The “Blue Wonder” (Blaues Wunder) Bridge and Dresden Castle: the practical training of SPbGASU students in Germany
From June 30 to July 7, students of the SPbGASU Faculty of Civil Engineering visited Germany for practical training. We asked the associate professor of the Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels, Ph.D. Evgeny N. Kornyliev to share his impressions with us.
Students at the practical training in Germany
“Within a week, we visited seven cities, and while we just briefly got through Berlin by the airport - bus station – airport route, the remaining six cities, located in the Federal State of Saxony, hospitably embraced us.
The first city we arrived to and stayed at for four days was Chemnitz, founded in the 12th century, and called Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1953-1990.
Chemnitz is famous for the Technical University, founded in 1878 and conducting training at eight faculties of both the humanitarian and technical specializations. Of industrial enterprises, the Volkswagen Engine Plant is the most famous.
The practical training started with a visit to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Chemnitz. Here we met with excellent specialists and friendly hosts who organized and conducted the training, namely, professors V. Regen, F. Sieber, W. Schaarschmidt, D. Frotner, H. Wunderlich and H. Kebulla.
The CCI manager made a presentation and talked about the Chamber’s activities, tasks, difficulties and prospects, after which there was a discussion in a round-table mode with Q&As and exchange of views. This form of communication was essential when visiting other organizations and institutions.
The next city was Zwickau, located 20 km southwest of Chemnitz. Zwickau is small, ancient, dating back to the Middle Ages. The great composer Robert Schumann was born in it but, nevertheless, this place is better known for the automotive industry. Since the beginning of the last century, the factories of Horch, Audi, DKV have been operating here... In the post-war period, Zwickau became part of the German Democratic Republic; its factories were nationalized, united, and Trabant cars were produced there. Currently, the industrial complex of the Volkswagen concern is located here.
Students at the practical training in Zwickau
Since the city is focused on the automotive industry, and in the future may become the German Detroit, an important place has the museum of August Horch, the founder of the automobile industry. The museum has a rich exhibition showing the development of the automotive industry in Saxony. We enjoyed visiting this place.
We also visited West Saxon University of Applied Sciences. In addition to educational programs, the university holds grant-supported research work on topics relevant to the city and industry. At the Center for Automotive Engine Electronics, we were shown a project on studying the effect of external electromagnetic radiation on the operation of car electronics and on the well-being of people in it.
No less interesting was a visit to the LINAMAR Concern. During a guided tour of the workshops, we saw the entire production cycle of hull parts for automobile engines.
To be fair, it’s necessary to say that companies that are not related to cars are also present in Zwickau. In particular, we visited a company engaged in the design and construction of industrial furnaces and refractory materials. This is IFZW International, a company known not only in Germany but worldwide.
In Marknoikirchen, we saw the work of the CADGUD GmbH enterprise as an example of maximum optimization of production processes and a reasonable combination of automation and the humans.
In Reichenbach, we visited the HLS Thermofin GmbH Company producing air heat exchange equipment for refrigeration and air conditioning systems. As elsewhere, we were first told about the company, its products, and after that the hosts took us to the workshops and showed the production process. We discussed not only the subtleties of product manufacturing technology, but also the issues of promoting it on the market, sales, economic and legal aspects.
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We were also shown the Golzschtalbrucke railway bridge - the world's largest brick bridge (viaduct). The bridge was built from 1846 to 1851 with more than 26 million bricks in its structure. The total length of the bridge is 574 m with the width of 23 m. The four-story bridge is 78 m high and has 29 spans. It is located 4 km west from Reichenbach, quite close to the border with the land of Thuringia. In 2008, repairs were completed and the bridge remains in operation. The construction is included in the list of historical monuments of engineering and architectural art of the country.
The second half of the practical training took place in Dresden - one of the largest centers of industry, transport and culture. All over the world, the capital of Saxony is famous for its Baroque architectural monuments, museum collections of paintings and other works of art. Of course, we went on an excursion to Altstadt (Old Town) in Dresden, the historic center located on the left bank of the Elbe River.
Regrettably, we could not see the Sistine Madonna of Raphael, as the Dresden Gallery of Old Masters was closed for repairs, but this is a good reason to come to Dresden again.”
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