Rollin' rollin' rollin'… Six tons of bright red steel on Oberhausen's streets

March 6, 2021

In two weeks the time has come - RED HEELS will find its final place in front of our castle. We have already explained the process of creating the work in detail - but a description is still missing: about the transport, the installation and the assembly.

It goes without saying that a six-meter-high, three-by-three-meter-wide, six-ton steel monster cannot be casually brought along in a transporter. The big guns have to be brought in. We're talking about a heavy transport, a road closure, and special cranes.

The Oberhausen companies Franken Apparatebau, the Diekmann engineering office, the Jaromin mobile crane service and the city's commercial enterprises are involved in these three processes, which will be carried out on the day before the inauguration of RED HEELS. The Ferdinand Hövelmann forwarding company from Dinslaken is responsible for the heavy load transport.

The employees and the director of our museum, Christine Vogt, will certainly be standing curiously on the sidelines of the event. She is already saying excitedly: "What a joy! It's finally here! Who would have believed it when we started planning. And now the sculpture is becoming a reality - unbelievable!"

Representatives of the print, radio and television press have also announced their attendance and, last but not least, Heiner Meyer will of course be present when his sculpture is installed. He will be following every single step with a keen eye.

But one thing at a time. Next week, the freshly painted individual elements of RED HEELS will arrive back in the production halls of Franken Apparatebau. Now the final production step takes place: All elements are joined together and carefully welded in the designated places. On the afternoon of March 18, 2021, the sculpture will then be loaded onto a heavy-duty transporter provided. It will "sleep" there. It will be transported lying down, as can be clearly seen in the sketch here.

The next morning, the transport starts and "chugs" along the A516 for almost four kilometers in the direction of LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen. Since there are no obstacles to avoid, such as bridges that are too low or signs, the route will be easy to manage and RED HEELS will arrive quickly. Beforehand, the corresponding stopping area on and around Konrad-Adenauer-Allee has of course been cordoned off - for 75 meters along the sidewalk, the parking lane and the right-hand lane.

Two heavy-duty cranes have already been brought into position at the site where the sculpture will be erected. One of the two cranes is a real rarity, as there are only three of this model in Germany: a so-called crawler crane. It is fitted with chains instead of wheels. The two cranes are used to lift RED HEELS, with its six-ton weight, upright using extremely carefully measured pulling force and slowly move it onto the pedestal. This is where everyone involved is sure to be at their most tense, as this is when it becomes clear whether the forces that are now being generated will be safely held by the welds at the contact points.

The final step involves attaching the base plate to the platform. During production, holes were drilled into the base plate at precisely defined locations at Franken Apparatebau. Large screws are then passed through these to firmly anchor them to the foundation.

Now all that remains is to tie a large bow around the large sculpture – to ceremoniously inaugurate it the following day.

Photomontage 3D sculpture Konrad-Adenauer-Allee towards Sterkrade, 2021 © LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen, Johannes Nathow