Excursions

In summer 2019 an excursion to Bulgaria took place under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carola Vogt-Breyer and Prof. Dr.-Ing. The aim was to demonstrate typical civil engineering solutions in road and urban infrastructure development on the basis of large construction projects in Bulgaria. The technical programme included a visit to the partner university (UACEG) and the planning office of STRABAG / ZÜBLIN in Sofia. The supporting programme consisted of city tours in Sofia and Plodiv and impressions of Bulgarian culture and history.

The first site inspection took place at the Hemus motorway construction site between Jablanitza and the Boaza motorway junction. The Hemus motorway will in future connect the capital Sofia with the port city of Varna on the Black Sea coast. As the route crosses the Balkan Mountains in long sections, innovative construction methods are being used. These were presented by the contractor Hydrostoy, who also inspected the newly installed mobile asphalt mixing plant. A structurally demanding dam wall made of precast concrete elements with integrated drainage was inspected and finally a rock blasting was demonstrated.

At the partner university in Sofia the next site visit was introduced by a lecture of Prof. Yulian Totev. In this context, a tour of the new metro line was organized by the planning office "Trace Group Hold" at two stations of metro line 3. Here two different tunnel construction methods were used: the new Austrian method and the cut-and-cover method, which is known in Bulgaria as the "Milanese method".

In recent years, China has expanded and modernized its technical infrastructure in an impressive manner - with an incredible speed of implementation. Not only the New Silk Road is impressive - a gigantic infrastructure project with which China is trying to reorganize the global trade routes. The country's infrastructure is also digital, modern and networked: All major cities in the giant empire are connected by express train, which offers a real alternative to air travel. In the megacities there is an excellently developed public transport system that can be used with simple ticket solutions.

So there are enough reasons to explore China on the spot. The excursion in May 2019 was initiated, planned and carried out by Prof. Dr. Sabine Rein, who once again offered students the opportunity to compare their learning experiences at the HFT with their on-site experiences in China. This time 21 students of the Bachelor's programme in Infrastructure Management travelled to the Middle Kingdom. The program included exploring Beijing using local transportation, visiting companies and giving presentations at Bosch on Smart City projects in China. The group also had the opportunity to visit the production facility of "Beijing Benz" - a joint venture between BBAC and Daimler - and talk to managers and expats there. The delegation was again warmly welcomed by the HFT partner university BJUT, where they had the opportunity to talk to students and professors and were invited to experience this traditional Chinese sport together with a Tai Chi master. They took the express train to Tianjin to visit the famous Binhai Library. China not only uses sensational architecture like the Binhai Library to develop structurally weak regions. The gigantic Expo in the Beijing metropolitan area is also part of the development of the infrastructure and was also on the varied programme. Germany was also represented at the Expo! The supporting programme of this professional excursion always gave the opportunity to experience Chinese culture: the Great Wall of China and the old town of Beijing were part of it as well as the enjoyment of typical Chinese food. In the run-up to the event, while still in Germany, an intercultural training course was attended to sensitize the student group to cultural differences between Germany and China.

In the excursion week 2019, the destination for the participating students of industrial engineering and construction and real estate was: Dresden. Accompanied by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Hirschner and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Falk Huppenbauer, numerous building and civil engineering projects were visited.

The first construction site inspection took place on the journey to Dresden and was dedicated to the construction site Talbrücke Heidingsfeld of Ed. Züblin AG - a classic engineering structure. In Dresden, the students were then able to inform themselves about the important historical buildings - such as the Frauenkirche and the Zwinger - during an architectural city tour. In addition, a high-rise building site of the Köster Bau company, the Marschner Straße residential tower, was visited. Here, the students were able to gain a direct insight into a construction site that is being implemented using lean management methods. Afterwards the production of the brick factory of EDER GmbH in Freital was visited. On the way back, a tour of the Goldbeck Ost company in Treuen, which manufactures prefabricated elements for buildings, was also included.