The Metro Tunnel Project (MTP) comprises two railway tunnels, each spanning nine kilometers, establishing a connection between Kensington and South Yarra in Melbourne, Victoria. This construction forms an integral section of the expansive rail connection extending from Sunbury in the west, to Cranbourne/Pakenham in the south. As part of this undertaking, five underground railway stations are being constructed. These are Anzac (St Kilda Road), Town Hall (CBD South), State Library (CBD North), Parkville, and Arden Stations.

The specific alignment of the MTP beneath Melbourne's urban core presents a host of technical challenges, such as steep gradients, complex curves, and the close proximity to sensitive surface receivers. The lack of straightforward access for delivering track components and inserting large volumes of concrete further complicates the project. These considerations led to the selection of the Porr Slab Track System (internationally known as STA – Slab Track Austria), which is capable of meeting the particular requirements regarding ground-borne noise and vibrations and maintaining precise track geometry tolerances.

The physical realisation of the construction was managed by CYP Design and Construction (CYP D&C), which commissioned Vossloh and Porr. These two companies were entrusted with the design of the slab track and floating slab track (FST), as well as the production of the slab track panels and the supply of rail fastenings. In this construction network, VCE was responsible for Porr's design tasks.

VCE's responsibilities included the system design of the slab track panels, tailored to meet both standard and high vibration attenuation requirements. For very high attenuation, a Floating Slab Track (FST) was deployed, which was also accounted for in VCE’s planning. In a novel approach, pre-cast elements of the FST were conjoined into longer sections via a post-tensioning process, thus bypassing the time-intensive in-situ approach. Also part of the scope was ensuring precise placement of the slab track panels, pre-cast FST components for transitions and curves, and cable crossings and drainage shafts along the rail alignment.
 

Location. Melbourne, Australia

Client. Porr Bau GmbH

Services VCE. Detailed design of slab track,design of mass-spring system (Floating Slab Track)

Tender design of the track system including floating track slab systems and detailed design of the turnout areas

The extension of the underground railway line U2 and the re- and new construction of U5 are the most important common future project for Vienna’s public transport. The sections U2/17 to U2/22 and U5/2 connect 6 new stations and comprise a track length of approx. 12 km and 24 turnouts.

In the course of the project Wiener Linien started tendering of the structural building measures in 2018. VCE prepared tender design of the track system for the route, station and turnout areas for the new construction areas as well as the adjustment areas at the existing line U2.

The services include static and dynamic dimensioning of all vibration protection systems (floating slab track systems) for standard and special areas, the preparation of a technical description and technical specifications for individual components, the formulation of a logistic site concept for the installation of the track system and the preparation of tender drawings for the track system. Furthermore, service specifications were drawn up including the bill of quantities for track construction and subconcrete.

At the moment VCE performs detailed design of the turnout systems in the connecting structures of the existing to the new sections. Subsequently, the areas in the new sections are designed in detail.
 

Location. Vienna

Client. Wiener Linien

India’s National Importance Project - Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula Rail Link Project (USBRL), J&K.

In association with Primerail Infralabs Pvt Ltd VCE has bagged the project comprising the consultancy services for proof checking of design and the drawings for ballastless track on the Katra-Dharam section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula Rail Link Project – approx. 59.45 km [broad gauge Indian Railways – 160 kmph].

Scope of services:

• Proof checking of design and drawings of the subcontractor BLT for three packages including tunnels, embankments, bridges, approaches and yards /loop lines.
• Technical advisory services to KRCL for design, construction and maintenance of the broad-gauge of BLT.
• The project features three different approved fastening system providers , RHEDA 2000 , Pandrol booted block technology & Delkor.
   

Location. Jammu & Kashmir, India

Client. Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL)

Services of VCE. Consultancy Services for Proof Checking of Designs & Drawings

High Speed Two (HS2) is currently Europe’s largest infrastructure project. The brand-new railway high-speed line will connect London to Birmingham and Manchester on over 450 km of track.

Most of the route will be equipped with PORR STA – the Slab Track Austria system. VCE contributes with its technical know-how and support as Lead Designer on behalf of PORR UK Ltd. for the track system on open route sections, on viaducts and in cut & cover and bored tunnels at very high speed. The scope of VCE includes the entire track design for speeds up to 360 kph, interface aspects for bridges, earthworks and tunnels, acoustic consultancy, life cycle assessment, maintenance aspects and environmental assessment. The current phase includes the preliminary system design, followed by the detailed design in the successive stages.
 

Location. London-Birmingham, UK

Client. PORR UK Ltd.

Services of VCE. Detailed design of ballast-less track construction, dynamic assessment, N&V design, BIM, interaction bridges-structure, LCA, environmental engineering

Installation of a Permanent Monitoring System

In the project DolWin5 TenneT realizes an offshore network connection system with an output of 900 Megawatt in maximum voltage direct current transmission method. The three-phase current produced by the wind parks at sea is converted into direct current on the corresponding offshore platform DolWin epsilon and transported in southern direction to Hamswehrum near the Ems River in East Frisia via a 100 km long sea cable.

Currently the DolWin epsilon platform is built in Singapore to be subsequently transported to the North Sea.

The platform DolWin epsilon is equipped with a permanent measurement system for structural health monitoring for its service life by VCE.

Services of VCE:

• Conceptual and detailed design of the monitoring system
• Installation of the measurement system in Singapore
• Software for the operation of the measurement system, for data analysis and visualization
• Transport monitoring of the platform
• Permanent monitoring of the platform
• Modelling of the platform and sensitivity analysis
• Data analysis and reports on platform behaviour

Location. Singapore & North Sea

Client. TenneT

The public transport network in Donaustadt, especially in the new urban development areas, is constantly being expanded. From autumn 2025, the new line 27 will connect the neighboring districts of Floridsdorf and Donaustadt. The route of tram line 27 leads from Strebersdorf via the existing route of line 26 to Zanggasse and then via the new route to the U2 station Aspern Nord. Of the 28 stops, 6 will be newly built. The new tram project also creates many new green spaces, such as Hirschstettner Allee as Vienna's "2nd main avenue", a green track and new cycle connections.

To protect the residents, VCE is conducting noise and vibration prediction assessments along the new line.
 

Location. Vienna, Austria

Client. Wiener Linien

Services VCE. noise and vibration prediction assessments

VCE has extended its management board by Günther Achs as of now. Together with the other managing directors he takes further important steps towards sustainability, climate protection and digitization.

Since October 2022 Günther Achs (43) has extended the management board of VCE. Up to now more than 350 employees have been led by Wolf-Dietrich Denk, Dieter Pichler and Robert Schedler. The management board now consists of four persons. Within ten years Mr. Achs has risen from authorized representative to partner in the management board of VCE and its subsidiaries. Günther Achs studied structural engineering at the Vienna University of Technology and has more than 15 years of professional experience as project manager.
Günther Achs has significantly further developed the field Acoustics, Dynamics, Building Physics, Measurement & Instrumentation since joining the company in 2005 and he will also be responsible for the sectors Traffic Design and Geotechnics in future.

With Sustainability and Digitization towards more Quality of Life
In his new position as managing director of VCE Mr. Achs would like to further push sustainability, climate protection and digitization in construction engineering. As firmly anchored in the company vision, it is an essential target to sustainably increase the quality of life of the people. “Our employees are the basis for the company success, and we would like to encourage them to develop new working methods, products and services – ideas should not be limited”, says Mr. Achs and adds,“ In this way we have been able to considerably extend our scope of services in the field of environmental engineering and digitization in the last few years and to contribute to our socio-political responsibility.” Digitization serves as acceleration factor to make processes more efficient, increase the quality of services and successfully handle projects for our clients.

A Positive Look into the Future
Due to the current market situation considering pandemic, inflation and war Günther Achs sees a lot of challenges but also opportunities. Regarding the continuously increasing lack of personnel VCE has positioned itself as modern employer. “Home office and flexible working time models are a possibility to respond to the individual needs of the employees of VCE and to offer them an attractive working environment. VCE as interdisciplinary and international company is well prepared for quickly changing markets thanks to flexibility, quality and innovation“, says Günter Achs.

DECARBONISATION FIRST

Methods for CO2 balancing in the life cycle of infrastructures

Winning project of the VIF 2020 tender (traffic infrastructure research in the field of climate protection)
 

Status Quo

50% of the world-wide CO2 emissions can be directly or indirectly allocated to the building industry - enabling an enormous saving potential for their carbon footprint. In the sector of civil and underground engineering the decisions have been predominantly taken on the basis of the expected structural life-cycle costs (=primary costs) to date, e.g.: in the course of tenders and competitions. There is no tool generally applicable to the sector for the calculation of consequential environmental costs yet.

DECARBONISATION FIRST follows the idea that future decision-making for building measures will be based on a considerably higher weighting of costs due to the carbon footprint while it aims to increase the acceptance of the associated primary costs at the same time.

Methods and Procedure

The objective of the research project is to create a database with CO2-equivalents representative for Austria (“Cradle to Grave”) for the relevant building materials of infrastructures (bridges, pavement, dams, retaining walls, trough constructions). For this purpose, a methodology for the connection of a life-cycle cost calculation with CO2 balancing (ÖNORM EN ISO 14040 Ökobilanz) considering the spreading of the input parameters is developed.

For the performance of variant analyses of infrastructures, a practical calculation tool is created which determines costs and CO2 equivalents over the whole life cycle (manufacturing, construction, operation, demolition, disposal/re-use). The methodology and the respective benchmarks and parameters are subsequently summarized in a guideline.

Perspective

DECARBONISATION FIRST provides a major instrument for shaping the resources applied in the course of a building project along the value-added chains with increased environmental responsibility to reach the national climate protection targets.

The project addresses the impending compensation payments of the republic of Austria for the purchase of CO2-certificates amounting to billions of euros and pursues the objective to reduce the share allocated to the civil and underground engineering sector within the shortest possible time to the highest possible extent. In the last few years climate protection has dramatically gained significance in society. DECARBONISATION FIRST immediately meets this social responsibility and ensures that the civil and underground engineering sector can make its contribution to the achievement of the climate protection targets in a measurable form.

Project Status

By the end of April 2022 the mid-term meeting took place with all the project partners and the clients. There the essential milestones already reached, i.e.: “methodical development” and the “elaboration of a detailed GWP catalogue for the addressed assets and their elements”, were presented.

Furthermore, first insights into Work Package 5 “Simulation calculations” were given by providing a comparative prediction of the whole noise barrier portfolio of ASFINAG including

• estimated reinvestment realization quantities,
• expected costs
• as well as the associated Co2 balance

for the upcoming 15 years.

Client . BMK / ASFINAG

Project coordinator & project partner . VCE

Project partner . Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria), TU-Wien (Vienna University of Technology)

The motorway currently under construction between Ljubljana and Sarajevo runs through geologically difficult terrain in the Vandruk-Ponirak section. JP Autoceste contracted VCE to organise a team of experts to visit and assess the critical high-level cuts (up to 70 metres) in the steep flysch slopes in sectors 1, 6 and 7.

The team of experts, consisting of Prof. Roman Marte (TU-Graz), Mag. Michael Brandmayr (GDP) and Dr. Fritz Kopf (VCE), carried out an on-site inspection. In the following report, the existing documents and explorations are discussed, the respective geology is assessed, the design of the office draft as well as different variants are discussed, and finally, alternatives are presented and recommendations for the further procedure are given.

Location. BiH
Client. JP Autoceste FBiH doo Mostar
Services. Expertise

TenneT is the leading transmission system operator in Germany. In this function TenneT currently operates offshore converter platforms in the North Sea, which transfer the energy obtained with offshore wind parks and convert it into high-voltage direct current in order to enable low-loss transmission and network connection. Each of these platforms has a capacity of up to 900 MW.

VCE was commissioned to install and operate twelve of these platforms with permanent structural health monitoring systems with a focus on load effects and motion behaviour. The services also comprise data analysis, calculations and life-cycle observations.

Location. North Sea

Client. TenneT TSO GmbH

Service VCE. Permanent structural health monitoring with measurements

The subject of the current examination is the determination of the current prestressing forces within the twelve steel bars as a part of the trussed roof frame construction of the Saarlouis fire station.

The examination was triggered by the failure of one of the stays (at the respective trussed roof frame an unusual deformation had been detected) at the end of October 2021. This led to the question regarding the distribution of the tension forces within the remaining group of eleven components.

On the basis of a non-destructive, dynamic measurement in November 2021 the actual prestressing level in the stays was determined. Thus, a relevant basis for the assessment and evaluation of the current situation and the further procedure was created.

Under the arch concerned an emergency support was erected immediately after damage detection and detailed expert investigations, which are still in progress, were introduced. The fire brigade remained ready for operation without any interruption.

Location. Saarlouis, Germany

Client. District town Saarlouis, Office for urban planning, building construction, preservation of historical monuments and environment

Services. Investigation concept, dynamic measurement, data analysis, comparative analytical calculation, effective prestressing forces & utilisation rates, assessment & interpretation

HS2 currently is the biggest infrastructure project in the UK, for which a high-speed route is built from London to Birmingham and Manchester.

On more than 450 km a track system is established as ballast-less track with the ÖBB-PORR system. The project comprises phases 1 and 2a of HS2. VCE supplies the technical know-how and is the total designer for track construction on all free route areas as well as in tunnels with open construction method. The design services for driving speeds up to 360 km/h comprise track system design in BIM incl. sonic studies, life-cycle assessment, dynamic modelling and environmental investigations for driving speeds up to 360 km/h. We are currently working at Activity 2 (System Design) for the sections on earthwork and bridges.

Location.London-Birmingham, UK
Client. PORR UK Ltd.
Services VCE. Detailed design of ballast-less track construction, dynamic assessment, N&V design, BIM, interaction bridges-structure, LCA, environmental engineering

Video BIM Day 2021. BIM Flagship Project HS2

The Project is located in the southern part of Doha in the vicinity of Wakrah and Wukair Municipalities and is part of the sewage networks of these locations. The Projects comprises the design and construction of a 13.3 km long TBM sewage tunnel in double-shell construction with 4500 mm inner diameter and up to 61 m depth, eight access shafts and drop structures, which are all part of the Wakrah - Wukair and Industrial Area sewage network.

VCE’s scope covers all temporary shafts with an inner diameter of up to 20.5m and up to 63m depth, around 300m of NATM tunnels, the around 13km long segment tunnel, around 300m of cast in-situ concrete tunnel, the complete tunnel inner lining and all permanent shaft structures.

The design is carried out using the method Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Client. PORR-HBK-MIDMAC Joint Venture

Services. structural design

We are looking forward to host the 2nd Symposium on Earthquake Engineering in cooperation with ÖIAV and OGE by November 18, 2021.

It is our pleasure to announce six international lectures covering most relevant topics of the special subject “Seismic Analysis and Design of Nonstructural Components”.

Please note, this is a hybrid event – we are thrilled to welcome you in Vienna or alternatively in the webinar. Check out the save-the-date flyer & stay tuned for a detailed programme after the summer break. Our mission is keeping the community as vibrant as possible – the event is free of charge!
 

When. Thursday, November 18, 2021
Duration. 12:30 – 6:00 p.m.

On-Site-Event & Online.
Haus der Barmherzigkeit
Heigerleinstraße 29, 1160 Vienna

Registration. eesd@vce.at

You can find more information on www.fcp.at/EESD

The project A99 for the Autobahn GmbH des Bundes NL Südbayern and STRUCINSPECT involved the creation of a BIM based structural inspection model for the BW32/1 on the Autobahnring München. The project included the creation of an as-built LOD 500 BIM model; produced using the point cloud based scan to BIM process and enriched using information extracted from the existing reinforcement drawings and inspection reports.

In addition, the project involved the development of a custom software tool to automatically generate a structural inspection BIM model derived solely from the output of the digital structural inspection. A custom Python IfcOpenShell tool was developed to automatically transform the raw ASCII data output from the digital inspection into a highly detailed, information rich IFC4 model and accompanying BCF damages catalogue.

The software solution has been entered for a buildingSMART award in the technology category.

> Video Vimeo

Generation and Preparation of strategic noise maps according to EU and Local Environmental Noise Directive for the reporting in 2022.

How high is the actual noise impact in Vienna?

VCE was repeatedly awarded to generate the actual strategic noise maps in the City of Vienna. In intervals of 5 years the European Parliament and the European Council released the obligation to implement the European Noise Directive 2002/49/EG resulting in strategic noise maps considering traffic noise from road and railways, aircraft noise and noise from industrial plants (IPPC plants). To prepare the generation and publication of the strategic noise maps in 2022 FCP is currently collecting traffic data in representative sections on site and starts with three-dimensional mapping of the City of Vienna. Subsequently different scenarios of noise sources and impacts will be generated and prepared for publication.

On the plattform laerminfo.at the strategic noise maps of the year 2017 can be reviewed for each and every location in Vienna.

To refine the noise model the actual traffic is counted at several locations. The results will be adopted to the main traffic network and considered in the noise model.

Additionally a detailed investigation of facades and a three-dimensional presentaton of noise levels at building surfaces shall be implemented in the model.

Client. Vienna Environmental Protection Department, MA 22

Services. noise mapping, acoustic calculations of railway, road and site noise

www.laerminfo.at

The wind park Gaweinstal consists of a total of 3 wind turbines of the type Vestas V112 with a hub height of 140 m and a performance of 3.3MW per wind turbine. Now the existing wind turbines shall be replaced with plants with a higher performance. The new plants of the type Nordex N163 have a hub height of 164m and a performance of 5.7MW per wind turbine.

Due to the considerably increased performance the EIA authority demanded a sonic study in which on the one hand the sonic impacts of this change had to be demonstrated with regard to the direct neighbours, on the other hand the concerned region is already at a disadvantage due to sonic exposure by the surrounding wind parks (WP Schrick I & II, WP Paasdorf-Lanzendorf WP Kettlasbrunn I & II, WP Höbersbrunn, WP Gugelberg). Apart from the sonic study regarding audible sound (20 to 20000 Hz) the coactive infrasound input had to be also analysed for the first time. Infrasound is defined as acoustic waves with frequencies lower than 20 Hz and thus below the threshold of audibility of human-beings.

The wind park Parndorf shall be approved in the course of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) change procedure for higher-performance plants. The location of the plants shall be also slightly changed.

In this process the predicted immissions by the planned wind park project Parndorf were assessed and inspected at all the immission points analysed considering the change of the plants and the wind situation.

Client WP Gaweinstal. ÖKO Wind Erneuerbare Energieerzeugungs-GmbH

Client WP Parndorf. oekostrom Produktions GmbH

Services VCE. Sonic prediction calculations, immission prediction infrasound, assessment, survey

The opening of the two railway stations "Rotes Rathaus" and "Unter den Linden" of the U5 Berlin took place in December 2020. The new railway station "Museumsinsel" is expected to be opened in August 2021.

The project “Gap Closure U5“ from Alexanderplatz to Brandenburger Tor extends the previous U5 underground railway line and merges it with the already completed U55. Apart from 2.2 km of newly built tunnel route also the three new railway stations “Unter den Linden“, “Museumsinsel“ and “Rotes Rathaus“ are established in the centre of Berlin.

In the underground railway station “Rotes Rathaus“ seven centrally arranged columns carry a main part of the floor load. The column heads look like mushrooms with their funnel shape and shall be reminiscent of the old vault of the medieval town hall.

The tunnel section was driven by shield tunnelling method with two single-track tunnel tubes and connects to the existing line at the railway station Brandenburger Tor.

Client. BVG Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

Services in consortium with artus Architekten and Schüsslerplan. project control, site management, site supervision of the preliminary building works, extension, cable routeing

After a multi-stage renovation the project "Adaptation and Extension of Rudolfinerhaus" was completed in autumn 2020. Five new wards were put into operation in the private hospital in Vienna-Döbling with a total of 80 patient-friendly single rooms with sunny loggias and terraces. The clinic also opened the new Wilczek Pavilion and the Rudolfinerhaus Campus for health and nursing education.

In the first construction stage (February 2018 - March 2019) the Billroth Pavilion was heightened and rehabilitated and in this connection 37 new patient rooms were erected.

The second construction stage with a construction period of 15 months (July2019 - September 2020) comprised the redesign of the forecourt and the entrance area of the Rudolfinerhaus private hospital. A generous and barrier-free access to the building for picking up and dropping off patients was created and the subterranean garage was linked to the building by erecting porches. The entrance and foyer area was modernized and reconstructed to an attractive area thanks to a new light-flooded design. Parallel to the construction measures on the forecourt the partial demolition of the Wilczek Pavilion and the new erection of the pavilion with southern side patient rooms as well as the extension of the attic for the teaching programme on the Campus started at the beginning of July 2019.

Client. Rudolfiner-Verein Rotes Kreuz

Services. Site supervision, health and safety engineering, electrical and HVACR design

After the “Austrian Consulting Award – Engineering Consulting 2019” the “Austrian Award for Digitization 2020” also goes to STRUCINSPECT. In parallel the company received the “Digital Impulse Award 2020” of the Austrian daily “Die Presse” and Drei Business. The managing directors of STRUCINSPECT, Peter Furtner and Albrecht Karlusch, accepted the awards.

STRUCINSPECT enables an easy and cost-efficient inspection of critical infrastructure by means of digital 3D twins. At the same time checking quality and documentation are increased.

The digital solution for the inspection of bridges and building structures developed in the Corporate Incubator P21st is a joint venture of the consortium partners PALFINGER, VCE Vienna Consulting Engineers ZT GmbH and ANGST GROUP consolidated in the joint venture “PALFINGER Structural Inspection (PSI)”.

www.strucinspect.com

Volkstheater has been considerably renovated since summer 2019. Essential objectives are an improvement of the operation and an increased comfort for the audience.

The improvement of the operation can be reached by two measures: on the one hand, by rehabilitation and modernization of the stage area with new stage and lighting technology as well as by the establishment of a side stage and on the other hand by creation of new useable space by extension of the present stage area as well as the extension of the existing ticket area to a coffee shop.

Increased comfort for the audience is implemented on the one hand by a complete refurbishment of the auditorium including the installation of a new air-conditioning system and on the other hand by the renewal of the lounges, cloakrooms and sanitary rooms. The façade is rehabilitated as exterior sign of renewal.

In summer 2019 the restoration of the outer shell (façade, roof and windows) started without interrupting continuous operation. At the beginning of January 2020, the theatre was closed for the currently ongoing main construction phase. The completion is already planned for 30 October 2020.

Client. Volkstheater GmbH

Services. project control, static and structural design, tender/cost estimation, building physics, fire protection design, check engineering

Munich’s urban railway daily transports up to 840,000 passengers and covers a distance of more than 20 million km per year. Thus, it is one of the biggest urban railway systems in Germany. The core route opened on the occasion of the Olympic Games in 1972 has reached its capacity limits. In order to eliminate this bottleneck, a second core route is built on approx. 10 km between the railway stations Laim in the west and Leuchtenbergring in the east. The building project is subdivided into overground and underground contract sections.

In the section “VE10 - Oberirdisch West“ (overground west) a multitude of civil engineering structures (tunnels, retaining walls, bridges, railway station buildings) are erected as well as track and underground cabling works are carried out under full operation over approx. 2.2 km from the western head of the railway station Laim up to the new western tunnel portal.

Currently retaining walls are being erected at several positions, the foundations of the flying junctions (bridge structures) are being established as well as the first blocks of the tunnel below more than 25 existing tracks as well as the first sections of the new railway station buildings are being concreted.

Client. ARGE VE 10

Owner. DB Netze (DB Netz AG, DB Station & Service AG, DB Energie GmbH)

Services. Detailed design and as-built design of track layout and civil engineering structures

In Wieselburg currently the whole traffic of the B 25 road runs right through the town centre. The new bypass shall relieve the town regarding through traffic and increase the quality of life for the residents as well as the security needs of the road users in the town centre of Wieselburg in future. The traffic relieve thanks to the new bypass amounts to up to 50%. A further declared target is the provision of high-quality infrastructure for the economic development in the northern “Mostviertel”.

The bypass of Wieselburg branches off at the existing B 25 road at Holzinger Berg at km 7.0 ab and joins B25 again south of Wieselburg in Mühling at km 13.6. The new route of B 25 thus bypasses Wieselburg in the north and the east.

Service. Static and structural design, traffic design

The subject of the presented investigation was the application of an integrated LCM Model (Life Cycle Management) developed in close collaboration with ÖBB for the entire bridge network from the Austrian Federal Railways analysing different maintenance strategies.

Concent. The objective of the investigation was a short-, mid- and long-term LCM prognosis of the heavy maintenance and replacement demand for the entire bridge network of the Federal Austrian Railways. The model was applied to a provided dataset of approx. 10.000 bridges analysing different forecast periods (12, 50 and 120 years).

The results were used to derive the upcoming budget demand.

Client. ÖBB Infrastruktur AG

Currently the preliminary building works in the courtyards have been almost completed in the project Postgasse and the attic conversion has started.

The existing building of Postgasse is revitalized by Denkmalneu Gruppe and will be called “PLH – Post lebendiges Haus” (living house). The object has various types of use from hotel to flats, offices and an extensive fitness centre. A central element of the building is Dominikanerhof with approx. 1200 m², which not only comprises a 5-storey subterranean garage but shall also serve as room for events later. For this purpose the courtyard will be additionally roofed by a convertible membrane roof as weather protection.

The erection of a subterranean central cooling system in Barbarahof by Vienna’s energy supplier Wien Energie is a great challenge. The system will be supplied by water from the Danube Channel and shall provide district cooling to several large-scale projects in Vienna‘s first district. Due to the noise and vibration-intensive cooling units, the whole courtyard was decoupled by Sylomer and the machines themselves were embedded on mass-spring systems. Apart from numerical models for the assessment of secondary noise, measurements on the building site are also used.

The BIM project was completely modelled in 3D. Some field tests were performed by means of HoloLens for early detection of collisions between the wooden truss to be preserved and the new steel elements.

Client. Postgasse 8 Entwicklungs OG

Services. engineering report, static and structural design, notification of completion, check engineer according to the Viennese building code

On 14 November2019 at 2 p.m. the newly designed Rotenturmstraße was opened according to plan.

We prepared the detailed road project together with the architectural office Katzberger.

The new Rotenturmstraße is decreed as a shared zone and has no parking spaces anymore. Sixteen new trees were planted, two fountains and benches were set up, pavement cafes were newly arranged and lighting was renewed for improved quality of sojourn. Furthermore the existing bus stops were included into the project and the available loading zones were integrated.

The walking surfaces were considerably widened for the 30,000 pedestrians per day. The traffic organization remained as it was, only between Schwedenplatz and Lugeck cycling against the one-way street was newly decreed.

The diagonal between the State Opera and Schwedenplatz – via the new Stephansplatz – was completed by means of the new Rotenturmstraße. Thus, a continuously barrier-free, high-quality and urban connecting axis was created in the heart of Vienna.

BRIMOS® Stay Cable Measurements

Sancho el Mayor is a 260 metre long cable-stayed bridge with 140 stay cables in the course of the AP15 motorway in the north of Spain.

The condition of the stay cables as well as the cable forces were already measured and analysed with BRIMOS® in 2002. In the summer of 2019 a detailed follow-up measurement and analysis were performed for condition assessment and an evaluation of all stay cables.

Client. Autopistas de Navarra. S.A.

On 25 May 2019 a new museum, the Lower Austrian gallery was opened. The new gallery becomes the centre of the art district in Krems ranging from the exhibition buildings Kunsthalle Krems, Karikaturmuseum Krems and Forum Frohner from Minoritenplatz in Stein over Museumsplatz up to the Dominikanerkirche in Krems.

The new gallery with its 3,000 m² of exhibition area comprises the art collection of the province of Lower Austria with approx. 60,000 objects on four levels and is connected with the Kunsthalle Krems via the presentation area on the basement floor. The outer panelling by means of zinc rhombuses guarantees an additional remarkable setting of the building. The otherwise windowless cladding is only opened in the attic by a viewing platform.

VCE was assigned with the services of technical and financial control. The project was handled considering BVergG 2006 (Austrian public procurement law), the project was awarded to individual trades.

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Client . Government of Lower Austria
Architect . Marte.Marte Architekten
Service . Technical and financial control

VIDEO . Lower Austrian gallery

LINK . www.ots.at/presseaussendung
LINK . noe.orf.at/news/stories/2974144/

On 4 April the foundation stone ceremony took place for the new Traude Dierdorf nursing home in Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria).

In the following three years the Haus der Barmherzigkeit erects a new modern, completely barrier-free nursing home with nine assisted living groups at the existing site.

Furthermore, a kindergarten with four groups, a cafeteria, a chapel as well as a big garden area are established on the 18,000 m² big plot.

Photo from left to right: Jakob Dunkel (querkraft), Christoph Gisinger (HB), Mayor Klaus Schneeberger, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Provost Karl Pichelbauer, Member of the provincial government Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister, Florian Pressl, Lukas Pohl (both HB)

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Client . Institut Haus der Barmherzigkeit
Architect . querkraft
Services . Tender, project control, ambient noise measurement

LINK . www.ots.at/presseaussendung
LINK . noe.orf.at/news/stories/2974144/

We were able to extend our competence as engineering consultants with the framework contract “building safety inspections in Lower Austria“. The process of a building condition assessment including cost and risk estimate was developed for this project.

Within the scope of this project the facades and public staircases of more than 60 public buildings in Lower Austria were annually analysed and assessed.

Building safety inspection, assessment and action planning was completed for 2018. Further inspections and monitoring of actions and costs were commissioned for an additional period of 8 years.

Client . Lower Austrian government
Services . Structural assessment

Civil engineering verification for the performed braking work of a buffer stop without headstock

Weichenwerke Wörth GmbH has developed a new buffer stop. A civil engineering verification of the braking work was the basis for the approval by a public utility.

VCE was assigned with the performance of the required measurements, the evaluation and the preparation of the civil engineering verification as well as the programming of a calculation tool.

The tests were performed on a storage track and were classified into the following steps:

• Impact with 2 ballast waggons 108 t with different speeds
• Impact with 3 ballast waggons 146.58 t with different speeds
• Impact with 17 ballast waggons 753.98 t with different speeds

Client . Weichenwerke Wörth GmbH

Service . Measurement and instrumentation, evaluation, civil engineering verification

Austria Campus is a business site with a total area of 200,000 m² consisting of all in all six office blocks. The Campus is part of the Nordbahn quarter created on the area of the former northern railway station and one of the biggest structural engineering projects currently realized in Europe.

VCE first carried out a TDD (Technical Due Diligence) in the course of trans­action for the construction sites 5, 8 and 6 and subsequently the building project was supported in the scope of a construction monitoring order. After the conclusion of monitoring, VCE has still been involved in technical consulting.

The construction sites 5 and 8 have already been completed and Bank Austria has moved in. The construction site BF6.1 was also completed and put into operation by the hotel operator “rooms”. The construction sites BF6.2 and BF6.3 are currently in the completion phase.

Client . AOC Immobilien

Services . TDD and construction monitoring

European Concrete Award 2018 for the ÖAMTC Mobility Centre!

Representatives of the owners, architects, structural engineers and contractors of the submitted projects came to Helsinki to receive the award.

In the category “Building” the EUROPEAN CONCRETE AWARD 2018 went to the project “ÖAMTC Mobility Centre”, Vienna, Austria. The load-bearing structure of the building has a number of specific features rarely encountered in such a density or combined in such a way. In addition to these facts the whole project team worked with BIM.

LINK . more about the project

LINK . ecsn.net/ecsn-award
LINK . öbv article

Which load pattern do you use for track design? In rail track engineering it is common to apply load models developed for design and assessment of bridges as an approximation of loading regimes for rail tracks. VCE’s client questions the traditional approach and is interested in developing realistic load models for track designers.

Multi-body dynamic simulations have been performed to model the dynamic interaction of the coupled vehicle-track-soil domain. Comparison of numerical response quantities with readily available data extracted from measurements of the project VDE 8.2 reveals the superior quality of the novel methodology.

VCE proposes a novel load model consisting of both a realistic load pattern and spectra of dynamic amplification factors. This study contributes to the existing body of modifications to the next generation of modern track design codes. Theory, findings and possible applications will be published on the client’s website in the first quarter of 2019.

Client . RSSB – Rail Safety and Standards Board, U.K.

Service . Development of a Methodology to Determine Loading Regimes for Track Designers

VCE was at the InnoTrans 2018 fair in Berlin – a look into the future of mobility was taken, new contacts were established and old contacts were fostered.

The healthcare facility Josefhof, located on the outskirts of Graz, is the competence centre for in-patient health promotion and prevention of the VAEB (insurance institution for railways and mining). The facility is currently being extended from 70 to 120 beds. The new building consists of three elongated terrace-shaped structures comprising 120 barrier-free rooms as well as guest rooms offering a variety of functions including a outpatient clinic with examination and treatment area, seminar and fitness rooms, indoor swimming pool and sauna area, canteen with an open-view kitchen, dining hall as well as the required administrative and technical areas. The building has been partially constructed in a modular timber design.

Current works include a timber slatted façade, various floor coverings such as tiles, terrazzo tiles and wood flooring as well as a outdoor area with a pond.

Auftraggeber . VAEB Insurance institution for railways and mining

Leistung . Project management in Joint Venture with Ritter

LINK . construction progress on vaeb.at

On 2 June 2018 the Life Ball celebrated its 25^th anniversary under the motto “Sound of Music”.

VCE supported the initiative with the free-of-charge service of design and building site coordination according to the building site coordination law for the “event site” Life Ball 2018 in the area of Rathausplatz and in the event rooms of the city hall.

Client: Life+ association for direct support of HIV-positive persons and persons down with AIDS

Service: Health and safety engineering

LINK . Life Ball

On 9 May 2018 the VCE Innovation Prize was awarded for excellent research in civil engineering 2017 at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in the scope of an academic ceremony.

The prize winner 2017 are:

Dr. Regina della Pietra . Dissertation: "Integralisierung von Bestandsbrücken", (Integralization of existing bridges), Graz Technical University

Dr. Andreas Pürgstaller . Dissertation: "Seismic performance of post-installed fasteners in concrete with supplement damping device at Structure-Fastener-Non-structural-(SFN)-level", BOKU

The former post office building was erected in the course of the last 2-3 centuries and was repeatedly reconstructed and extended. The building is situated between Postgasse and Dominikanerbastei, under which the former Viennese city wall was located.

Apart from the establishment of a hotel and flats in the existing structure the attic shall be converted. In this process the existing roof structure shall be maintained and an underground car park shall be built in Dominikanerhof. Furthermore respective installations are established in all courtyards. Due to the complex design the project is processed with BIM by VCE.

The demolition of non-load-bearing walls and superstructures is currently completed. The project is already approved and we are at the beginning of the detailed design phase.

more information . BIM and Postgasse

There are 12 classes of an open secondary modern school in Carlbergergasse 72 in 1230 Vienna, which was built in 1999. An annex to the existing school building will be realized for the creation of additional rooms. The annex comprises the new construction of 9 elementary school classes with all-day care including side rooms and an underground gym hall as well as the extension of the existing secondary modern school by 4 classes including side rooms. The open areas of the school are appropriately designed for pupils and instruction.

The annex is situated on the available hard court so that it can be connected to the existing building on two sides.

The project is in the basic design stage at the moment. Construction start is planned on 15 October 2018. Operation of the newly erected school building shall start in August 2019.

Client: Vienna municipal authorities MA 56 represented by WIP Wiener Infrastruktur Projekt GmbH

Services as subcontractor for Klammer * Zeleny Architekten ZT GmbH: Design-build, static and structural design, tender / cost estimation, building physics, site supervision, health & safety engineering, check engineering

In the scope of the BIM-Symposium on 15 March 2018 in Schönbrunn Castle top-class speakers will assemble on the topic Building Information Modeling already for the third time.

FCP.VCE, as one of the leading companies in the application of BIM technology in Austria, will hold three presentations at the symposium.

Presentations:

BIM.FCP.VCE – Praxisbeispiele und Entwicklungsstufen (BIM.FCP.VCE – Practical Examples and Stages of Development), Christian Nüssel
BIM im Altbau: Wir lieben die Herausforderung?! (BIM in Old Buildings: We Love Challenges?!), Markus Riel & Frank Mettendorff
BIM im Brückenbau / Infrastrukturbereich (BIM in Bridge Construction / Infrastructure), René Holzer

LINK . bimsymposium.at

The extension / rehabilitation of the Voest bridge in Linz started at the beginning of 2018.

Two bypass bridges were erected and a multitude of further objects were reconstructed or newly built (bridges, underpasses, abutments) in the first section in lot AST Hafenstrasse – Junction Urfahr.

Client . ASFINAG

Service . Check engineering

LINK . orf.at
LINK . asfinag.at

As of the 1st January 2018 we are pleased to welcome a new member to our management board. Wolf-Dietrich Denk is a very experienced structural engineer and has been appointed as a new managing director. We are looking forward to his expertise helping to develop and strengthen the future of our company.

Rail instead of road transport – project for a faster and more effective transportation of container goods from the factory to the railway via freight vehicle without transaction at a terminal. The first test transport of the combined freight transportation independent of a terminal was carried out in southern Burgenland (Austria) with the well-established MOBILER-System of the Rail Cargo Group. Containers can be handled quickly and straightforwardly between freight vehicles and railway-cars almost everywhere by means of special container shifting systems – by one single person, without any assistance and without costly terminal equipment.

The project “Combi Coop II” was nominated as one the 5 top candidates of the 2017 VCÖ Mobility Award in the category “Energy-efficient freight traffic”.

Project partners are nine companies from the southern Burgenland region as well as a forwarding company.

Client: Project funded by AWS (Austria Economic Service)

Service: Traffic design

On 2 September 2017 the new extension of the underground railway line U1 will start operation with 5 new stations. VCE had the tasks of check engineer, railway consultant (§31a und §34b) and construction coordinator for lot U1/10 (Troststrasse), check engineer and railway consultant for lot U1/8 (Alaudagasse) and designer for lot U1/13 (turnout facility Favoritenstrasse).

The construction methods comprised the whole spectrum of civil and underground engineering (earthwork, cut-and-cover method, bored piles, relocation of installations, underpinning and protective screen of buildings with jet grouting, tunnel construction with shallow excavated cross sections of up to 120 m² under existing buildings) as well as of interior fitting (steel construction, glass structures, masonry) and could be successfully implemented meeting the respective deadlines.

The scope of services of VCE also comprised track design in the area of the turnout shaft Volkspark (U1/8), noise and vibration protection design of the lots U1/8 and U1/13 – U1/15 as well as traffic design in the area of the lots U1/13 – U1/15.

Client: Wiener Linien GmbH & Co KG

Services: Check engineering, Site supervision and safety on site, Structural design of superstructure, Structural design, Traffic design

LINK . Video of the VCE event on VIMEO

For more information please contact Mrs. Viktoria Linsbauer

In the course of the Austrian Steel Construction Day in Graz the winners of the 6^th Austrian Steel Construction Award were announced. The prize was awarded to the ÖAMTC headquarters in Vienna.

> 6. Österreichischer Stahlbaupreis

Four underground railway lines are being constructed on a total length of 172 km in Doha, Qatar, in the scope of phase 1 of the Doha Metro project. At the end of May track slab design was approved by the Design Verification Engineer DVE. Furthermore the noise and vibration assessment was completed and the effectivity of the mass-spring systems was verified in a 1:1 in-situ test.

The track system is currently under construction. It is designed as ballastless Porr slab track system including light and heavy mass-spring systems as required. All in all approx. 80% of the precast track slabs have been already produced and are being installed continuously. The section comprises tunnel, at-grade and bridge sections. In addition turnout areas and the associated transition areas on ballastless track were developed and planned. The track design was revised and adapted for the installation of the slab track system.

VCE carried out noise and vibration assessment determining emission reduction measures (e.g. mass-spring systems) for providing the protection targets regarding vibrations, ground-borne noise and airborne noise. In order to verify the effectivity of the proposed mass-spring systems, true size mock-ups were installed, tested and their performance was verified.

The section of Phase 1 is to be put into operation in 2020, in due time before the start of the Football World Cup in 2022.

Service: Project development and system configuration, concept and detailed design total track system, alignment, noise and vibration protection design, measurements on site

Client: Porr Qatar Construction WLL

> to the project

On Thursday, 11 May 2017, the VCE INNOVATION PRIZE for Excellent Research in Civil Engineering 2016 was awarded to Dr. Roman WENDNER and Dr. Johannes PISTROL at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna.

> more information

Stephansplatz is one of Austria‘s most prominent places due to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Therefore this important central square shall be completely refurbished and its surface redesigned. For this purpose 36,400 granite slabs and stones are laid. In addition 1,500 t of asphalt concrete and 5,500 t of drain concrete are installed. Apart from surface assembly a second drainage level for the protection of the subterranean structures (catacombs and Virgil Chapel) is established. Furthermore, essential parts of the installations are relocated or renewed.

The construction works started in March 2017 and shall be concluded by November 2017.

Client: MA 28 – Vienna’s municipal authorities for road administration and construction, in cooperation with Kirsch ZT GmbH

Services: Traffic design, project control, tender

At the left bank of the Danube Canal, at river kilometre 7.355, serious settlements as well as material erosion due to scouring was determined for one abutment. Therefore a renovation of the side wall on a total length of approx. 130 metres was required. The remedial actions were implemented by an additional sheet pile wall.

The new sheet pile wall shall be completed in March 2017.

Services: Tender, structural design, site supervision, construction coordination

The project City Tower Vienna was successfully concluded in November.

In the course of the maintenance of the building the exterior toughened safety glass panels of the facade were exchanged with laminated safety glass. All in all approx. 7,250 m² or approx. 2,850 glass panes were substituted.

In parallel the total natural stone facade was inspected and refurbished. Furthermore safety measures regarding accessibility and guardrails were planned and implemented.

Client: City Tower Vienna Errichtungs- und Vermietungs-GmbH

Services: Design, tender, contracting and site supervision

We would like to inform you that the Austrian Steel Construction Association published the following announcement on the "European Steel Bridge Awards".

You can find the announcement under the following link:
http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20161121_OTS0022

Within the scope of the EU-wide Enviromental Noise Directive (END) enacted in 2002 strategic noise maps and noise action planning are published every five years (laerminfo.at).

In Vienna’s city region the noise of all roads, tracks and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) sites is visually represented on two-dimensional coloured maps. Furthermore the noise levels at principal residences are determined and summarized in tables, separated according to the sound source. The calculation comprises the total urban area of Vienna with 414 km² and contains more than 80 million calculation points.

Rail sources in Vienna’s urban area include ÖBB rail tracks, underground railway and tram lines of Vienna’s public transport services and tracks of local railway lines. Motorways and express highways as well as general public traffic routes in the city area are considered as road sources. In the city area of Vienna there are 28 IPPC sites (as of 2012), which are also displayed in the strategic noise maps.

Services: noise mapping, acoustic calculations of railway, road and site noise.

In the course of the structural survey of the Reichsbrücke it was detected that certain pot bearings had no sufficient sliding gap anymore. Therefore the existing pot bearings are dismounted and replaced with new cup and ball bearings in autumn 2016. The bearing exchange is carried out without any interruption of the traffic.

Services of VCE: Bridge inspection, tender design, structural design

Ashghal (Public Works Authority), the Qatari authority responsible for all infrastructure projects, realizes the so-called IDRIS Programme (Inner Doha Resewerage Implementation Strategy) for comprehensive extension and fundamental modernization of the sewage system in Doha in order to cope with the requirements of the considerably growing population.

In this project four micro-tunnel boring machines are used for the construction of the deep gravity sewer with an internal diameter of 1.6 m and a total length of approx. 21 km. All in 47 shafts with depths up to 45 m have to be established for the operation of the micro-tunnel boring machines and installation of the jacking pipes.

The services as Quality Control Engineer comprise the review and the approval of the design as well as the quality control in construction.

On 27 April 2016 the ground-breaking ceremony for the first shaft took place in Al Wakrah.

Picture above: Manoj Bajaj (HBK), Luis Fagundes (Ashgal), Sheikh Ali Bin Hamad Al Thani (HBK), Georgios Ntigkmpasanis (HBK), Bill VanWagenen (ch2m), Bassam Halabi (GHD)

Picture below - VCE Team v.l.n.r.: Roberto Bontoyan, Charlou Velasco, Ariel Papica, Ramil Macalalad, Cristian Giurgea, Houman Foroutan, Ernst Forstner

LINK TunnelTalk

In the scope of Phase 1 of the Doha Metro project four underground railway lines shall be constructed on a total length of 172 km. The track system is designed as ballastless track with Porr slab track system and some sections as mass-spring systems. The design comprises tunnel sections, at grade sections, tracks on viaducts as well as turnout areas and the associated transition areas. As basis of the layout of the ballastless track the available alignment is revised and adjusted by VCE.

VCE carries out analyses on the requirement of emission reduction measures (e.g. mass-spring systems) for providing the protection targets regarding vibrations, ground-borne noise and airborne noise. Extensive measurements were performed on site as a basis for these calculations.

The production of the track supporting layers manufactured as prefabricated parts on site has already started, whereas the installation of the tracks is expected to begin in autumn 2016. The route of Phase 1 shall be put into operation in 2019, in due time for the start of the Football World Cup in 2022.

Client: Porr Qatar Construction WLL

Services of VCE: Project development and system configuration, concept and detailed design total track system, alignment, noise and vibration protection design, measurements on site.

> to the project

VCE will be presented on a full page in the issue of FRESH VIEW on Smart Cities.

The magazine in German and English will be distributed to more than 110 branches of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber world-wide.

The web version can be found on www.advantageaustria.org

On 20 November 2015 the Ministry of Economics granted the Austrian Award for International Consulting andthereby recognized outstanding engineering consulting services.

The prize winner is VCE Vienna Consulting Engineers ZT GmbH as design manager with the project "Botlekbrücke - die größte Hubbrücke der Welt" (Botlek Bridge – World’s Largest Lifting Bridge).

The jury justified its decision with the unique realization of the project by skilful combination of geotechnical, hydraulic, construction as well as traffic and transport engineering, which shortened the lifting time of the bridge to only 110 seconds.

"The realization of such a big and fast lifting bridge represents a major innovation on the highest international level. Furthermore the project excels due to a considerable increase in capacity of the traffic carriers and a high service life of 100 years even from an economic point of view”, commented the jury.

> to the project

> PDF of the Consulting Award Brochure

> BMWFW.gv.at
> ACA.co.at
> ots.at
> Article Wirtschaftsblatt.at

> Video

Article of Peter Furtner (VCE) and Nigel Nixon (NNP Inc) in the journal "World Port Development", issue April 2015, about dynamic structural monitoring and Life-Cycle Management of port facility structures.

... The application and the benefits for the port industry are - like for all other industries that use dynamic monitoring - to be able to know how safe the structure is and to have decision support as to how long the asset can be operated safely. ...

The new web page of Valor Engineering is online. Thus Valor can present itself even better on the Norwegian market.

Recently Valor succeeded in concluding a framework contract for infrastructure projects with Statens Vegvesen.

» valorengineering.no

NERA (2010-2014) is an EC infrastructure project that integrates key research infrastructures in Europe for monitoring earthquakes and assessing their hazard and risk.

» Link to NERA-Website

The BIM event on 24 June 2014 organized by VCE under the motto "BIM in Theory and Practice" met with great interest also this year.

The advantages and various applications of BIM were demonstrated to the participants during the symposium lasting for three hours. The programme was presented by Robert Schedler.

Presentations were given by Christian Artaker and Andreas Stocker / Artaker CAD-Systems, Alexander Barnaš / Maba, Gernot Wagner / Porr, Konstantinos Kessoudis / Strabag, Christoph Degendorfer/ PXT as well as DieterDenk / FCP.

The Botlekbrug – the biggest and most complex lifting bridge ever built – is currently being constructed in Rotterdam.

... Vienna Consulting Engineers are responsible for the design management for all site progress related trades, detailed design, site supervision and project management. The specialists from VCE have successfully handled thousands of building projects world-wide but this project is even unique for them.

> to the project

The tracks for the most modern rail track in Central Germany have been completed.

On 25 November 2013 Ms. Christine Lieberknecht, prime minister of the Free State of Thuringia, and Dr. Reiner Haseloff, prime minister of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, passed the first continuous and cross-national ride with a test train of the German Railways.

All structures and tracks have been completed to a large extent. Now the newly built route will be equipped with further technical components until 2015.

> to the project

> Press: www.vde8.de

In only five and a half months the 100-year-old theatre was completely refurbished. In this extremely short construction period the core of the existing structure was fully removed, the stage portal and the balcony were newly covered with concrete, the stage machinery and the technical building equipment were modernized and the total extension was completed.

At the opening of the refurbished Kammerspiele theatre on 23 October the Broadway musical hit “Catch Me If You Can” was performed as European premiere.

Dr. Helmut Wenzel received this unique award which was created to honour and recognize persons especially from industry or government organizations for their continuing efforts and successful contributions to the field of Structural Health Monitoring and for his outstanding leadership in advancing SHM technologies in industry and government.

From 6 to 8 May the International IABSE Conference 2013 took place in Rotterdam focussing on the topic "Assessment, Upgrading and Refurbishment of Infrastructures".
VCE was represented with two papers including presentations at the conference:

Replacement of Botlek Lifting Bridge, Motorway A15, Netherlands
Robert Schedler, Ulrich Eder, Erik Jille
> Paper | pdf

Integrated Asset Management Tool for Highway Infrastructure
Robert Veit-Egerer, Monika Widmann, Peter Furtner, Rui Lima
> Paper | pdf

The eMagazine "austria-architects" nominates the new institute building of the University of Vienna in Währinger Strasse in Vienna's 9th district building of the month.

> article: austria-architects

On 19 June 2012 the new info-box of the German Railways (DB) for the project VDE 8.2 was inaugurated at the Osterberg Tunnel. Many VIPs were present, including the district administrator of Sachsen-Anhalt, Minister Webel, the coordinator of the overall project VDE 8, Mr. Drescher, the project manager of the section VDE 8.2 new line, Dr.-Ing. Schenkel, as well as Mr. Hagen as person responsible for our trade ballast-less track.

The biggest inner-city traffic project in Berlin has started ...

The Minister Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and Environment) today announced the official start of work. "With the approach of the A15, we make the region stronger and more accessible. This is more than a highway project. We will build our infrastructure, both road and rail and water, to better utilise," she said.

After 18 months of construction the rehabilitation measures at the Gazela Bridge in Belgrade over the Sava were concluded so that the bridge could be completely and officially opened to traffic, attended by numerous representatives of the Serbian Parliament, of the city of Belgrade and the Serbian motorway association PE Roads of Serbia as well as of the media. The bridge was opened to traffic earlier than planned due to the efforts of all parties involved, which can be seen as a result of the excellent cooperation.

The new building is the new academic home of six college courses, which were housed in up to ten different buildings in Wels until June 2005.