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By Christoph Pelzl Under the scientific direction of Graz University of Technology, an Austrian consortium is working on new investigation methods for rapid and precise assessments of concrete structures. Additional at the end of the text Whether crumbling tunnel walls, cracks in concrete facades or porous bridge piers, according to statistics from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), damage to concrete structures caused by various environmental influences accounts for several billion euros worldwide every year.

A world premiere in Austria: The new bridge construction technology which was developed at TU Wien has now been successfully applied by ASFINAG during the construction of the Fürstenfeld Motorway There are many different methods for erecting bridges - but the new technique developed by TU Wien, the balanced lowering method, is quite spectacular: the bridge is not built horizontally, as would normally be case, but erected in a vertical position and then rotated into the horizontal position.

Bridges change shape, which is why they are usually built with expansion joints. At TU Wien, a technology has been developed that makes it possible to forego these joints, thus saving time and money. You can feel it straight away when you drive over a bridge quickly: the expansion joint that you rumble over at the start and end of the bridge.

A wildlife crossing over the upcoming Koralm railway is being built, using a new construction technique developed by TU Wien. Traditional support structures are replaced by an air cushion. The shell construction methods which are usually used to build bridges and domes generally rely on expensive support structures.

Assessing old bridges using modern standards is no mean feat. Studies conducted by TU Wien show that many bridges are actually significantly more stable than might be expected, often rendering costly restoration work unnecessary. Deciding which bridges need to be restored in the near future and which are still in good condition can have extremely expensive repercussions.

The new concrete tower construction method, which has been developed by TU Wien, offers significant benefits specifically for wind turbines. More and more wind power plants are producing electricity - but what is the best method for building them? The team led by Prof. Johann Kollegger at the Institute of Structural Engineering at TU Wien has developed a new tower construction method which combines the key benefits of the existing methods.

When concrete shells are constructed, they usually have to be supported by elaborate timber structures. A revolutionary technique developed at the Vienna University of Technology now uses inflatable air cushions instead. Large shell structures made of concrete or stone are hardly ever built any more.