Schrobenhausener Tage" symposium 2022: Sustainability as a challenge and opportunity in specialist foundation engineering

Schrobenhausen Germany – A long-established tradition: For more than 30 years, BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH has been hosting the "Schrobenhausener Tage" event. This traditional event was held in early June this year under the slogan "B.sustainable: Sustainability in specialist foundation engineering." What made this event unique: After a three-year break, it was finally possible to welcome the guests personally again in Schrobenhausen.

In the morning, guests were given an introductory talk from Arnulf Christa, CEO of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, in the Old Welding Shop: "Sustainability requires taking on responsibility. Accordingly, the development of resource-efficient, environmentally compatible innovations and technologies has for years now been a clear focus at BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH. We are proud to make an important contribution with our ideas." The goal is to reduce the impact of specialist foundation engineering on humans and the environment, use raw materials more efficiently and manage projects in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. Looking back on the past two years, he reported in continuation: "Because of the pandemic, we had to deal with many challenges that required us to react flexibly. Nevertheless, our site teams around the world were fully committed – where possible – to successfully executing projects."

In the exhibition area, participants were then able to visit various stations of the departments Technical Services, Design and Digitalization. The latest developments from Bauer were presented here – an excellent opportunity for guests to engage in dialogue with the experts. Last but not least, BAUER Maschinen GmbH also presented its innovative BAUER Cube System as well as its first electrified drilling rig.

The main series of lectures was then held in the afternoon as a hybrid event, with national guests participating on site and international guests participating via webinar. Hans-Joachim Bliss, former Managing Director of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, led the guests through the program with exciting and varied project presentations, live transmissions from sites in Germany and abroad as well as interactive discussions. For the international guests who participated virtually, the presentations were translated simultaneously. . 

Florian Bauer, Member of the Executive Board of BAUER AG and Managing Director of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, opened the series of presentations. He emphasized how important the topic of digitalization has become for specialist foundation engineering in his presentation "Digitalization at Bauer – Solutions for today‘s Construction Sites". "The digital site is versatile. Apart from the use of digital tools such as data management software, databases or artificial intelligence, it is people, our employees, our teams, who are responsible for the success of our sites. Without them nothing would be possible," he remarked. 

This was followed by the first live transmission, from the Cairo Metro site in Egypt. Mohamed Sherif, Project Manager at Bauer Egypt, reported on the project, where top-down construction is currently being executed for the rapid transit system. Next came another live report from a site in Munich, Germany, given by Jee-Sun Rössler and Stefan Jäger, Sales Engineers for the south region of Bauer Spezialtiefbau. "For this project, the mixed-in-place method is being used. This involves using the existing soil as an aggregate. Removing the material becomes unnecessary, which can save time and money, but first and foremost CO2.

After the live transmissions with Cairo and Munich there was a talk by Dr. Karsten Beckhaus, Head of the Technical Service Department at BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, dedicated entirely to the topic of "B.sustainable: Sustainability in specialist foundation engineering." He explained: "Our top sustainability goal is to be climate-neutral by 2050." He further emphasized: "In this context, we are focusing on providing sustainable products for our customers." 

This year's series of presentations concluded with a live transmission from Alaska: Bruno Luz, Project Manager at the US subsidiary BAUER Foundation Corp., reported on the extreme working conditions and logistical challenges involved with reinforcing the Moose Creek dam in the northern Arctic Circle. Between the presentations, the guests had the opportunity to ask questions through an online voting portal and engage directly in dialogue with the presenters. 

The event was a resounding success, with approximately 150 participants on site and around 300 online viewers. This year, the traditional event concluded with lively discussions during a relaxed dinner.