2nd European short course “Grouting Fundamentals & Current Practice” in Munich

The 2nd European edition of the internationally renowned Grouting Fundamentals & Current Practice short course was held at the Bundeswehr University in Munich (UniBw) from April 24-27, 2023. This 4-day professional training event was organized by the Institute of Applied Geosciences at the Graz University of Technology together with the publishing house Ernst & Sohn, and in cooperation with the Institute of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering at UniBw. The participants reflected the strong international course reputation, with attendees from Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA. The attendees represented a broad cross section of the grouting industry, including design firms, specialty geotechnical contractors, consultants, equipment manufacturers and material suppliers.

The Grouting Fundamentals & Current Practice course was founded in 1979 in the USA, and since then has provided unique professional training and education to thousands of grouting professionals worldwide. The course provides unique perspectives from internationally recognized grouting authorities concerning the fundamental requirements for successful grouting, along with technical innovations and contractual practices that have led to the current state-of practice. Although the fundamentals of grouting remain constant, significant innovations concerning drilling and grouting equipment, grouting materials, computer monitoring and database management systems have advanced the state-of practice tremendously. What was once perceived as a form of black art has evolved into a reliable, predictable and verifiable technical process.

The course fills a wide gap in traditional university education. With few exceptions globally, the subject of grouting is simply absent from civil engineering curricula. Furthermore, while theory and calculations are an integral part of competent grouting work, they alone cannot compensate for lack of practical experience. The course content has been tailored specifically for Owners, Regulators, Consultants and Contractors that are utilizing grouting as a means for geo-structural construction and remediation.

Major course topics include:

• grout rheology
• cementitious, chemical and biological grouting materials
• overburden and rock drilling methods
• optimizing and verifying grouting during construction • permeation grouting
• compaction grouting • compensation grouting
• deep soil mixing
• composite seepage barriers
• jet grouting
• GIN and RTGC in rock grouting
• rock anchors and SBMA design
• micropiles
• grouting for tunnels

An integral part of this course is the ½ day Field Demonstration. Contractors, manufacturers and suppliers converged on the UniBw campus to provide an impressive array of hands-on instruction concerning grouting equipment, materials and procedures.

The Munich Field Demo included: 

• Live exhibition of sonic drilling and sampling technology (Eijkelkamp SonicSampDrill)
• Anchor load testing (DSI Underground)
• High capacity tube-a-manchette (MPSP) grouting (Sireg Geotech S.r.l.)
• Colloidal mixing and compact grout plants (ChemGrout, Häny AG, Mai International GmbH)
• Hybrid polyurethane-cement injection (Webac Chemie GmbH)
• Compensation grouting (Züblin AG)
• Soil permeation grouting (UTT Mapei AS)
• Chemical grouting for anchors (DSI Underground, Mai International GmbH)
• Tunnel annulus grouting (Webac Chemie GmbH)

The course organizers are indebted to many individuals and corporate entities that expended significant time and effort to make this event a success. In particular, we would like to acknowledge the generous support of our corporate sponsors: ChemGrout, DSI Underground, Eijkelkamp SonicSampDrill, Keller Grundbau GmbH, Sika AG, UTT Mapei AS and Webac Chemie GmbH. For information concerning future course offerings in the USA and Europe visit www.grouting-fundamentals.com

Participants from 19 nations took part in the internationally renowned Grouting Fundamentals & Current Practice course, which was held for the second time in Europe from April 24 to 27, 2023, at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich, Germany
Source: Ernst &Sohn

During the half-day field demonstration on the grounds of the Bundeswehr University in Munich, contractors, manufacturers and suppliers presented hands-on demonstrations of injection equipment, materials and processes
Source: Ernst &Sohn