This year's event, which was jointly organised by the OTH Regensburg, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Autobahn GmbH des Bundes, Regensburg branch office and the Concrete Information Centre, focused on topics from the field of digital construction, the use of artificial intelligence in bridge planning, methods for optimising construction processes and two presentations on concrete construction methods.
The workshop met with great interest. The event was held in the Building Lab, the centre for digital construction at OTH Regensburg, in line with the main topic. A total of around 100 specialist participants were involved.
After the welcome address by Prof Andreas Appelt, OTH Regensburg, and the words of welcome from Christian Unzner, Head of the Regensburg branch office of Autobahn GmbH des Bundes, the technical presentations began immediately. Sonja Schaller from Autobahn GmbH des Bundes and Sophie Zeitler from KB AG started the workshop with an insight into the planning project for the six-lane expansion of the A3 between the Regensburg motorway junction and the Nittendorf junction. The project is currently at the design planning stage and is being implemented as a Building Information Modelling (BIM) pilot project. As part of the project presentation, it was explained how the specifications of the federal government's BIM masterplan are being implemented in this specific case and what difficulties exist in the actual realisation.
Prof Dr Mathias Obergrießer, Professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at OTH Regensburg, then reported on the use of innovative approaches in bridge planning. In particular, the lecture presented the role of artificial intelligence and parametric models in modern bridge construction, which are being developed in the KIBIP research project. Based on training data sets, a model for fast interactive structural modelling is to be developed that can support planners in the future with reliable data in the variant analysis for the large number of structures to be renewed, especially in the preliminary planning stage.
The second part of the event focussed on construction-related topics. Firstly, Tim Alte-Teigeler from OAT GmbH reported on issues relating to the surface texturing of concrete carriageways. He gave a comprehensive presentation on the current state of the art and new developments in the field of surface texturing, such as acoustic grinding and texture grinding processes. In particular, the newly developed processes promise a significant reduction in noise in the area of concrete road construction.
The workshop was rounded off with a report by Peter Hildwein and Anton Köstlmeier from Regensburg's civil engineering department. In 2024, a concrete roundabout was built in the east of Regensburg, connecting several furniture stores and a DIY centre. The extension also provides a connection to the industrial areas in the area of the Regensburg Ost junction. Due to the high heavy traffic load, the city decided to construct the roundabout in concrete. Mr Hildwein reported in detail on the structural design and the many details that were solved in advance. From the construction on an asphalt base course with sloping transitions to the existing road, to the joint and drainage planning with specifically arranged drainage slots, to the details of the edging. The presentation was supplemented by a clear description of the extensive work steps by Mr Köstlmeier.
The workshop's concept of informing construction experts from offices, authorities and the municipal sector about current and innovative developments with current questions on mobility and specialised questions from concrete road construction was also successful in the 17th edition.
