On June 22, 2023, WBI GmbH hosted the 8th Rock Mechanics and Tunneling Day. Nearly 300 participants gathered at the WBI Center in Weinheim. We believe that this comparatively large number of attendees was due to the high-quality program and the special atmosphere of our venue.
This year, the Walter Wittke Award was presented to Prof. Dr. Yota Togashi, who traveled from Japan to deliver a lecture on his research into the anisotropy of the stress-strain behavior of tuff and the dependence of its mechanical properties on moisture content.
The subsequent session on approval procedures and contract design primarily focused on the partnership model. Representatives from project owners, the construction industry, and the legal field drew great interest from the audience with their presentations.
In the next thematic session, reports were given on notable tunneling projects such as the construction of the Stuttgart airport station, the planning of the Offenburg tunnel, experiences with groundwater control on Munich’s Second S-Bahn Main Line, and the use of tunnel boring machines on the Brenner Base Tunnel project.
The fourth and final session addressed sustainability and life-cycle assessment in tunneling. The session began with a fascinating keynote on sustainability and CO₂ accounting for transportation infrastructure projects. This was followed by a presentation on reducing the CO₂ footprint in cement production and further talks on the potential of single-shell construction methods in conventional tunneling. The session concluded with a presentation on the use of excavated tunnel material as construction aggregate.
We hope you enjoy reading these contributions and warmly invite you to join us again in Weinheim for the 9th Rock Mechanics and Tunneling Day on June 13, 2024.
Walter Wittke Martin Wittke Bettina Wittke-Schmitt Patricia Wittke-Gattermann
