Research and development
Technology leadership is a central component of STRABAG SE’s Strategy 2030. Besides using new technologies, the Group initiates forward-looking projects, brings its in-house innovations to market maturity and pursues research partnerships, thereby consolidating its expertise across the entire Group. In the 2025 financial year, STRABAG implemented some 149 development projects and spent a total of around € 18 million on research, development and innovation activities (2024: approx. € 19 million).
Innovation and digitalisation concentrated in SID
Digitalisation and sustainability are the overriding themes these days in all segments of the construction industry. On the way to becoming a data-driven organisation, STRABAG is therefore focusing on cloud-based data storage, breaking down data silos and training its employees in topics related to data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Group is committed to the ongoing advancement of the BIM 5D® digital working method, construction-specific project platforms and AI. It is also helping to drive the advance of automation through robotic applications and semi-autonomous machines. At the same time, STRABAG is putting enormous effort into strategic innovation projects in the area of environmental sustainability. Key focus areas include the circular economy as well as the implementation of sustainable solutions across energy, engineering, and materials development.
Since 2020, STRABAG Innovation & Digitalisation (SID) – with around 470 employees more at 20 locations – has taken the lead in initiating developments and providing expert support while maintaining a full overview of corporate-wide innovation activities and their measurable results. Numerous research and development projects are realised in close collaboration between the various operating divisions and the central divisions BMTI, TPA and Zentrale Technik (Central Technical Division). A large portion of the development work is triggered by the construction projects themselves. Certain issues also require medium-term collaboration with research institutions and partner companies.
In 2025, the publicly funded project Off-Highway Twins 2 (OHT2), supported by Germany’s mFUND programme, was successfully completed in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University and partners from the IT sector. By merging (geo)data from the cloud with sensor and telemetry data from construction machinery and vehicles, up-to-date, comprehensive, detailed and semantic models of infrastructure assets and their surroundings – the so-called off-highway twins – were derived in real time using modelling, sensor data fusion and AI. These models were kept current throughout the entire life cycle of the respective infrastructure assets and successfully integrated into operational workflows.
EMilCon, a research project initiated by TPA’s Group PSS, focuses on the further development of inductive charging technology. While its predecessor project EMili concentrated on asphalt construction, EMilCon addresses the specific challenges of concrete construction. The aim is to integrate induction coils into concrete roads in order to create an efficient, reliable and durable wireless charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. As part of the Electric Road System Telecommunication in NRW (ERS.T-NRW) project, a system is being developed that not only optimises energy transmission but also intelligently manages communication between vehicle and charging infrastructure.
Launched in early 2025, the research project Construct-X, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, brings together partners from academia and industry to develop a data space for the construction sector. This data space forms the basis for a cloud-edge continuum enabling decentralised, secure and latency-free processing and provision of data on construction sites. The increased cross-company data sharing is intended to enhance transparency regarding environmental information in construction projects, boost labour productivity and strengthen resilience in logistics chains for more precise, efficient and sustainable construction projects.
The project ConCIRCLE (Constructing Circular Intelligence for Reinforced Concrete Life Extension), also funded by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, aims to develop an AI-supported assessment system that captures, evaluates and provides multimodal data – including condition, geometry, material parameters and potential pollutant contamination – of reinforced concrete components in building stock for incorporation into digital product passports. The obtained data forms the basis for the economic and environmental assessment of reuse potential and for the integration of used reinforced concrete components into secondary markets and BIM planning processes.
In the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), STRABAG took further concrete steps in 2025. The application of AI for risk analysis was actively pursued and further refined. In addition to piloting models to support cost estimation, various assistance systems for managing large volumes of data were tested as well. AI has also been successfully used to digitalise analogue processes, such as forms and invoices. Mandatory AI training in accordance with Article 4 of the AI Act was implemented for all employees.
Generative design (GD), which in previous years had been tested and successfully integrated into the operating business, was actively applied in serial construction and systematically advanced. The objective was to evolve MOLENO® Wohnen, in combination with generative design, into an AI-based planning tool that uses a configurator to design different building typologies flexibly, data-driven and largely automatically. Generative design was also established in the specialist fields of ground engineering, mechanical and electrical (M&E) building services and architecture. Planning automation and data-driven decision-making processes enable more cost-efficient and quality-optimised planning.
Following the presentation of the new Group funding model and the new adASTRA innovation programmes at Innovation Day 2024 in Cologne, these were rolled out across the Group in 2025. The next Innovation Day will take place in 2026.
To further strengthen the internal innovation ecosystem, LEADING INNOVATION – The Innovation Leadership Initiative was conceived in 2025. The programme provides middle management with a space in which to rethink and actively develop their role in the context of innovation. The focus lies on hands-on experience as well as concrete impulses and tools to effectively foster innovation.