News
As a specialist in dynamic and thermal pile testing, our partner GSP Mannheim has been a household name in German-speaking specialised civil engineering for many years. At this year's Christian Veder Colloquium in Graz, Managing Director Dr Matthias Schallert (centre) once again took the opportunity to exchange ideas with customers and project partners and present the latest developments in pile testing technology.
As in previous years, GuD Berlin (pictured right and left: our employees Dr Bert Schädlich and Matthias Römer) also took part in this largest annual geotechnical conference in the German-speaking world.
Many thanks to the organising team from Graz University of Technology for the excellent organisation as always and we look forward to seeing you again next year!
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c. Theodoros Triantafyllidis the Chair of Soil Mechanics, Foundation Engineering and Environmental Geotechnics at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum under the lead of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Torsten Wichtmann organized the Symposium: Recent developments of soil mechanics and geotechnics in theory and practice (https://www.bgu.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/bgu/aktuelles/news00283.html.de).
GuD actively participated in the Symposium, which also saw inspiring keynote lectures of Prof. Andrew Whittle (MIT), Prof. Jun Yang (University of Hong Kong) and Prof. Ronaldo I. Borja (Stanford University). On behalf for all colleagues from GuD we want to congratulate Prof. Triantafyllidis for his impressive impact on the development of geotechnical engineering and Prof. Wichtmann for organizing this event.
The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (FHH) intends to expand Hamburg's rail-based public transport system by extending the existing rapid transit network. The new U5 line will connect the east (Bramfeld) and west (Arenen/Volkspark) of Hamburg.
The in-depth subsoil investigations in the U5M3000 section between the main railway station and the university have begun. They form the basis for the upcoming design and approval planning and comprise a total of approx. 160 explorations (drillings and pressure soundings) up to a depth of 65 metres in two consecutive stages.
BBI Geo- und Umwelttechnik Ingenieur-Gesellschaft mbH, a company of our GuD group of companies, was commissioned to provide geotechnical consulting services for this section.
Special issues in this project are:
- Alternating different construction methods over a short distance (tunnelling, open construction method for stops, reversing and parking facilities and emergency exits)
- Heterogeneity of the subsoil (rolling soils, boulder soils, clays and silts)
- Icing (for cross-passages, emergency exits and intersections with existing structures)
- Inspection: arrangement of DSV grids for ground reinforcement, anchoring of the excavation base, embedment depth of the diaphragm walls, presence of natural sealing bases/sealing layers or arrangement of artificial sealing bases or UWB bases.
As a geotechnical expert, BBI Geo- und Umwelttechnik Ingenieur-Gesellschaft mbH examines the complex geotechnical boundary conditions of an inland tunnelling project and advises the client (U5 GmbH) and the general planner on the LPh 3 and LPh 4. The execution of subsoil explorations for the planning of the underground railway line in the Binnenalster is noteworthy. For this purpose, 2 pontoons will be used for the planned 26 water boreholes (drilling depth 65 m) and 14 water pressure soundings (sounding depth at least 30 m).
Our site manager in Frankfurt am Main, Dr Ioanna-Kleoniki Fontara, gave a presentation at the 29th Darmstadt Geotechnics Colloquium on the subject of "Investigation of the dynamic stability of railway lines on soft layers for the ABS Hanau-Gelnhausen section".
The lecture was very well received, as could be seen from the lively questions. We would like to thank Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hauke Zachert and his team for the perfect organisation and the Friends of the Institute of Geotechnics at the Technical University of Darmstadt e.V. for organising this fantastic conference.
GSP Gesellschaft für Schwingungsuntersuchungen und dynamische Prüfmethoden, Mannheim - the newest member of the GuD network - was represented with a stand at the trade exhibition for the 29th Darmstadt Geotechnics Colloquium. As always, it was a great event with lively discussions and a lot of professional dialogue. We are already looking forward to next time.
You can find more information about the GuD group of companies on our homepage: Group of Companies | GuD (gudconsult.de)
On Thursday, 25.04.2024 we will take part in Girls' Day!
Under the motto "Leaning Tower of Pisa? - Not with us! - In the engineering office for geotechnics." we will show interested schoolgirls how varied and exciting geotechnics is. Information about our programme can be found in the Girls'Day Radar: Home | Girls'Day (girls-day.de)
We are already looking forward to the day together!
When planning new and upgrading existing infrastructure measures, it is becoming increasingly necessary to base structures and temporary construction measures on and in organogenic and organic soils. Low shear strength and high compressibility characterise the unfavourable material behaviour of these soils. This results in special requirements for the investigation and evaluation of soil mechanical properties as well as for planning, construction and monitoring.
As part of the seminar "Earthworks" of the Association of Road Construction and Transport Engineers Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., which will take place on 28.02.2024 in Frankfurt/Oder, our colleague Dr Patrick Arnold will present the various geotechnical aspects of planning traffic routes on and in these complex soils and will also discuss current research results from GuD/BBI.
Further information on the event and registration for participation in presence or digitally can be found here:
This year's Earthworks Conference 29 February - 1 March 2024 in Leipzig will focus on the pile foundation of the Elbtower Hamburg, among other things. Dr Hatice Kaya-Sandt (BBI Geo- und Umwelttechnik Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH) and Dipl.-Ing. Holger Reinhardt (Implenia Spezialtiefbau GmbH) will give a presentation on "The pile foundation of the Elbtower Hamburg - planning and execution" on 1 March 2024. This will cover the geotechnical boundary conditions, the basics for dimensioning, the finite element method, deep pile foundations with large bored piles in addition to partial displacement bored piles, construction time and the construction process. You can look forward to this and other interesting presentations.
All information about the event, the programme and registration can be found under the following link:
The "berlin modern" is currently being built at the Kulturforum in Berlin between the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Philharmonie. Among other things, the new museum will house the collections of the 20th century from the Neue Nationalgalerie. The Karlsruhe State Building Authority is managing the realisation of the new museum building for the client, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, based on a design by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and Vogt Landscape Architects.
The excavation pit for the new building is secured with diaphragm walls and a medium-height, back-anchored jet grouting base and is up to 16 metres deep. GuD is involved in the project in various service areas. We prepared the subsoil expertise, carried out contaminated site investigations and handled the construction planning for the excavation pit for the contractor, Stump-Franki Spezialtiefbau GmbH. The design and approval planning as well as the local construction supervision were carried out by WTM Engineers GmbH.
The excavation pit was completed in summer 2023.
More information: Berlin Modern, Berlin
At this year's Earthworks Conference, Dipl.-Ing. Almuth Große (GuD Geotechnik und Umweltgeologie GmbH), together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Thiele (HTWK Leipzig) and Dr.-Ing. Martin Magnus, will moderate the presentations and discussions on the first day. The earthworks symposium will use selected practical examples to present innovative solutions and provide information on current changes to standards. In addition, experience from a case of damage, findings from applied research and selected issues of public procurement law in earthworks will be presented and discussed by renowned speakers from industry and science.
All information about the event, the programme and registration can be found under the following link:
Veranstaltung - Bauakademie Sachsen (bauakademie-sachsen.de)
Every year again, but this time a little different! In addition to warm mulled wine, delicious sausages and sweet crêpes, there was a surprise at this year's GuD Christmas bazaar!
Our GuD-BBI-GSP joint effort, the cookery book "WIR KOCHEN" was presented to everyone. To make this cookery book possible, we cooked and baked diligently, wrote recipes and took photos of the individual steps and the delicious end result. Many interesting recipes came together. They are recipes from the most diverse cultures - whether near or far. We immersed ourselves in a culinary diversity that took us from Germany and Norway to Peru and India... and perhaps we'll cook one or two of these dishes together at GuD cooking events. 😊
With this in mind, we wish everyone a wonderful festive season and a relaxing end to the year, and only the best for 2024!
The DGGT working group 2.15 organised the first workshop on "Reliability-based methods in geotechnics" on 14 November 2023. Among other things, we took part in an interesting panel discussion on the possibilities of applying these methods and cordially invited you to participate and engage in a lively discussion.
In addition, as co-authors of the structure paper of the DGGT working group 2.15 in the current issue of Geotechnik (No. 3, September 2023), we showed how these methods can be used to quantify uncertainties in the assessment of geotechnical structures.
There were only winners at the 2nd GuD-BBI Badminton Cup, which took place in Berlin this year. Hatice Kaya-Sandt (www.b-b-i.de) brought the trophy with the most victories in the cup, which was organised as a ribbon tournament, to Hamburg this year. We are looking forward to the new edition next year!
In beautiful autumn weather, we discovered Berlin's nature on a 30 km and 55 km route as part of the "Little Mammoth March". We had plenty of time to get away from the daily grind and have some non-work-related conversations with colleagues. As the hour and distance progressed, team-building took centre stage, as aching legs and feet sometimes dampened the general feeling of well-being. However, the performance of our colleagues Moritz and Jens, who finished 3 and 2 hours ahead of the rest of the 55 km group respectively, deserves special mention.
In the end, everyone made it and now that the aches and pains have been forgotten, we are ready for the next mammoth march next year.
Our GuD running team started together with 15,000 participants at the B2Run in Berlin. The finish in the Olympic Stadium Berlin was particularly impressive. The entertaining 5.6 km course ran in and around the Olympic Stadium.
We had great fun and are already looking forward to the 2024 event.
Ein Schwerpunkt des diesjährigen Hans Lorenz Symposiums an der Technischen Universität Berlin war das Thema „Nachhaltigkeit in der Geotechnik“. Weiterhin deckten die Vorträge Themen der Baugrunddynamik und des Spezialtiefbaus ab. GuD war dabei mit Fachvorträgen von Dr.-Ing. Silke Appel und Dr.-Ing Jens Mittag vertreten:
Vortrag: Dr.-Ing. Jens Mittag, Dr.-Ing. Mirko Schankat, Cinthya Ciprian, M.Sc.: „Geothermische Nutzungen bei Berliner Bauprojekten“ (Dr.-Ing. Jens Mittag, Dr.-Ing. Mirko Schankat, Cinthya Ciprian, M.Sc.)
Vortrag: Dr.-Ing. Silke Appel: „Die Relevanz von horizontalen Gebäudeschwingungen infolge von Schienenverkehrsanregungen“ (Dr.-Ing. Silke Appel)
Mehr Informationen gibt es hier: HLS (tu.berlin)
Das Hans Lorenz Symposium ist eine feste Größe in der Berliner und deutschlandweiten Geotechnik-Community und wir freuen uns, wieder auf diesem Forum unsere Erfahrungen mit den Fachkollegen austauschen zu können!
GuD’s polnische Tochter GuD Offshore Wind Polska war mit zahlreichen Kollegen auf der diesjährigen 12. internationalen Konferenz „Offshore Wind - Logistics & Supplies“ in Gdynia vertreten. Neben vielen fachlichen Diskussionen konnte unser Geschäftsführer Fabian Kirsch im Rahmen der Podiumsdiskussion den Fokus auch auf die großen geotechnischen Herausforderungen lenken, die die Ostsee für die Gründungen von Windenergieanlagen bereithält.
Beim Sponsorenturnier der Berlin Recycling Volleys mit 40 teilnehmenden Mannschaften schafften es die beiden Teams von GuD bis ins Achtel- bzw. Viertelfinale, mussten sich dann aber beide der Mannschaft von SportKultur Berlin geschlagen geben. Gewinner des Turniers war das Team Froach, gegen die wir uns letztes Jahr noch in einem knappen Halbfinalspiel durchsetzen konnten. Wie in den Vorjahren gab es wieder spannende Spiele und gute Ballwechsel, und als Zugabe dieses Jahr noch einen spektakulären Abendhimmel über Berlin.
Vielen Dank an die BR Volleys für dieses tolle Event, an dem wir auch nächstes Jahr gern wieder teilnehmen werden!
Erfolgreicher Brückeneinschub der Eisenbahnüberführung Küstrin, dem aktuell größten Brückenbauprojekt der Deutschen Bahn. Seit 2016 beraten wir die DB Netz und deren Planer als Baugrundgutachter und geotechnische Sachverständige, wobei die Erstellung Geotechnischer Berichte, Altlasten- und Ersatzbaustoffbewertungen, numerische Verformungsprognosen und die örtliche Bauüberwachung der Spezialtiefbauarbeiten wesentliche Teile unseres Aufgabespektrums darstellen. Die Brücke wird nun in Endlage gebracht und soll nach Errichtung der sich anschließenden Dammbauwerke, die neben einer kleineren Vorflutbrücke auch Bestandteil des Projektes sind, sowie des Oberbaus noch in diesem Jahr in Betrieb gehen.
Wir danken der DB Netz AG als Bauherrin sowie den Planern und Prüfern für das entgegengebrachte Vertrauen und die angenehme Zusammenarbeit und wünschen uns eine ausgeprägte Nutzung dieses neuen deutsch-polnischen Bindegliedes.
Auf der diesjährigen Fachsektionstagung der DGGT in Würzburg zeigte unsere Kollegin Sigrid Wilhelm Methoden auf, mit denen geläufige empirische Korrelationen als Vorwissen mit im Bauvorhaben gewonnenen Erkenntnissen statistisch abgesichert aktualisiert werden können. Wer mehr zu diesen Methoden erfahren bzw. diese gern anwenden möchte, den verweisen wir gern auf den Konferenzbeitrag. Gern können Sie uns bei Rückfragen auch direkt kontaktieren.
Wie diese Methoden zur Quantifizierung von Unsicherheiten in der Bewertung geotechnischer Bauwerke genutzt werden können, zeigen wir als Co-Autoren des aktuellen Strukturpapiers des DGGT-Arbeitskreises 2.15 in der aktuellen Ausgabe der Geotechnik auf.
