CBI founded on the RWTH Aachen Campus
Efficient design and implementation of innovations and technologies in the construction industry
The Center Building and Infrastructure Engineering (CBI), a center in the Cluster Bauen on the RWTH Aachen Campus, has been successfully launched. The center was founded by the four institutes of construction research, solid construction, steel construction and road engineering of RWTH Aachen University with the aim of setting new trends and making existing innovations and technologies in construction more efficient and faster to implement.
The focus of the CBI's work is on the research, development and market introduction of innovative, tailor-made, application-optimised materials, construction methods, processes or concepts, also in connection with the digitalisation of structural engineering and transport infrastructure construction. In addition, the CBI focuses on simplifying the transition to regulations and approvals so that innovations can be implemented more quickly. This is necessary because complex standardization and approval processes inhibit the transfer from the laboratory to the construction site. "Innovations and technology transfer are to be implemented faster and more efficiently in 6-12-month consortium projects. This can only be achieved with strong partners at our side," says Dr.-Ing. Carl Richter, Managing Director of the CBI. The first meaningful results were presented at the 1st Center Meeting on 18 and 19 June 2019.
In the meantime, eleven companies are enrolled in the Center: HOCHTIEF, WIEGEL, BASF, CONTAINERWERK, FILIGRAN, HALFEN, SEH, solidian, DIAMANT, SWARCO and ALGECO are researching highly innovative solutions together with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from RWTH Aachen University. "Hochtief has long been committed to a close exchange between research, science and applied practice in the construction industry, and with the CBI we are expecting a further boost in innovation," says Dr. Joachim von Lukowicz, Member of the Management Board of HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions Transport Infrastructure Europe.
Roads, building construction, bridge construction - these are the key areas on which the research and development projects are based. The team in the Road division is the first to address composite construction on continuously reinforced concrete slabs. Structural engineering is concerned with three topics at once: new application possibilities for galvanized reinforcing steel, application guidelines for increasing the shear strength of 2/3 reinforced concrete slabs with cable openings and proof of suitability for room modules. The focus of research and development work in the field of bridge construction is on modular bridge construction.
Other interested industrial companies have the opportunity to participate in the research and development.