MEGA Muck Measuring System for EPB Tunnelling Selected as Nominee for “bauma Innovation Award”
Excavated material from tunnel construction is a valuable resource and by no means waste. It can be used for a variety of construction purposes, for example in traffic infrastructure construction or as concrete aggregate. For this to succeed, the material must be separated by type on the construction site. STUVA e. V., Herrenknecht AG and the TH Köln University of Applied Sciences were nominated for the “bauma Innovation Award 2025” in the research category for the joint development of an AI-supported measuring system required for this. In this category, they were up against two other competitors.
REMATCH project team (from left): André Heim, Herrenknecht AG; Lara Gutberlet, M. Sc., STUVA e. V.; Dr.-Ing. Christian Thienert, STUVA e. V.; Dr. Pierre Müller, TH Köln; Frederic Seng, Herrenknecht AG; Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Wehrmeyer, Herrenknecht AG; Prof. Dr. Christoph Budach, TH Köln
Credit/Quelle: STUVA
The innovation award has been presented at bauma since 2007. The bauma is the world's leading trade fair for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment and takes place every three years in Munich.
AI-Supported Material Characterization in Real Time
Presentation of the innovation at bauma in Munich
Credit/Quelle: STUVA
“Muck measuring system for EPB tunnel borinG machines based on AI“ (MEGA)
Credit/Quelle: STUVA
“To be ranked among the nominees for such a prestigious award with a total of 208 applicants was a great honour, even if it was unfortunately not enough for a first place. However, the nomination alone has shown us that we have taken the right path with our work and that the added value is recognized by the entire industry”, says project coordinator Dr.-Ing. Christian Thienert, Head of Tunnelling & Construction Technology at STUVA. The so-called “Muck measuring system for EPB tunnel borinG machines based on AI” (MEGA) can characterize the earth slurry on an earth pressure balance tunnel boring machine (EPB-TBM) in real time during operation. This makes higher-quality and sustainable use of the muck possible. The material passes by a spherical pendulum and a plow, with the pulses on the two instruments being measured. The recorded load curves differ depending on the properties of the material. Artificial Intelligence links load curves and index values such as shear strength and settlement, which form an important basis for classification.
MEGA is a result of the research project “REMATCH – Resource-efficient tunnelling based on real-time characterisation of the excavated material”, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the French Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR) from 2021 to 2024. The partners were STUVA e. V., TH Köln University of Applied Sciences and Herrenknecht AG as well as Arcadis ESG and LIRIS – Laboratory for Image Processing and Information Systems from France.
