Level 3: Project-specific innovation
Unique station roofscape
Our Australian subsidiary Leighton created a sensation with the undulating roof on Melbourne's Southern Cross Station. The structure is waterproof to the outside but "breathes" internally, filtering out smoke, diesel particulates and other pollutants. The project called for numerous innovations, and not just for fabrication and assembly of the many differently shaped roof parts. A requirement that the station should be naturally ventilated also confronted us with major challenges. The project was rendered more difficult still by the use of a wide range of materials and construction elements not previously deployed in Australia. Leighton took the challenges in its stride and won the Australian Construction Achievement Award for the project.Innovative materials and products in action
Our US subsidiary Turner is No. 1 in the American green building segment by a comfortable margin. The company demonstrated this experience in construction of the new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in Troy, NY. The project has many innovative features. Special acoustic insulation, for example, allows all of the Center's two dozen performance spaces to be used at the same time. Turner fitted the building with the first of a special kind of glass curtain wall in the USA. The curtain wall incorporates steel mullions that carry heated water, insulating the interior from the winter. The virtually silent HVAC system uses displacement ventilation to push air through registers under the seats for enhanced audience comfort. In a fire safety innovation, we installed a fabric for the acoustic ceiling panels that is normally used in firefighters' clothing. Turner also worked on a compelling solution for the main structure of the building, providing a means of anchoring it into a 45-degree slope.Minimally invasive bridge building
HOCHTIEF's US subsidiary Flatiron has developed a bridge building technique that causes minimum disturbance to the surrounding environment. The company's specially developed gantry allows all bridge construction tasks to be performed from the structure above as it is built, including pile driving, laying precast pier caps and erecting girders. When a span is complete, the gantry travels forward along
the bridge to work on the next span. This eliminates the
need for heavy construction cranes. The unique machine is
capable of constructing the whole bridge in an assembly line
process. Flatiron applied the method for the first time on the
Highway 17 Bypass road building project near Washington,
which traverses environmentally sensitive wetlands. We
secured the contract in a competitive bidding procedure
that took into account the environmental impact of proposed
techniques as well as their cost.
Innovative planning method adopted
HOCHTIEF AirPort has introduced an innovative scenario planning method in airport management. The method charts realistic scenarios for a relatively distant future and subject to relatively large uncertainty in specific external variables. Our subsidiary has adapted the method to its specific needs and is now applying it for the first time on Budapest Airport. One early success is the new organizational structure, which HOCHTIEF AirPort developed by working together with local management to identify all events and developments important to the future of the airport. The organizational structure was then fine-tuned to the resulting range of scenarios. Adopted changes included the creation of an Aviation Unit with central oversight over the development and implementation of services for airlines. In conventionally managed airports these two areas are looked after separately, which is less customer-centric than the new approach.Extending HOCHTIEF's lead in virtual planning
3D clash detection makes it possible to tell right back at the design stage if the various types of conduit laid through a building cross and obstruct each other. This is done by combining the plans for the different work packages in a digital model. Conflicts can thus be spotted early on and avoided, thus reducing costs. HOCHTIEF mainly uses 3D clash detection on large contracts such as the construction of Hamburg's Elbe Philharmonic Hall.The new service is part of HOCHTIEF ViCon's capability portfolio. HOCHTIEF ViCon established its position during 2008 in the growing virtual design and construction (ViCon)* market. The virtual 3D clash detection system is the latest in a series of HOCHTIEF successes in translating R&D into
