New publications for winter season 2016

New publications from the areas: Concrete Construction and Geotechnical Engineering.

Steel Construction 04/16

Curved directly glazed steel structure - the new departure station, E-Line, The Hague

by Dipl.-Ing. Thorsten Helbig, Dipl.-Ing. Florian Kamp, Roman Schieber, Dr.-Ing. Matthias Oppe, Rob Torsing and Ralph Kieft.

ZJA Zwarts & Jansma Architects have designed a new light rail departure station in The Hague, The Netherlands. The spatial roof structure of the station is made of rolled steel rectangular hollow sections arranged in two independent layers rigidly connected to each other. A glass envelope covering the roof structure matches the contours of the steel exactly. Since the diamond-shaped glass panes could only be attached to the outer layer of the steel grid, the panes (with edge lengths of approx. 1.30 m) are supported on two sides only. When optimizing the overall geometry, the double-curvature area at the nose of the roof structure became a special focus. Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering has managed to minimize the deviation of each single glass pane from the single-curvature geometry to a maximum out-of-plane deformation of only 3 mm. Therefore, the project is a great example of how geometry development can influence structural design and enable new approaches.

The full article is published in issue 04/2016 of the journal Steel Construction.

Geomechanics & Tunnelling 05/16

The Granitztal Tunnel Chain – State of works on the second longest tunnel system on the Koralmbahn

by Dipl.-Ing. Johann Bauer, Dipl.-Ing. Bernhard Kohlböck, Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Bernd Moritz, Dipl.Ing. Gerald Zwittnig.

The Granitztal Tunnel Chain is not only the second longest tunnel system on the Koralmbahn line but also an essential part of the future new railway line between Graz and Klagenfurt (New South Range Line). At the time of reporting, more than two-thirds of the tunnel excavation works on the Graniztal contract are completed. After a detailed description of the project with four simultaneously advancing TBM drive and the extensive concreting ad earthworks in the Granitztal, the geological and geotechnical conditions and the experience gained until now are described. Particular attention is paid to the challenging geotechnical conditions in the Langer Berg section and the overground section in the Granitztal. The intensive design work to optimise future maintenance work is also described.

The full article is published in issue 05/2016 of the journal Geomechanics & Tunnelling.

European Journal of Masonry 05/16

The two-shearfield test – A suitable method for the empirical shear capacity design of masonry.

by Dipl.-Ing. Viktor Dunjic, Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Rudisch, Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. techn. Andreas Kolbitsch.

The investigations demonstrate that the two-shearfield test is a suitable method for the determination of the shear capacity of masonry. The testing equipment is mounted directly on the wall in order to retain realistic boundary conditions like stiffness, load and prior damage. The behaviour factor q and the capacity curves of certain masonry walls can be directly obtained from the experimental results and realistic material behaviour in earthquake design can be represented. In particular, existing masonry can be assessed realistically with methods like the response spectrum, the push-over and the capacity spectrum by using the two-shearfield test.

The full article has been published in issue 05/2016 of the journal Mauerwerk - European Journal of Masonry.

Brand new: Estimating in Heavy Construction

This book presents the theoretical background as well as best practice examples of estimating in heavy construction. In this way the book helps to avoid errors in estimating of machine-intensive construction projects like roads, bridges, tunnels, and foundations.

The winner is chosen!

The jury chose the new prize winner of
Ulrich Finsterwalder Structural Engineering Award 2017

The jury session for the Ulrich Finsterwalder Structural Engineering Award 2017 took place on 11 November 2016 in rooms provided by the TU Berlin. At the end of the day, the jury voted by a majority for the

Refurbishment of the Kochertalbrücke, Geislingen

Fore more projects were chosen for award prizes:

• Ribbed Vault of the Chapel of the Castle in Dresden
• Hagneck Hydropower Station
• Tram Stop at the Main Station, Berlin
• Ship Lift at the Three Gorges Dam, Sandouping (China)

More information, the rationals of the jury, images and all 34 entries you can find at: www.ingenieurbaupreis.de ^{(in German)}

Impact Factors 2015 slightly adjusted upwardly

Thomson Reuters recently published the impact factors 2015 for scientific journals. Our journal Beton- und Stahlbetonbau (Concrete and Reinforced Concrete Structures) is still our most-cited German language journal, followed by Bautechnik (Construction Technology) and Stahlbau (Steel Structures). The journal Structural Concrete has achieved a notable place in the international landscape of scientific journals for civil and structural engineering.

Brand new!: Engineered Transparency 2016

This book contains more than 70 articles and presents international trends in structural glazing and facade construction. Renowned authors from all over the world report on current research results and innovative construction projects.

European Journal of Masonry 04/16

New approach for spacing of movement joints in reinforced and unreinforced masonry veneer walls.

by Prof. Ir.arch. Dirk R.W. Martens

The spacing of movement joints has been subject of many discussions. The current methods for the determination of the spacing of movement joints are based on local traditions and bad experience with cracked veneer walls. This has resulted in various design rules throughout Europe with very stringent limits for spacing of movement joints. According to EC6, one of the solutions for increasing the spacing of movement joints is to introduce bed joint reinforcement, although unfortunately no specific design rules are given. Until now, most scientific research has been focused on numerical simulations without taking time-dependent effects into account, which is a conservative approach. In this paper, a new approach is described. It is based on Peter Schubert's model and on practical experience with masonry buildings.

The full article has been published in issue 04/2016 of the journal Mauerwerk - European Journal of Masonry.

Geomechanics & Tunnelling 04/2016

TBM Tunnel under the Bosphorus for the Istanbul Strait Road Crossing Project

The population increase in Istanbul is also reflected in car ownership, which brings an extensive traffic load to the city, especially to the two bridges over the Bosphorus. After feasibility studies, a double deck, 3.4 km subsea tunnel with a 13.7 m diameter at a maximum depth of 106 m below sea level and a capacity of 100,000 cars/day was initiated as a solution for the city. The tunnel, excavated by a custom-made mixshield slurry TBM, passes through very complex geological structures including the Trakya formation, transition zones and marine sediments in a highly seismic area.

The full article is published in issue 04/2016 of the journal Geomechanics & Tunnelling.

Reading Recommendation: TBM Excavation in Difficult Ground Conditions - Case Studies from Turkey