As part of this year's SFB Short Course, scientists from the SFB 837 visited the Filderportal construction site in Stuttgart on 27 and 28 March 2019. In the course of the Stuttgart 21 project, the 9.5 km long Filder Tunnel is constructed by using mechanical tunnelling. This allowed the scientists to take a closer look at the use of the machine on site and, in particular, to examine the measures taken to avoid swelling of the subsoil.

Mechanized tunneling is a highly automated construction process that has proven itself to be particularly suitable for use in difficult geological and hydrological conditions. However, problems inherent in the mechanized tunneling process, such as, uncertainties in a priori soil information and the complexity of machine-soil interactions present significant challenges in both the planning and construction of tunnels.

The main focus of the SFB 837 is research and development of computer-oriented models and simulation methods as well as of design concepts that take into account the diverse complex interactions of the components and processes involved in mechanized tunnelling.

The SFB Short Course serves to provide all scientists involved in the SFB with the necessary basic knowledge on mechanical shield tunnelling in relation to the subsoil, machine types, propulsion and expansion. The SFB Short Course takes place this year on the construction site at Filderportal Stuttgart.