Award of the Züblin Steel Construction Prize 2019 (20.06.2019)

On 20 June 2019, the Züblin Steel Construction Prize was awarded for the 9th time to students and graduates of Dresden University of Technology. This prize recognises outstanding work in the fields of architecture and civil engineering that contributes to the advancement of metal construction and was produced as part of a degree or doctorate.

The expert jury consisting of Marco Eckert - Technical Managing Director, Hagen Urban - Technical Head of Structural Engineering, Lars Feulner - Head of Construction, each from Züblin Stahlbau GmbH in Hosena and the representatives of the Dresden University of Technology, Prof. Dr. Richard Stroetmann from the Institute for Steel and Timber Construction and Em. Prof. Gerald Staib, former holder of the Chair of Structural Engineering and Design nominated a total of seven papers for the shortlist this year. These covered a broad range of topics in steel construction research and application in a professionally high quality. The subject of the submissions was the investigation of the potential use of additive manufacturing processes in steel construction, the design of a steel river bridge, the investigation of the planning process of large bridges using BIM, the design of trough bridges with curved webs and noise barriers, welded joints on old steels in structural reinforcements and the development of a test programme for ortho composite deck slabs with composite dowel bars in bridge construction. The students and graduands presented their work in a lecture followed by a discussion. Afterwards, the jury members had the challenging task of selecting the prize winners.

The award ceremony traditionally took place in the evening as part of the Dresden University of Technology's Bauball, which is organised by the students of the 6th semester of the Faculty of Civil Engineering. Mr Eckert opened the award ceremony with a short company portrait and current projects of Züblin Stahlbau GmbH. In doing so, he emphasised the difficult task of the jury to select prize winners from the high-quality and diverse submissions and encouraged the students to engage with the interesting and diverse topics of steel construction. Prof. Stroetmann then took the floor, thanking Züblin Stahlbau GmbH for its high level of commitment and the very good cooperation over the past years. Among other things, the company is committed to awarding scholarships, offering the Steel Construction Prize, supporting social projects of civil engineering students, offering plant and construction site visits and supervising student research projects and diploma theses.

This year, the prize, endowed with a total of 3000 euros, was awarded to a student of the diploma programme, a diploma student and a postgraduate student of the international master's programme "ACCESS" of the Faculty of Civil Engineering.

The 3rd prize was awarded to Aleksandra Maksimova for her Master's thesis on the design of trough bridges with curved webs and noise barriers. This thesis dealt with the question of how curved noise barriers can be integrated as load-bearing elements in the primary structure. The focus was on the stability and optimisation of weakly curved formwork segments with longitudinal stiffeners and edge restraints. The practical solution approaches, the technical depth and thorough processing convinced the jury.

The 2nd prize was awarded to Jan Schmidt, who dealt in his project work with welded joints on old steels in the context of structural reinforcements. The aim of this work was to systematically investigate the welding properties of historical steels and to develop practical solutions. When it comes to the weldability of mild steels, the core segregations and the concentrations of sulphur and phosphorus they contain, as well as the thickness of metallurgically purer fat layers, are of particular importance. If one wants to avoid disturbing weld irregularities such as hot cracking and pore formation, sock welding is a possible strategy, but its application has its limits. Another strategy is the optimisation of the filler metals through basic coatings and the addition of elements that cause the binding and, if necessary, the removal of metallurgical impurities. Mr. Schmitt has dealt with this topic in a convincing manner. In particular, the profundity of the analysis of the causes for the development of the welding seam irregularities and the development of targeted strategies for their elimination were decisive for the jury's awarding of the prize.

This year's 1st prize went to Ina Heise for her diploma thesis on the study of the planning process of large bridges using BIM. To counteract significant cost overruns and schedule delays in construction projects, the BMVI decided to gradually introduce Building Information Modelling (BIM) in its area of responsibility by 2020. A strategy paper - the step-by-step plan - was drafted for this purpose. The aim of the diploma thesis was to develop ways and methods for the performance level 1 for steel and composite bridge structures, which will be required from 2020, using the Main bridge in Mainfingen as an example. In this context, the first step was to evaluate initiated pilot projects, which revealed major differences between the performance level 1 required and the actual use of BIM. In addition, Ms Heise clarified the extent to which existing IFC standards meet the requirements of steel and composite bridges and examined the current state of development of the IFC Bridge extension available from this year. She developed strategies for the implementation of the service phases preliminary, design, execution and workshop planning. The existing IFC model, which is strongly oriented towards structural engineering, showed considerable deficits in the modelling of steel and composite bridges. With the new referencing based on paths, bridges can now be described completely in IFC format. Difficulties arise, for example, in the description of further geometric states, such as those required for the canting of supporting structures. Workshop planning must be detached from the workflow of continuous model-based processing and processed in its own specialist model. As a result, Ms. Heiße confirmed the fundamental applicability of Building Information Modelling as a continuous planning tool up to implementation planning. The jury was particularly impressed by the high quality of the work and the intensity with which Ms Heise pursued and demonstrated solutions for the application of BIM, despite the large scope.

Report:

Dipl.-Ing. Thoralf Kästner
Institute for Steel and Timber Construction, Dresden University of Technology

Photos:
Dipl.-Des. (FH) André Terpe
Dean's Office of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Dresden University of Technology