At the start of the new semester after the winter break, students of civil engineering and subsurface engineering took part in a laboratory practical in the bentonite laboratory of the Chair of Tunneling, Pipeline Construction, and Construction Management.

The internship on the use of bentonite suspensions in horizontal drilling technology (HDD) took place with active support from industry.  Mario Bruns, Beermann Bohrtechnik GmbH, reported on the horizontal drilling work carried out to realize the BalWin1 and BalWin2 grid connections—a project by grid operator Amprion to expand renewable energies. A 65 km submarine cable transports electricity generated by the wind farms on the associated offshore platform in the North Sea via the island of Norderney to the mainland.

Rainer Breig, R. Breig Tiefbau UG, is an expert in horizontal drilling in rock/solid rock and brought various rock drill heads and a standard surveying device based on the walk-over method to the laboratory. A vivid presentation of impressive projects rounded off the contribution.

Under the guidance of Ferenc Kriwitzki, Technical Professional at Baroid IDP, the students were not only able to try out the most common test methods for the rheological parameters of bentonite muds, but also learn about the effects of polymers.