Annual Webac Workshops on the Topics of Waterproofing and Injection Technology
The German family-owned company Webac-Chemie GmbH has been active in the construction chemicals industry worldwide for more than 40 years. Webac develops, produces and distributes high-quality specialty products for the maintenance and protection of buildings. For some years now, Webac has also been organizing workshops on general and special topics of waterproofing and injection technology as well as on the practical handling of special construction chemical products.
Since 2018, Webac has held numerous workshops on the topics of sealing and injection technology
Credit/Quelle: Webac
“The workshop format is very appealing to us,” explains Dipl.-Ing. Harald Schmitt, Technical Manager Tunneling & Waterproofing at Webac. “We have had this experience at five national and international events to date. In contrast to trade fairs, we can show more of our practical expertise at the workshops and at the same time discuss topics at a balanced technical level. In addition, a workshop also has a great team-building effect.”
Injection Technology in Tunnel Construction
Injection technology in tunnel construction got the ball rolling – Webac organized the first workshop at the company site under this theme
Credit/Quelle: Webac
Fundamental information, laboratory experiments, material science – the workshop format offers particular advantages for a practice-oriented introduction to a specialist topic
Credit/Quelle: Webac
The regular series of events kicked off with a comparatively small international workshop at the company‘s site in Barsbüttel near Hamburg in 2018. With almost 20 participants from all over Europe, basic approaches relating to injection technology in tunnelling were discussed in presentations. In addition, the participants were able to experience and discuss material properties in practical laboratory applications while mixing the material themselves, and there were also demonstrations of practical injections. The topics covered in this first workshop ranged from a presentation of the basic checklists for planning and the method for creating risk assessments to laboratory tests and injection demonstrations. Participating companies included Christiansen & Essenbaek, Atkins and COWI from Denmark, GallZeidler (UK) and Renesco (Switzerland).
“It‘s clear that we only touch on topics in this format, but discussions develop from this that later can lead to practical solutions for the construction projects,“ explains Schmitt. „Such as the Metro Milano project, for example, which was subsequently implemented with the newly introduced hybrid injection system. The project was presented at the World Tunnel Congress in Copenhagen in 2022.”
Cooperation With the Hagerbach Test Gallery
Due to the great popularity and because Webac wanted to further explore the promising possibilities of this event format, the next workshop took place in March 2019 at the Hagerbach Test Gallery in Switzerland, which attracted 60 participants, mainly from Europe. “We had the company Amberg on board as a partner. We chose comprehensive maintenance concepts for technical infrastructure as our topic and addressed the opportunities and potential of digitalization,” explains Harald Schmitt. “In this workshop, we learned about the state of the art in laser scanning and geopenetration radar and how these methods can be – and are now being – combined with BIM to enable a coherent and lean construction process. We discussed how these principles and tools can be adapted to map not only the construction process, but the entire life cycle of structures. This enabled us to identify models for maintenance and repair strategies. In addition, we discussed requirements for quality management and documentation as well as the integration of modern concepts and possibilities of machine learning. Unfortunately, we had to cancel another workshop planned for March 2020 in the Hagerbach Test Gallery at short notice due to COVID-19. However, by the time the event was canceled at the end of February, over 150 participants had already confirmed their attendance.”
Because of its connection to the Hagerbach Test Gallery, Webac took part in the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2021, with the practical demonstration aspect again playing a central role. This event ultimately gave rise to the idea of designing workshops for the German market as well.
The opportunities for practical implementation in conjunction with the specialist presentations make the workshop particularly attractive for injection and sealing specialists
Credit/Quelle: Webac
Injections for Engineering Structures
“Our first German-language workshop at the Recklinghausen Test Mine, which we got to know through test injections for RAG, was held in May 2022. It focused on the planning, execution and monitoring of injections for engineering structures. It was a good mix of technical presentations on the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel and qualifications for specialist injection planners, as well as a presentation of the state of the art for redundant sealing measures in the case of geomembranes.”
This workshop was held with almost 50 participants, and this great success encouraged Webac to hold another workshop in Recklinghausen in May 2023, this time in cooperation with STUVA e. V. The second workshop covered the topics from the previous year‘s event in greater depth and attracted around 80 participants, mainly from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but also from Scandinavia and Luxembourg.
In addition, another international workshop was held in 2023. “We discovered the topic of workshops for a variety of reasons,” says Schmitt. “One of the main reasons
is that it‘s fun. That‘s why we will continue to run this format and alternate between a German-language and an English-language workshop every year.”
Webac Workshops 2024/25
The next international workshop will be held on 11 and 12
September 2024 in the Hagerbach Test Gallery titled “Design and Execution of injections during TBM excavation” in English.Another German-language workshop is then planned for fall 2025 in cooperation with the
STUVA, which will probably be held again in the Recklinghausen Test Mine.
If you would like to take part in one of these Webac workshops or would like to submit your own presentation proposals, please contact Harald Schmitt via email at . Ideas and suggestions for workshop topics are always welcome at Webac.
