History

The Institute of Foundation Engineering and Soil Mechanics (IGB) at TU Braunschweig was founded in 1974 with the nomination of Dr. Hanns Simons as a professor. Until then, the areas of responsibility of the IGB were represented by the Institute of Road Construction and the Institute of Railway Engineering.

Within a short space of time, it was possible to establish an institute that was largely self-financed through research projects and applied science and soon became one of the important foundation engineering institutes in Germany.

After the sudden death of Professor Simons in 1984, the teaching and research work was continued with particular commitment and dedication from all members of the institute and the fields of activity were expanded.

Walter Rodatz was named the new head of the institute on January 1, 1988. Prof. Rodatz had previously been an authorized representative of an engineering company and had been involved in the planning of tunnel structures (e.g. the Emstunnel near Leer, the fourth tube of the Elbe Tunnel) as well as environmental protection projects. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Walter Rodatz passed away on April 11, 2001. He led and shaped the Institute of Foundation Engineering and Soil Mechanics for more than 13 years. His exceptional achievements as a university lecturer at the Technische Universität Braunschweig characterized him as an outstanding and sincere personality. His interaction with the students and staff of the Institute was always characterized by human warmth and helpfulness.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Niemeier took over as provisional head of the institute for the transitional period until the professorship was filled again.

On October 1, 2002, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Stahlmann took over the leadership of the IGB-TUBS. Prof. Joachim Stahlmann received his diploma in civil engineering from the Technische Universität Braunschweig and immediately afterwards completed his PhD at the RWTH Aachen at the Institute for Foundation Engineering, Soil Mechanics, Rock Mechanics and Hydraulic Engineering. Prof. Stahlmann acquired his extensive geotechnical expertise while working on numerous projects in the office of Prof. Dr.-Ing. W. Wittke (Aachen) and most recently as head of department at ARCADIS Consult GmbH (Darmstadt). This has ensured the continuation of the practice-oriented research that has characterized IGB-TUBS from the very beginning.

From 1974 to 2010, the institute was located at Gaußstraße 2 in an old building with offices, secretariat, library and archive. The soil mechanics laboratory, other offices, rooms for field equipment, model tests and workshops were located on the Okerufer. There were also rooms for seminars and practical courses.

Since the beginning of August 2010, the institute and its laboratory have moved into new facilities at Beethovenstr. 51b. Here, the existing building of the magnetic track system was converted for our institute and for the Institute of Road Engineering (ISBS) and adapted to today's requirements.

On the initiative of Prof. Dr. Joachim Stahlmann, the former Institute of Foundation Engineering and Soil Mechanics (IGB) was renamed the Institute of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (IGG) in TU Braunschweig's official gazette no. 1282 of December 17, 2019. With this step, the importance of geomechanics, which was previously subsumed under the term 'geotechnics', is now appropriately represented.