Apr 15, 2025
IBB autumn excursion 2025
Spring excursion to bauma in Munich from 9 to 11 April 2025
This year's spring excursion of the Institute of Construction Management once again took the participating students to the south of Germany - with the aim of gaining insights into modern construction methods, innovative machines and future-oriented technologies. In addition to a visit to this year's world's leading trade fair for construction machinery in Munich, bauma 2025, the programme also included exciting construction site and factory tours.
Plauen Stahl Technologie GmbH
The first stop on the trip was the Plauen Stahl Technologie GmbH plant. A detailed tour of the plant gave us a comprehensive overview of industrial construction - with a special focus on bridge construction. The tour of the production halls gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the manufacture of large-format components. Both design and logistical challenges in the realisation of complex steel construction projects were explained to us.
Civil engineering in Sparneck at the company AS Bau Hof GmbH
The second stop on the outward journey was the local civil engineering construction site in Sparneck in the district of Hof. There we were given a guided tour by AS Bau Hof GmbH - a medium-sized construction company with around 170 employees. During a guided tour by the local site manager and the company's authorised signatories, we were given a clear overview of various excavation pits and the machines used. Particular attention was paid to measures for water supply in existing buildings, the securing of construction pits in cramped inner-city conditions and the importance of communication with local residents and authorities. The project was an example of how demanding and complex even smaller construction projects in city centres can be.
Housing construction and refurbishment in Erlangen at B&O
In the afternoon, we visited the B&O Group in Erlangen, which specialises in residential and social housing construction. The tour focussed on innovative concepts in the field of modular refurbishment as well as classic new residential buildings. During a tour of various construction phases, the students were able to gain a practical impression of the processes used and construction management concepts. The combination of technical feasibility, social responsibility and economic efficiency was impressively illustrated by the project.
Highlight of the excursion: visit to bauma 2025 in Munich
On 10 April, we spent the whole day visiting bauma 2025 at the exhibition centre in Munich. bauma is the world's largest trade fair for construction machinery, building material plants, mining technology, construction vehicles and construction equipment. Over 3,000 exhibitors from more than 60 countries presented their latest developments on over 600,000 m² of exhibition space. As part of the excursion, the students were given guided tours of various exhibition stands:
- Bauer Spezialtiefbau provided an overview of current methods in specialised civil engineering, including injection and grouting methods as well as new developments in the field of drilling and deep drilling.
- Hünnebeck presented innovative formwork solutions for building and infrastructure construction, including modular systems for optimising and accelerating construction processes and improving occupational safety.
- Liebherr presented a wide range of innovations - from mobile cranes and tunnelling machines to fully electric construction machinery and (semi-)autonomous dump trucks. Topics such as digitalisation, CO₂ reduction and automation ran through almost all product groups.
In addition to the guided tours, the students had ample opportunity to explore the extensive exhibition centre on their own and exchange ideas with companies from various specialist areas.
Precast factory of the Max Bögl Group in Sengenthal
On the last day of our excursion, we stopped off at the Max Bögl Group's precast plant in Sengenthal near Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz on our return journey. The plant is one of the most modern facilities in Europe for the industrial production of precast concrete elements - especially for large-scale projects in infrastructure, tunnelling and bridge construction. During a detailed tour of the plant, we were given an insight into the highly automated production processes, which are realised using state-of-the-art control technology. Production ranges from automated reinforcement production to precise shuttering processes and concreting - always accompanied by strict quality controls.
A particular focus was placed on logistics: the extensive site is currently used to store numerous precast concrete parts destined for the Brenner Base Tunnel - currently one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe, in which the Max Bögl Group is involved with a total volume of over 530,000 tonnes of concrete components. The company group is responsible for the production and delivery of segments and base blocks, which are installed in the tunnelling in sections.
The tour impressively demonstrated how far digitalisation and automation have already progressed in the construction industry. At the same time, it became clear how important factors such as resource and energy efficiency, synchronised processes and precise production tolerances are for the success of such large-scale projects.
Replacement construction of the Kriegenbrunn railway bridge in Erlangen
At the end of our excursion, we visited the construction site for the replacement of the Kriegenbrunn lock near Erlangen - a crowning finale. This project is one of the largest and most complex federal investment projects on the waterways. The original Kriegenbrunn lock was built between 1966 and 1970 and put into operation in 1972. It was designed as an economy lock with three economy basins in order to utilise water efficiently during the locking process. However, the first damage occurred just a few years after commissioning. These defects significantly impaired the serviceability of the system. The new replacement will be built while shipping traffic continues to operate in order to ensure the continuous navigability of the Main-Danube Canal. The new lock will be realised as a single-chamber lock in solid construction with state-of-the-art technology and will continue to be designed as an economy lock with three laterally arranged basins. Completion is planned for spring 2032.
On site, we were given detailed insights into the construction processes and the technologies used. The use of the largest drilling rigs, which are used in particular for dewatering and foundation work, was particularly impressive. The complexity of the project, in particular the challenges posed by its proximity to the A3 motorway and the need to maintain shipping traffic, made this visit an impressive conclusion to our excursion.
We would like to thank all the companies involved for their openness and the exciting guided tours. The excursion offered a successful mix of practical relevance, innovation and personal dialogue - an inspiring experience for all participants.