Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S. A. strongly promotes research and innovation, providing its employees with conditions for the adoption of various instruments and infrastructures that enhance the results of this investment.
In awareness of its active role in the innovation and technological development of its own sector, Teixeira Duarte– Engenharia e Construções, S.A. carries out RDI activities in partnership with scientific and technological system institutions and with other similar companies.
Main partnerships in Portugal:
- PTPC – Portuguese Technological Platform for Construction
- AEC Cluster – Architecture, Engineering and Construction
- The Portuguese Structures Engineering Association (PSEA), which is the Portuguese group of the International Association for Bridge & Structural Engineering (IABSE).
Main international partnerships:
- ENCORD – European Network of Construction for Research and Development
- ECTP – European Construction Technology Platform.
a) Construction Revolution Digital Project – REV@CONSTRUCTION
The project has a global investment of circa 8.5 million euros, of which about 1.3 million euros are the corresponding value of the Teixeira Duarte Group.
It has 24 participants, including companies, academia and industry associations, and is led by “Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A.”.
Products, Processes and Services to be developed within the scope of this project:
- DIGI4Construction – development of a national digital platform for construction, with BIM4bridges pilot application, involving Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A.;
- Digital Twin for AEC – processing of design/construction data, with pilot applications, namely paving 4.0 (Mota-Engil) and concrete 4.0 (Teixeira Duarte);
- RCM4Assets – Digital Twin for Operation and Maintenance / Asset Management, predictive maintenance (Coordination Teixeira Duarte and TDGI);
- Integration of all solutions with living lab projects, including BIM4Bridges using the concepts of RCM4Assets and,
- Project Management and Communication.
The project funds these activities through outright grants.
b) Project “OMICRON”
“OMICRON” is a European project funded by Horizon 2020, as part of the Mobility for Growth applications, lasting 42 months, in which “Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A.” participates with 15 other partners from 7 European countries.
This project aims to develop innovative solutions for the maintenance and regeneration of road infrastructures, using more automated and optimized solutions through robotic technologies and intelligent decision support tools.
Teixeira Duarte is responsible for coordinating the main demonstrator of the project that aims to develop modular solutions for the execution of superior passages (for situations of: highway widening; fauna pathways and replacement of existing ones), in a fast, safe and sustainable way. On the Portuguese team, by Teixeira Duarte’s indication, the company Armando Rito is also involved (BRISA will also be involved as an interested party), and will participate as an interested party, providing access, signalling and safety during tests to be carried out on the demonstrator.
The financing originates 100% from outright grants, where 268.500,00€ have been allocated to Teixeira Duarte.
c) SHELTER Project – Structural Hyper-resisting Element for Life Threatening Earthquake Risk.
This project began in 2019 and is ongoing. The intention is to develop a globally innovative product, which can be installed in a central location of any apartment and will save the human lives of occupants in the event of an intense earthquake, with very low associated costs.
It is a 1.1-million-euro project co-promoted by the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), funded by the Portugal 2020 Program, with a total duration of 3 years. The project internally involves the areas of Metalworking, in the development of prototypes, and Buildings, in the construction of partial models of masonry buildings by Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A.. Externally, the Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) participates, for testing on a seismic table, the IADE – Universidade Europeia, for the design and architectural integration of the shelter and SPI, through a system of service provision.
BIM is an innovative technological approach that is revolutionizing the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. It consists of replicating a building in a 3D digital model that centralises all of its information – architecture, structure, water networks, electricity, mechanical installations, etc.
By adopting this tool and associating it with nearly 100 years of experience, Teixeira Duarte adds more value to its customers’ projects and strengthens its contribution to the technological advancement of the construction industry.
Advantages of BIM:
- Centralisation of all information in a single, validated and permanently connected model, involving all stakeholders in all phases of the life of a building.
- Automatic clash detection, ensuring that resources are profitable and that unforeseen circumstances are reduced, as these can lead to increased costs and lead times.
- Alternatives can be viewed and assessed in terms of cost and other project parameters.
- Sustainability analyses can be conducted, and different types of material quantity calculations can be made.
- Models can represent the completed project and include all operation and maintenance aspects. They can be provided to property owners to support their facilities management strategy.
Standardisation is a means of setting the group apart competitively, favouring companies that carry out their activities in lines with sector rules and national and international standards, to the detriment of companies operating in other ways.
In the regulatory environment, emphasis should be placed on the participation of Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A. in the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) and CO2 Foundations – Geotechnical Carbon Calculator working groups, aimed at calculating the carbon footprint of geotechnical works, as well as in the Technical Working Group (TWG), aimed at cooperation and the development of guidelines and standards for the execution of geotechnical works.
Teixeira Duarte – Engenharia e Construções, S.A. also participates in the standardisation activities of the Portuguese Standardisation Technical Committee CT156 – Geotechnics in Civil Engineering, chairing the SC10 subcommittee, a technical body that aims to issue opinions on legislation and translate CEN European standards in the field of Testing of Geotechnical Structures and the Execution of Special Geotechnical Works. It also forms part of the WG3 work group of the ISO Technical Committee TC182, responsible for preparing the ISO 22477-5 standard Geotechnical investigation and testing – Testing of geotechnical structures – Part 5: Testing of grouted anchors, the final text of which was published in August 2018.
