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Retractable Tunnel Tent for Warehouse Logistics in Linz, Austria
Client Background
LINGTONG supplied a retractable tunnel tent solution for a building materials distributor in Linz, Austria. The project uses aluminum retractable tunnel tents for warehouse connection, covering three parallel outdoor storage lanes with a total area of approximately 3000㎡. The client operates a 3.5-hectare logistics hub serving Upper Austria, southern Bavaria, and southern Czechia. Founded in 2003, the company employs over 160 staff and runs two indoor warehouses plus a large outdoor storage yard.
The hub handles over 15,000 pallets of building materials per month, including packaged cement, insulation boards, roofing materials, and timber products. The company also operates two gantry cranes for lifting heavy palletized goods in the yard, each with a lifting height of approximately 8 meters. Annual revenue exceeds 100 million euros. Due to continued business growth, the company needed large retractable tunnel tents for warehouse loading area to expand protected storage without disrupting crane operations.
Client Needs and Challenges
Austrian Temporary Building Compliance Requirements
Austria has clear technical specifications for temporary structures. Tents require submission of structural calculation reports and flame-retardant fabric certificates, and must be approved by the local municipal department before erection. Austrian regulations require temporary structures to comply with ÖNORM standards. Permits are typically valid for three years and can be renewed. The client needed a solution that could meet these requirements and pass municipal acceptance.
Adding Tents on the Existing Outdoor Yard Without Damaging the Ground
The yard surface had been in use for years and was paved with hardened concrete. The client required that tent construction must not damage the existing ground, and no excavation or concrete foundations were allowed. At the same time, the positions and dimensions of the three weather resistant retractable tunnel tents for warehouse logistics needed to precisely fit the yard boundaries and crane rail layout, without affecting cargo transfer routes.
Functional Allocation of the Three Tents
The client needed three tents in the existing yard, covering three parallel storage lanes. Each tent needed to cover approximately 1000㎡, totaling about 3000㎡. All three tents serve as all-weather storage and loading areas, accommodating multiple forklifts and cranes working simultaneously.
Gantry Crane Clearance Requirements
The yard is equipped with two gantry cranes that move along rails for lifting goods. The eave height of the tents had to provide sufficient clearance for the gantry cranes to pass safely beneath, without affecting the crane's normal working radius or lifting height.
Variable Climate Conditions
Linz has a temperate continental climate, with snow in winter and frequent rain in spring and autumn. The tent structure needed to account for snow and wind loads to ensure safety in extreme weather.
Solution
LINGTONG designed three large retractable tunnel tents around the client's existing yard layout, covering three parallel storage lanes with a total covered area of approximately 3000㎡.
Each tent has a span of 20 meters, a length of 50 meters, and an eave height of 8 meters. The 8-meter eave height provides sufficient safety clearance for gantry crane lifting gear to pass safely, avoiding the risk of collision. The three tents are arranged in parallel along the crane rail direction with adequate spacing for forklifts and trucks.
All three tents use 6061-T6 high-strength aluminum alloy frames with bolted connections, requiring no welding. The retractable rail system is installed on ground tracks, allowing the tents to slide along the rail direction as a whole. When the crane needs to lift goods, the tents can be opened; when goods are stored or weather is severe, the tents are closed.
The roof and sidewalls use double-layer PVC-coated polyester fabric, with flame retardancy meeting Austrian fire safety requirements, and providing waterproof, UV-resistant, and cold-resistant performance suitable for Austrian winter conditions. The structural design was verified for snow and wind loads, with load parameters matched to Linz's winter snowfall and high-wind conditions, ensuring stability in extreme weather.
The anchoring system uses ballasted weights, requiring no excavation or concrete foundations, fully preserving the existing concrete surface. Anti-glare LED lighting is installed to support loading operations during low-light winter conditions; sidewalls can be rolled up for natural ventilation in summer. For fire safety, each tent is equipped with safety exits meeting Austrian fire safety requirements, with emergency lighting and evacuation signage at exits, and fire extinguishers sized according to the area.
LINGTONG provided structural calculation reports, flame-retardant certificates, snow and wind load verification reports, and construction manuals compliant with Austrian temporary structure standards, assisting the client with municipal approval.
Product Information
Product: Retractable Tunnel System
Quantity: 3 units
Specifications: Each unit 20m span × 50m length × 8m eave height; total approximately 3000㎡; aluminum alloy frame; double-layer PVC fabric; wind load 120 km/h; snow load 1.5 kN/㎡.
Product page link: [Insert LINGTONG retractable tunnel tent product page URL]
Implementation Process
The project started in March 2025. The LINGTONG engineering team communicated online with the client and confirmed the layout of the three tents in the existing yard based on the client's site dimensions, photos, and video materials, keeping the crane rail positions unchanged. Design drawings and structural calculation reports were submitted in mid-March. The client submitted the construction permit application and flame-retardant certificates to the Linz municipal department in late March. The overall approval period was about six weeks, and approval was obtained in early May.
All components were prefabricated at the LINGTONG factory and shipped by sea to Rotterdam, then transported by road to Linz. The client organized a local installation team, with LINGTONG providing remote technical guidance and installation manual support. The installation team followed LINGTONG's drawings and installation instructions and carried out construction in June 2025. The installation sequence advanced tent by tent, starting with frame assembly, then installing the retractable rail system, and finally laying the fabric and installing the lighting system.
The entire installation period was 22 days, and municipal acceptance was passed in early July. The whole construction was completed on schedule under remote technical support.
Final Results and Client Feedback
The three retractable tunnel systems were officially put into use in July 2025, becoming the main all-weather storage and loading area of the hub.
The three tents cover a total area of approximately 3000㎡, increasing the usable outdoor storage area by about 40%, and raising annual usable storage days from about 220 to more than 340.
The gantry cranes can pass freely when the tents are open, unaffected by the tent structure. Forklifts can enter and exit normally for loading and unloading when the tents are closed. The client reports that loading efficiency during rainy and winter seasons improved by about 30%, and weather-related cargo damage decreased by about 35%.
After being tested by local rain and snow conditions, no structural or fabric failures occurred. The client plans to add two more retractable tunnel systems in the next phase to cover the remaining outdoor storage area.
Client Feedback
"Our yard has crane rails, so we couldn't use a fixed building. LINGTONG's solution solved this problem — open when the crane needs to work, closed when goods are stored. The three tents cover 3000㎡, our loading efficiency has improved significantly, and goods are no longer getting wet from rain. The remote guidance helped our installation team complete the work smoothly, and it passed acceptance on the first submission."
— Operations Director, Linz Building Materials Distribution Center
Summary
This project demonstrates the flexible application of the retractable tunnel tent in warehouse logistics. LINGTONG built three units with spans of 20 meters, lengths of 50 meters, and eave heights of 8 meters above the crane rails, totaling approximately 3000㎡, achieving an all-weather upgrade of the outdoor storage area while preserving normal crane operations. The retractable rail system allows the tents to open and close as needed, the ballasted anchoring system protects the existing ground, snow and wind load verification ensures structural safety, and the modular structure supports future expansion or relocation. This provides the client with an efficient, compliant, and sustainable warehouse facility upgrade solution.
Supplementary Notes
This case study is based on a warehouse logistics project at a building materials distribution center in Linz, Austria. Austria has clear technical specifications for temporary structures; tents require structural calculations and flame-retardant certificates and must be approved by the municipality. Permits are typically valid for three years and can be renewed. The aluminum retractable tunnel structure for warehouse connection provides all-weather storage space for logistics operators on outdoor sites and supports future expansion or relocation.
