International Tunnel Forum With High-Profile, Compact Rounds of Discussion

The “International Tunnel Forum” staged during the InnoTrans focuses on mobility and tunnelling (the photo depicts the event held in 2018)
Credit/Quelle: Bauverlag/Klostermeier

This year at the International Tunnel Forum everything revolves around the two forward-looking topics „Tunnel renewal under operation“ and „BIM in tunnel construction and operation“. STUVA member companies will receive vouchers for free participation. STUVA events take place as follows:

September 21, 2022

Tunnel Renewal Under Operation

2:00–4:00 pm, Exhibition Grounds, CityCube Berlin, Level 3, Room M8

An efficient, modern, and intact transport infrastructure is one of the keys to sustainably securing the competitiveness and attractiveness of a country. The first foundations for this were laid in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland more than 150 years ago with the beginning of the railway age and thus also the first railway tunnels. Currently, well over 2000 km of tunnels are operated by the three DACH countries.

Many railway tunnels increasingly require partial or complete renewal due to the long service life and the associated ageing of the construction materials in order to meet the constantly evolving technical standard and to achieve a consistently high level of line availability. These measures usually require very special organisational and logistical considerations, especially if they must be carried out during ongoing operation. For this purpose, an up-to-date overview of which new developments are being used was compiled by internationally renowned experts in the new

STUVA Expert Report 2021 on the „Renewal of traffic tunnels during operation“. In the forum, the findings will be examined in greater depth, the status quo will be highlighted, and innovative techniques will be presented. In addition, the question of financing will be addressed and recent experiences in implementation will be exchanged.

September 22, 2022

BIM in Tunnel Construction and Operation

2:00–4:00 pm, Exhibition Grounds, CityCube Berlin, Level 3, Room M8

Digitalisation is spreading rapidly in many areas of the economy. However, it has been late to enter the construction industry, especially in the context of infrastructure. This is due in no small part to the very high complexity of the value chain in construction. Nevertheless, digitalisation in the form of Building Information Modeling (BIM) is already being used for new infrastructure projects to achieve sustainable benefits for all participants and society. Information about structures – especially underground – should be made available to decision-makers quickly and in a consistent, high-quality, and easy-to-read form to support individual decisions.

To advance the BIM method in Germany, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure had presented a phased plan for the introduction of BIM in 2015. In contrast to these rather basic guidelines, the German Committee for Underground Construction (DAUB) has intensively promoted the development of concrete (BIM) action instructions for underground construction in recent years. The first recommendations have already been published in 2019 and 2020; four further parts will follow in 2022.

The forum will highlight the current developments and future developments of BIM. What advantages do the recommendations issued by the DAUB bring for practice? To what extent can the Federal Government‘s goal of accelerating the planning and approval of infrastructure measures be implemented using BIM?