7th Rock Mechanics & Tunnelling Day
At the end of June 2022, WBI GmbH was once again able to invite participants to the Rock Mechanics and Tunnelling Day at its company headquarters in Weinheim, Baden-Württemberg – a forum for exchange between clients, the construction industry, planners and universities, sponsored by Deutsche Bahn AG and additionally supported by the structural engineering working group of the Württemberg Engineering Association.
More than 250 participants listened to the expert presentations at the 7th Rock Mechanics & Tunnelling Day
Credit/Quelle: WBI/Fotostudio Fischer
More Than 250 Participants
More than 250 participants attended this year‘s Rock Mechanics and Tunnelling Day. A total of 12 presentations were held for the professionals in the audience. The informative presentations covered topics such as the future infrastructure projects of Deutsche Bahn and offered an overview of upcoming road tunnel projects in Germany.
Other speakers provided information on the challenges in the context of the Frankfurt long-distance railway tunnel, on additional railway infrastructure from 2025 in Stuttgart and on the construction of two further tunnels and five stations for the metro in Copenhagen.
The afternoon was dedicated to the two thematic blocks “Tunnelling in Unconsolidated Rock” and “Tunnels in Bunter Sandstone”, with presentations on, for example, the further tunnelling work on the Rastatt tunnel, grouting in tertiary soils and challenges in the construction of the Hanau-Fulda and Fulda-Eisenach railway lines.
Awarding of the Walter Wittke Prize
The Walter Wittke Prize 2022 was awarded to Prof. Dr. Oleksandr Samorodov, Head of the department of Geotechnics, Underground and Hydrotechnical Structures, Karkiv National University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Ukraine, as support for the education of civil engineers in the field of rock mechanics and for the corresponding research work.
„We applied the criteria for selecting the award winner a little more generously this year,“ Prof. Walter Wittke explained the serious background. Because this time it was not just about academic support, but about helping to keep the institute running at all. In the spring of 2022, the teaching institution had been hit by a missile during a Russian bombardment of the city with over a million inhabitants in north-eastern Ukraine. War damage that cannot be repaired without support. “The institute now needs funds to be able to resume research and teaching operations,” said Prof. Wittke. That is why his foundation has also increased the prize money to 10 000 euros this year.
Participants were able to use the breaks between presentations for informal discussions and networking
Credit/Quelle: WBI/Fotostudio Fischer
Save the Date: 8th Rock Mechanics & Tunnelling Day 2023
The next Rock Mechanics and Tunnelling Day is to be held at the WBI Center on 22 June 2023. The conference will as usual be organised by WBI GmbH and supported by German Railways and the German Engineering Association. The programme is to be published as early as autumn 2022. All further information and the possibility to register can be found on the website shown below.
