On 4 July 2023, students of the Faculty's Master's programmes in Subsurface Engineering and Civil Engineering, led by the Chair of Tunnelling, Pipeline Construction and Construction Management, visited two exciting construction projects at the same time: the TBM tunnelling project Grubenwasserkanal Ibbenbüren and the HDD construction site Exeler Rheine.

The first visit took place during the excavation of Grubenwassertkanal (mine water channel) in Ibbenbüren. Here, the world's smallest Variable Density (VD) tunnel boring machines with a boring diameter of 4.80 m are being used over two driving distances of 3,230 m and 3,870 m. The fluid support is realized with a High Density Support Medium (HDSM) - a development of the Herrenknecht company in cooperation with the bentonite laboratory at the TLB.

On site, the group was welcomed by the responsible project manager Dipl.-Ing. Christian Korndörfer, Wayss & Freytag, who provided the students with comprehensive information about the construction project, the machines used and the processes employed. Afterwards, all participants of the excursion were able to descend in two groups into the one starting shaft and inspect the heading. At the same time, the separation plant could be visited.

The second visit took the group to Beermann, Hörstel. At the Exeler Rheine construction project, Mario Bruns, Division Manager Horizontal Drilling Technology, demonstrated the operation of the HDD process (Horizontal Directional Drilling) using an impressive 28-ton rig. The disposal of used drilling fluids was explained in detail at the company's own recycling plant. The excursion was rounded off by a technical discussion with company boss Steffen Beermann and Mario Bruns over coffee and cake in the customer forum.

Many thanks for the good organisation, the hospitality and the professional exchange!