STUVA Prize 2023 Goes to Dipl.-Ing. ETH Heinz Ehrbar

At the STUVA Conference 2023 in Munich, Dipl.-Ing. Heinz Ehrbar was awarded the prestigious STUVA Prize. In recognition and appreciation of his services to tunnelling, Heinz Ehrbar received this year‘s STUVA Prize from STUVA Chairman Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Ziegler. Heinz Ehrbar is more closely associated with the Gott­hard Base Tunnel project of the century than almost anyone else: initially with innovative ideas on the planning side and ultimately successfully on the client side, where he was responsible for the entire shell construction as a member of the management team. In 2012, Heinz Ehrbar left AlpTransit Gotthard AG to join DB Netz AG shortly afterwards as Head of Major Projects. In this role, he represented DB Group Management on the Federal Ministry of Transport‘s “Construction of Major Projects” reform commission from 2013 to 2017. As head of the “Costs and Risks” working group, he played a key role in shaping the final report with his clear recommendations. In addition to his full-time work, Heinz Ehrbar was also involved in academic teaching for young academics. Since 2014, he has lectured at RWTH Aachen University on the subject of “Organisation of tunnelling projects” and from 2016 at ETH Zurich on the subjects of „Construction operations in tunnelling“ and “Management of large infrastructure projects”. With his strong commitment to universities, Heinz Ehrbar gave up his management role at DB Netz AG in mid-2017 and, as head of a competence centre, concentrated on the group-wide implementation of the reform commission topics “Building in partnership”, “Digitalisation of the construction industry” and “Project acceleration”. Voluntary activities in the DAUB, the ITA and numerous other committees, his teaching activities at RWTH Aachen University and ETH Zurich – Heinz Ehrbar is a problem solver and likes to put his own person in the background. In the opinion of the jury, he deserves this year‘s STUVA Prize in honour of his decades of commitment and his services to the use of underground space.