The Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic and the Association of Building Entrepreneurs traditionally organize the professional competition Czech Transport Construction & Technology. In this year’s 22nd edition, final theses by two students from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology (BUT) were awarded in the student section. At the award ceremony held on June 24, 2025, in the historic building of Prague’s main railway station, the prizes were presented by Vice-Dean of the Faculty, Assoc. Prof. JUDr. Ing. Zdeněk Dufek, Ph.D., on behalf of the Rector of BUT and the Dean of the Faculty.

The BUT Rector’s Award was given to Ing. Richard Řehulka for his master’s thesis titled Cable-Supported Footbridge. The thesis focused on the design of a suspended pedestrian bridge crossing Bauerova Street in Brno. The structure consists of a suspension cable with an asymmetrical bridge deck suspended from one side. The asymmetry is balanced by a prestressing cable anchored to a curved deck in plan view. The suspension cable is anchored to an inclined pylon that transfers loads to the foundation. Several design studies for the bridge were carried out, based on which the proposed structure was selected and subjected to static, dynamic, and stability analysis. The modeling was performed using software suitable for cable structures, and the thesis includes not only the written report but also appendices such as technical drawings, visualizations, and structural calculations.

The Dean’s Award of the Faculty of Civil Engineering was given to Ing. Filip Krobot for his master’s thesis titled Design of the Nezamyslice–Otrokovice Railway Connection. The aim of the thesis was to develop a design study for a new double-track rail connection between Nezamyslice and Otrokovice, enabling speeds of up to 250 km/h for passenger transport. The design includes multiple variants, with horizontal and vertical alignments processed for each. A bill of quantities for the main construction elements was prepared. The variants were evaluated using a multi-criteria analysis. Investment costs were calculated for each segment, including consideration of risk factors in accordance with SPOŽES methodology.

Congratulations to both awardees!