Five winners named in 2025 bauma Innovation Awards

The 2025 bauma Innovation Awards winners on the eve of bauma, 6 April. (Image: bauma)

The 2025 awards attracted 208 applications, of which 52 were shortlisted and 15 reached the final round. Winners were selected by an expert jury alongside a vote by trade journalists attending the Bauma Media Dialogue in February.

The award is presented every three years in five categories – climate protection, digitalisation, machine technology, construction, and research – and is jointly organised by the VDMA (German Engineering Federation), Bauma, and German construction industry associations HDB, ZDB and bbs.

This year’s winners, by category, are:

• Climate Protection: ProCarbonCure by ROTHO, a brand of Robert Thomas GmbH & Co. ProCarbonCure is a system that enables the sequestration of large quantities of CO₂ in concrete products. The process involves a closed curing method that allows CO₂ to penetrate deep into the concrete, ensuring sustainable and permanent storage, which the company said reduces carbon footprint of concrete products and offers a practical solution for offsetting non-reducible CO₂ emissions in cement production.

• Digitalisation: Liebherr Autonomous Operations by Liebherr-Werk Bischofshofen GmbHThe system enables wheeled loaders to perform repetitive tasks autonomously, with site deployment and mission planning managed through a web-based interface. Development of the product has been years in the making, said Dr Manuel Bös, Liebherr’s head of emerging technologies. “This innovation has been developed over decades,” said Dr Manuel. “It can create space for employees to focus on more complex activities that require human expertise.”

• Machine technology: Tunnel Enlargement System by Herrenknecht AGThis large-diameter tunnelling innovation allows existing tunnels to be enlarged using a new mechanised approach. The Tunnel Enlargement System (TES) also allows for the renewal and widening of existing railway tunnels while trains continue to operate. Developed in collaboration with Austria-based contractor Porr, the TES operates by relocating the existing tracks to the centre of the tunnel, permitting safe rail traffic during construction.

• Construction: New composite bridge construction method by Adam Hörnig Baugesellschaft mbH & Co KGDeveloped using Peri’s VCT Cantilever Track system, the method casts the carriageway slab in situ with no penetration of the superstructure, speeding up the process with cycle-based construction. German-based Peri highlighted, “This innovation improves quality and durability with no carriageway slab penetrations, while free access from above speeds up construction and reduces cycle times.”

• Research: MAXX (Mobile Assembly X-System) by Germany-based Center Construction Robotics is a semi-automated robotic platform for scaffold-free building refurbishment, designed to support energy-efficiency upgrades in older buildings. According to its developers, the system requires minimal human oversight.

The Bauma Innovation Award was first introduced in 2007, evolving from the former Deutscher Baumaschinentag awards. This year marks the 14th edition.

The Bauma exposition runs from 7-13 April.

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