Stories and interviews
Discover exciting stories about our projects and the people involved.
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We build
Discover how HOCHTIEF is building the world of tomorrow—in today’s major cities.
We build Berlin
Berlin is the capital of metamorphosis. The metropolis has been changing over the decades like scarcely another in this world. HOCHTIEF is helping to shape this constant change—and is hence ensuring a cityscape full of exciting contrasts.
We build Hamburg
Hamburg, one of Germany’s most livable cities, is further striving for perfection. HOCHTIEF is accompanying the Hanseatic city on its way, with architectural highlights and engineering masterpieces.
We build New York
New York is the city of superlatives. For decades, the HOCHTIEF subsidiary Turner has been mastering the most spectacular projects here—often under breathtaking conditions.
We build Sydney
Sydney is booming—and must face up to the challenges of its huge appeal and attraction. With the support of HOCHTIEF’s subsidiary CIMIC, the infrastructure of the metropolis is being prepared for the future.
We build Prague
Prague has a unique cityscape. Here, buildings from the most wonderful style epochs are combined in one city. HOCHTIEF is bringing a new shine to these architectural masterpieces, and at the same time making the city on the River Vltava fit for the future.
Fascinating construction
Lifeline surgery
Dilapidated through and through, no longer salvageable. In 2012, experts declared the structure to be in a "critical condition". HOCHTIEF experts and partners have been building the new bridge and demolishing the old structure since the beginning of 2021. We completed the first section of the bridge at the end of 2023. We want to be finished by the end of 2027.
Skyscrapers radically turned inside out
Those who convert instead of demolish old buildings protect the environment and sometimes produce spectacular unique structures. Even in old skyscrapers in New York, we are creating a new lifestyle. And the technical term "refurbishing and upgrading" suddenly appears in a new, fun light.
In the realm of giants
Whether in Frankfurt, the USA, Australia or Asia: HOCHTIEF erects buildings that seem to shoot into the sky. A job for people with a head for heights.
Like Chien-Jou Chen—Skyscraper in person
Four steps to cross the river
Bridge construction means perfect planning, precise and safe execution, and fast logistics. On and above the water, this is a special adventure. At the beginning of 2020, the starting signal was given for the construction of the new Rhine bridge on the A 40 in Duisburg.
When the moles come
HOCHTIEF is building the mobility of tomorrow worldwide. Find out here how we are currently making mass transit in major European cities fit for the future and who is behind the projects. Fly under a canal, see how to dig under a concrete ceiling and be amazed at the chance finds in the ground.
Rejuvenation for a giant
Once the tallest building in West Berlin, it is now in urgent need of a complete overhaul. HOCHTIEF is tackling this mammoth task by 2023. And it is being done with „janz viel Jefühl“ (a lot of feeling), as the Berliners say.
Shifting bridges
Spectacular success for HOCHTIEF engineers on the A 45 highway: At the beginning of March 2021 they managed to achieve something that had never been done before in Germany: They slid a bridge that is almost 1,000 meters long.
We build a better world
Can less be more? Can a small idea make a great contribution to making the world we all live in a better place? We want to use our planet's resources responsibly. Take a look at how we do that in concrete terms.
Ketchup or vinegar on the fries?
"Diversity is a magic word," says Santiago Daniele, an Argentinean who is building a more than 32-kilometer tunnel in the heart of the English capital for our German-based group. There, young people are working with experienced people, Indians with Hungarians, and experts from very different social backgrounds on a common goal: to secure London's energy supply. "We celebrate our diversity," says Daniele.
Business is more than profit
Why do construction workers and other colleagues at our US subsidiary Turner plant vegetables or compost? In New York City, supposedly the richest city in the world? In the heart of Harlem, where thousands of children live in homeless shelters run by fast food, Tony Hillery provides the answer: “Here, social responsibility is more than a phrase,” says the founder of Harlem Grown. His organization, with which Turner partners, gives people a foundation-healthy food. Turner Manager Janice Haughton explains why business is about more than profit.
Traffic routes built, biotope saved
Highway and railroad expansion in the middle of a sensitive coastal biotope in California: For environmental manager Brittany Waddell, our U.S. colleague from Flatiron, the realization of the project with simultaneous renaturation of the San Elijo Lagoon, which is significant for endangered plants and animals, is "an example of the success of alternative construction projects" in which the partners work closely together. The dredged sand was used for the beaches in northern San Diego.
Five stories of mass timber
In Nashville, Tennessee, our U.S. colleagues at Turner have realized what project manager Annamarie Carden considers “just a first taste” of future construction: a five-story office building made of mass timber. As fireproof as a concrete building, Carden says. What’s more, in seven minutes, America's forests will regrow the wood that was used for the building.
Protecting the environment in highways
Developing sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions - that's what many promise. We do. Alexander Neumann explains how HOCHTIEF creatively conserves natural resources and road users' nerves when building and operating highways throughout their life cycle. In this way, we have already saved thousands of tons of CO2 in a project in the Netherlands alone.
We build tomorrow
What does the future look like? How will we learn, work, build, how will we live? Every leap into the modern age starts with bold first steps. Experience how we use digitization to improve ourselves further.
Hidden secrets in London
Where does the electricity come from? From the socket, of course. But how does electricity get into the socket? Climb aboard a red double-decker bus, meet tunnel experts from around the world and discover London's hidden secrets: welcome to our Electrical Mystery Tour. We pave the way for 200 kilometers of high-voltage cables south of the Thames.
Think tank for digitization in construction
Robots that build bridges, talk or move autonomously around construction sites: PhD students at TU Darmstadt are researching these and many other digital solutions for the construction industry in a unique partnership with the HOCHTIEF company Nexplore. The video on the right gives you a comprehensive insight into the think tank.
Close cooperation with science
Together with Ruhr University Bochum, HOCHTIEF is breaking new ground in the digital transformation of the construction industry. Together we developed the advanced training course to become a BIM professional and are researching the digital twin of a construction project. Take a look at how the shoulder-to-shoulder cooperation between science and practice works.
The project of my life
A playground for civil engineers
Simone Hafner was part of the project team building a section of the 345 km Taiwan Highspeed Rail between 2000 and 2005. This major project was a pioneering step towards a sustainable transport infrastructure in Taiwan. The rail line connects the capital Taipei in the north with the port city of Kaohsiung in the south.
20 million euros in Athens every month
Between 1996 and 2000, Thomas Bünker was responsible for finance and accounting at Athens-Eleftherios Venizelos Airport. HOCHTIEF completed what was then Greece's largest infrastructure project in 51 months at a cost of around EUR 1.67 billion (DM 3.26 billion). "With the construction volume that we realized over a period of five years, a good EUR 20 million crossed my desk every month," recalls Thomas Bünker.
Building a castle in the 21st century
Harald Eberhardt took a trip back in time to build the Humboldt Forum. From the façade to the dome, the senior foreman and his team rebuilt the Berlin City Palace. “Building a castle in the 21st century is not an opportunity you get any day.”
Floating Colossus
Matthias Karthe has taught an industrial plant in Newhaven in southern England to float. "Sinking a shell that has just been erected directly again is something you first have to dare to do." With his team, the engineer developed a floating caisson, without which the project probably could not have been realized.
A1 bridge in family hands
HOCHTIEF Construction Manager Bettina Henneke shows her 95-year-old great-uncle her construction site, the A1 bridge in Leverkusen. A place that Paul Stern knows well. He helped build the previous bridge on the same site in the 1960s. “I'm continuing the family tradition,” Henneke says in the film “Project of Our Lives.”
Family adventure in the home Africa
“Managing such a large and interesting project, and in my home country at that, I just had to be there,” Felix von Platen recalls of the “project of a lifetime.” A good 20 years ago, von Platen was in charge of the water transfer project for HOCHTIEF in Lesotho, which included the Matsuko weir and a tunnel over six kilometers long. The technical challenge was by no means everything. The team lived in a camp and had to look after themselves at an altitude of 2,000 meters.
The biggest thing for a unique person
Udo Töben has experienced a lot in 36 years at HOCHTIEF. Venezuela, Sweden, Hamburg - these are just a few of the stations the engineer has been to. In 2022, he experienced “the biggest thing I've done so far” during the expansion of the A6 in Germany: the transverse shifting of the 820-meter-long and 46,000-ton bridge over the Neckar Valley. In the film, he talks about his job on Axis 20.
Everyday life full of surprises
"A project full of surprises". That's how Christiane Zimmermann got to know subway construction in Copenhagen over four years. Here she experienced what teamwork means, how the challenges of a project weld together and friendships develop. The civil engineer appreciates the Danish way of balancing family and career.
Carved in stone
It probably was the most impressive relocation in the history of humankind—and HOCHTIEF concerted it half a century ago. The rescue of the Abu Simbel temple complex was of gigantic dimensions and developed into a race against time. For Hans-Michael Treiber it was “the project of my life”.
2.7 kilometers of spectacular technology
Dorothea Musik fell in love twice over while building a bridge in Scotland - with the city of Edinburgh, its people, nature and pubs. But above all, she fell in love with the "Queensferry Crossing," a 2.7-kilometer-long river crossing near the metropolis. "That's where my heart goes out to me as an architect." We accompanied Dorothea Musik on a visit to the "project of a lifetime".
As Heidi Drills Her Way...
... through the mountain Jürgen Mielenz experiences some of the most exciting and intense moments of his working life. When it comes to the Gotthard Tunnel, Mielenz has his own particular type of tunnel vision. He sees himself standing in the rock cave illuminated by fluorescent lamps, the soil rough underfoot, looking up to the roof that was blasted free 15 meters above, and thinks: There are another 2,000 meters of rock on top of it. It’s hard to imagine.
A day in the life of...
PPP stories
With public-private partnership activities (PPP), we quickly and efficiently refurbish public infrastructure. Read more about PPP and our aspirations for sustainable profitability and quality.
Built-up problems and their solutions
How HOCHTIEF overcomes the investment bottleneck through PPP.
This is how PPP functions
On our page about "PPP and Concessions” you find out why all participants of public-private partnership benefit.
Inside HOCHTIEF
What is it like to work for us? It would be best if you got an idea of this yourself. We will take you with us to the world of HOCHTIEF and show you what you can expect.
Interviews on sustainability
Interviews with HOCHTIEF’s management and experts for Corporate Responsibility on key topics of sustainable economic management.
“We've set ambitious goals for ourselves“
Sustainability is increasingly moving toward the center of the Group’s overall strategy. Martina Steffen, a member of the Executive Board, is HOCHTIEF’s Labor Director and Chief Sustainability Officer. In a talk with concepts Editor in Chief Torsten Meise, she explains the challenges the Group is addressing in the recently passed Sustainability Plan 2025.
“We need to have dry feet.”
Alexander Neumann believes that investing in greater resilience is a crucial factor for adapting to climate change. In an interview, the Senior Vice President Corporate Sustainability explains how HOCHTIEF can help bring about greater resilience.
“How we build sustainably”
Building modern and protecting the environment: “We pay particular attention to the use of steel and concrete in order to reduce our impact,” says the sustainability manager at our US building construction subsidiary Turner, Julia Gisewite.