At Goitzsche, Germany, a local amenity area for the 21st century is now taking shape. An area of 25 square kilometres is being turned into lakelands by the flooding of former coal mines. Notable landmarks in the new amenity area at Bitterfeld are two floating structures, a pier and a gauging tower. Architects Prof. Wolfgang Christ from Weimar and Prof. Klaus Bollinger from Frankfurt am Main fashioned the two edifices as symbols, visible from afar, of the demise of the 20th-century industrial world and of the transition of earth, water and air into a world of adventure in the new millennium. The aquatic architecture emerges almost out of nothing as you approach the area and leads you over a wooden walkway to a tower. Constituting the core of the tower (called the Pegelturm) is a 20-metre-long solid steel pin anchored in the ground. Transit up and down the gauging tower is via a double flight of winding dog-leg stairs. X-Tend stainless steel cord netting by Carl Stahl encompasses the entire tower like an oversize sock to prevent falls. Thus, besides its practical assets, the patented net system also has visual appeal. With an area 380 square metres needing to be covered, the fact that X-Tend is pre-assembled at the factory made for rapid and uncomplicated linkage – it only took five days to erect the high-quality safety barrier.
