No abstract

The institution of a neutral Tunnelling Expert (TE) has proven to be of benefit to Austrian Tunnelling Projects. However, misdevelopments have been observed during recent years, which lead to setbacks and obstructions against utilizing its full potential. On the basis of practical experiences, the reasons and backgrounds are explained and options for improved collaboration of the participants by targeted involvement of the TE are shown. These considerations are not restricted to structural topics. They also take into account the mechanism of the social system of manpower cooperating in construction projects.

Efforts are being made in the construction industry at the moment to provide incentives for project partners to optimise construction projects with the intention of maximising the benefits for society. These efforts are concentrated on the development of contractual rules in order to bring the self‐interests of the project parties into line with the overriding interests of the construction project. But it is often overlooked that the implementation of a construction project is carried out through a social system. Important influential factors like self‐confidence, optimism, respect and trust as well as the orientation to common goals are often underestimated or even considered unalterable and thus neglected.In der Bauwirtschaft gibt es derzeit Bemühungen, den Projektbeteiligten Anreize für eine Optimierung des Bauprojekts im Sinne einer Maximierung des Nutzens für die Gesellschaft zu geben. Diese Bemühungen konzentrieren sich auf die Entwicklung vertraglicher Regeln, um die Eigeninteressen der Projektbeteiligten mit den übergeordneten Interessen des Bauprojekts in Einklang zu bringen. Oft wird dabei übersehen, dass die Realisierung eines Bauprojekts durch ein soziales System erfolgt. Wichtige Einflussfaktoren wie Selbstbewusstsein, Optimismus, Wertschätzung und Vertrauen sowie die Orientierung nach gemeinsamen Zielen werden dabei meist unterschätzt bzw. als unveränderbar erachtet und daher vernachlässigt.

In order to drive an underground tunnel, current technology offers plenty of methods. Only generally applicable statements can be made about the selection of a suitable method, as this depends on project-specific conditions. In this article, three current methods of tunnelling are compared and their characteristics and potential are described in order to produce a system for the selection of the best option.