAY INTERCHANGE FÜRTH/ERLANGEN
Ingenieurpreis des Deutschen Stahlbaues 2020
2022
GRASSL CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY
2021
RETHE BRIDGE HAMBURG
Deutscher Brückenbaupreis 2020
2021
“HAMBURGER DECKEL” TUNNEL
on the A7 in Hamburg-Schnelsen
2018–2020
RETHE BRIDGE HAMBURG
AIV Structure of the Year 2017
Auszeichnung des Deutschen Stahlbaues 2018
European Steel Bridge Award 2018
Winner of German Design Award 2019
Ingenieurpreis des Deutschen Stahlbaues 2019
20 years of Symposium Brückenbau Leipzig 2020
2017
GRASSL CELEBRATES 70th ANNIVERSARY
2007–2016
2016
MAHATMA GANDHI BRIDGE
in Hamburg
2016
NUTTLAR VIADUCT
on the A46 in Velmede-Nuttlar
©imago images/Hans Blossey
2015
A NEW OFFICE IN THE SOUTH WEST
GRASSL gains its seventh office in Stuttgart
2014
NORTHERN MONBIJOU BRIDGE AND FRIEDRICHS BRIDGE
over the Spree River to the Museum Island in Berlin (2007 and 2014)
2013
TUNNEL AT THE KÖ-BOGEN
in Düsseldorf
2013
1ST HANS GRASSL AWARD GIVEN OUT
2013
BINNENHAFENBRÜCKE VIADUCT IN HAMBURG
Auszeichnung zum Ingenieurbau-Preis
2012
BINNENHAFENBRÜCKE VIADUCT IN HAMBURG
Auszeichnung des Deutschen Stahlbaues
2012
GÖLTZSCH VIADUCT
on the DB railway track Leipzig–Hof in Mylau/Netzschkau
2011
BAHNPARALLELE
in Greifswald
2010
BINNENHAFENBRÜCKE VIADUCT
on the U3 subway line in Hamburg
1997–2006
2006
BERLIN BRIDGE
Ingenieurpreis Sachsen-Anhalt
2004
MAGDEBURG WATER BRIDGE
Ingenieurbaupreis Ernst & Sohn publishing house
Honorary mention: Renault Traffic Design Award
Honorary mention: Architekturpreis Land Sachsen-Anhalt
2004
REINFORCEMENT: TWO GRANDSONS
In 2004, Manfred Grassl’s son, Dipl.-Ing. Martin Grassl, joins the Hamburg office. In 2005, Dr.sc.techn. Hans Grassl, Gerhard Grassl’s son, joins the Munich office.
2004
CITY RAIL TUNNEL
between Kölner and Siegburger Strasse in Düsseldorf
2004
BASCULE BRIDGE
over the Schlei River in Kappeln
2004
NIBELUNGEN BRIDGE
on the B8 over the Danube River in Regensburg
2003
BRIDGE OVER THE ISAR RIVER IN PLATTLING
2003
WATER BRIDGE
on the Mittelland Canal over the Elbe River near Magdeburg
©mauritius images / Stephan Schulz
2002
KARL BRANNER BRIDGE, KASSEL
Deutscher Städtebaupreis, SEB-Bank
2001
GRÜNWALDER BRIDGE
over the Isar River and the Isar Canal near Munich
2001
GRASSL CUP
It’s football time! All GRASSL offices take part in the first GRASSL cup on 12 and 13 October 2001 in Zeuthen near Berlin. At the same time, the Berlin office celebrates its tenth anniversary.
1998
RHINE RIVER EMBANKMENT DESIGN, DÜSSELDORF OLD TOWN
Deutscher Städtebaupreis, BfG-Bank AG Düsseldorf
1997
GO EAST! NEW OFFICES
After the German reunification, many infrastructure improvement tasks await in the new states. To be able to deliver these services, the Berlin office is founded in 1991. The Greifswald office is added in 1993 and those in Magdeburg and Zepernik, Brandenburg, in 1997.
1987–1996
1995
OBERBAUM BRIDGE
over the Spree River in Berlin
1994
LOWERING OF THE RHEINUFERSTRASSE
in Düsseldorf
1991
EMSCHERSCHNELLWEG STAYED CABLE BRIDGE
on the A42 over the Rhine River in Duisburg
1990
ICE TRAIN DEPOT
in Hamburg
1988
BRIDGE K6 MOORFLEET
over the Elbe River in Hamburg
1987
DONAUSTAUF ROAD BRIDGE
over the Danube River near Regensburg
1977–1986
1986
SAAR RIVER BARRAGE
in Mettlach
1983
BRUNSBÜTTEL VIADUCT
over the on the B5
1981
HEINRICH ERHARD BRIDGE
in Düsseldorf
1980
HANS GRASSL DIES
The year 1980 is the most incisive in the history of the up-and-coming company. Founder Hans Grassl dies on 8 January after a trip to his beloved Austrian mountains. He is only 72 years old at the time of his death.
1979
FLEHE BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE RIVER
in Düsseldorf
1979
SCHWABELWEIS BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE RIVER
in Regensburg
© Stadt Regensburg, Bilddokumentation
1978
BILLHAFEN BRIDGE
in Hamburg
1967–1976
1976
OBERKASSEL BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE RIVER
in Düsseldorf
1975
KÖHLBRAND BRIDGE
in Hamburg
1973
DR.-ING. E.H.
“Honouring his achievements in the development of structural engineering and bridge construction in particular”, Hans Grassl is awarded an honorary doctorate by TH Braunschweig.
1971
KONRAD ADENAUER BRIDGE
over the Rhine River in Bonn City South
1971
ANOTHER YOUNGSTER: MANFRED GRASSL
Upon completion of his studies, the founder’s youngest son, Dipl.-Ing. Manfred Grassl, starts working in the Hamburg office.
1970
BAVARIA – MUNICH OFFICE
Southern Germany becomes an important area of business. Hans Grassl’s middle son Gerhard takes on the leadership of the new office.
1969
YOUNGSTER: GERHARD GRASSL
1 January 1969. The recent graduate Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Grassl joins his father’s firm after having completed the state examination and been promoted to government lead engineer. He is the all-rounder for all offices.
1957–1966
1966
KYRÖNSALMI BRIDGE
in Finland
Savolinna is the name of the Finnish ferry port for which Hans Grassl, chasing work in 1966, developed the authorisation, structural and execution design for a steel bascule bridge, a hollow box girder bridge with a lateral opening. Large structural elements were transported to the construction site through snow and ice. Total length 390 metres; maximum span length 115.5 metres.
1964
SAN MATEO HAYWARD BRIDGE
in San Francisco
A German immigrant in the USA contacted the Ministry of Transport of his old home country to ask for the name of an expert capable of executing a reliable structural analysis for the orthotropic deck. Hans Grassl’s name was put forward, and he carried out the work for the 1,703 m long two-girder slab bridge.
1963
FEHMARNSUND BRIDGE
in Grossenbrode
The nearly 1,000 m long connection from Grossenbrode in Schleswig-Holstein to Fehmarn, a combined railway and road bridge, offers an enormous relief for tourism headed for the popular island holiday destination. Caravans and cars with bicycles are now able to reach the holiday paradise more quickly.
1961
MANGFALL BRIDGE
on the A8 from Munich to Salzburg near Miesbach
1961
HEIDINGSFELD VIADUCT
near Würzburg
1960
JAN-WELLEM-PLATZ FLYOVER
in Düsseldorf
1958
KAUPPEN BRIDGE
on the A3 from Frankfurt to Würzburg in Waldaschaff
1957
LOITHAL BRIDGE
on the A8 near Traunstein and Anger in Bavaria
1947–1956
1956
BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE RIVER
in Ingolstadt
1956
HANS GRASSL: FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD
Hans Grassl is promoted to checking engineer for structural engineering in all fields.
1956
THEODOR HEUSS BRIDGE
over the Rhine River in Düsseldorf – the first stayed cable bridge over the Rhine River!
1954
DÜSSELDORF – EXPANSION
In 1954, a new office is founded in Düsseldorf, and Gerhard Dittmann is made office manager.
1947
HANS GRASSL – HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Hans Grassl Sr. starts his company, Ingenieurbüro Grassl, in Hamburg. His office is located in Caffamacherreihe 1–5. His only employee is a secretary.
A PASSION FOR ENGINEERING
Hans Grassl was born before the two world wars and lived through both of them. Destruction and reconstruction were formative experiences of this time. He was born on 26 January 1908 in an inner-city area of Vienna, Austria, as the family’s only child. His father worked in textile retail; his mother passed away at a young age. As a schoolboy, he was fascinated by the hydropower plant in Kaprun, Austria, with its huge dam. In 1926, he commenced his civil engineering studies at the Technische Universität Wien. Bridge construction in particular sparked his interest. Following his graduation, Hans Grassl started working as an engineer at the bridge and steel construction company Waagner-Biro in Vienna, Austria, and Hanover, Germany, and was soon promoted to group leader for steel bridges.
In 1937, he was hired by the steel construction firm Rheinstahl–Eggers in Hamburg, where he worked for ten years and eventually became company director. Just before he turned 40, he founded his own engineering consultancy in Hamburg. When he was awarded the contracts for the design of three large bridges, he hired his first employees, and over the years the company turned from a one-man business into a successful medium-sized enterprise. Today, GRASSL is involved in the construction of numerous bridges in Germany, Europe and worldwide.
“BUILDING BRIDGES IS HIGH ART! IT’S THE SUPREME DISCIPLINE!”
Hans Grassl
Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, two of Hans Grassl’s three sons joined their father’s business. They gained practical knowledge in addition to the theoretical expertise obtained at university; Gerhard at the Munich office, Manfred at the Hamburg office. No one imagined that the fruitful collaboration between father and sons would last only one decade: Hans Grassl passed away unexpectedly in 1980, at only 72 years of age. Now it was the second generation’s opportunity to shine. And shine they did. And not only that – they also raised sons interested in the civil engineering profession, just like their father did.
Martin Grassl, Manfred’s son, joined the Berlin office in 2004. Hans Grassl, Gerhard’s son, joined the Munich office one year later. Today, Hans and Martin Grassl manage all the GRASSL offices, together with the authorised company representatives and office managers. The number of employees has been increasing steadily with the number of job contracts, especially since the mid-1990s. In 2017, GRASSL had 211 employees, today it has around 250. History continues, and we continue to work towards our goal of creating better connections for people.
Scrolling through history
Can you browse through history? We think so. In 2017, GRASSL celebrated its seventieth birthday. Reason enough to bring our history to paper and add historical and recent images of our work over the years. And we discovered that the history of the projects carried out by GRASSL is also a history of Germany’s infrastructure.
We would be happy to send you a copy of our company history. To purchase “BRÜCKEN___SCHLAGEN” (hardcover, 232 pages) for the price of €48 plus postage, please email us at hamburg@grassl-ing.de with the subject line “Company history order”, stating the number of copies you wish to purchase and your invoice and delivery addresses. After payment of the invoice that we will send you, the company history will be dispatched immediately.