HERRENKNECHT nominated for "Hermes Award 2008".

Herrenknecht was nominated as one of the five finalists for the international technology prize, the Hermes Award 2008. The innovative new pipeline laying technology, Direct Pipe, greatly simplifies the underground laying of long pipelines. The five nominated companies were presented with their nomination certificates at the Hanover Trade Fair on Monday, 21 April 2008.

Hanover, 21 April 2008. Herrenknecht was selected from a field of more than 50 applications as one of the top five companies for the Hermes Award 2008. This internationally prestigious award is awarded every year at the opening ceremony of the Hanover Trade Fair. To be eligible for entry, products must meet the following conditions: they must be being exhibited for the first time at the 2008 Hanover Trade Fair, they must have been tested in industrial use and/or be in actual industrial use and they must be regarded as particularly innovative from a technical and ecological standpoint. Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster, director and CEO of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and chairman of the jury, judged the quality of this year’s entrants to be extremely high. “It was a neck and neck race for the first five places. All five nominated products are quite outstanding.”

Werner Suhm, member of the board of directors of Herrenknecht AG, received the nomination certificate from Prof. Wahlster and Sepp Heckmann, member of the board of directors of Hanover Messen AG, on Monday, 21 April 2008 in the presence of Christian Wulff, prime minister of Lower Saxony and Jürgen Thumann, president of the BDI, the Federation of German Industries. At the opening ceremony of the Hanover Trade Fair held the previous evening, Dr Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research, conferred the award in the presence of Dr Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, on the winner of the Hermes Awards 2008, Zenergy Power GmbH, Rheinbach, and presented the five nominated companies.

Herrenknecht presented its entry to the competition: the new Direct Pipe process which greatly simplifies the underground laying of pipelines. The processes currently used, for example for supporting the drill string, are relatively complicated and risky. With the Direct Pipe technology, the borehole is drilled in one single operation and a prefabricated and tested pipeline is inserted. The new single-stage process speeds up the trenchless laying of pipelines and slashes the cost of equipment, construction plant and personnel. Direct Pipe celebrated its world premier in the fall of 2007 with the laying of a 464 meter long protective steel pipe under the Rhine at Worms in one single continuous operation in just 13 days.

Click on Press Section and Research and Development for further information about Direct Pipe.

Link to Hermes Award 2008.