Last May, fourteen experienced nozzlemen from all over the world met at Hagerbach Test Gallery, a global hub for industrial underground expertise, to become EFNARC certified Nozzleman Examiners. Located in the Seez Valley and enclosed by the awe inspiring Appenzell alps, the gallery was founded 50 years ago by Amberg Group and it is used for avant-garde underground research and testing.
The nozzlemen came from India, Indonesia, Germany, UK, Canada, amongst other countries, to raise the bar in quality and safety in shotcrete application.
“It was a complete success. They were very nice and interactive participants. As always, everything was very well organised and prepared by Hagerbach Test Gallery, so the course ran smoothly”, said Sebastian Jehle, one of the EFNARC examiners who works for the Sika Group.
The 3-day evaluation is intended for expert nozzlemen with more than five years’ experience in wet, robotic concrete spraying and offers a mix of a practical and theoretical assessment. Applicants have to inform EFNARC of projects they have worked in and professionals with whom they’ve worked, then, the EFNARC Examiner Assessment identifies and accredits the shotcrete operators’ skills and knowledge. Nozzleman Certification will follow the successful accreditation of Examiners.
“EFNARC's goal is to achieve the highest standards in robotic wet sprayed concrete worldwide. Having earned the certification from EFNARC, the Nozzleman is at the forefront of technical development in the industry and can work worldwide”, said Christina Buxtorf-Hey, Project Manager at Hagerbach Test Gallery.
“It is very important that there are as many certificates and trained professionals for sprayed concrete as possible to ensure high-quality standards and thus safety underground worldwide”, added Jehle.
The examiner certificate is run by the Switzerland-based International Center for Geotechnics & Underground Construction (CUC) on behalf of EFNARC. CUC was founded by long-established companies with great expertise in the sector, like Sika, Amberg, Holcim, Putzmeister, Hilti, Georoc, Master Builders Solutions, Synthetic Industries and Herrenknecht.
EFNARC ensures its certification is based on technical specifications and guidelines endorsed by the International Tunnelling Association and derived from the technical and professional standards of the industry.
The fourteen newly certified examiners are now eligible to conduct:
Nozzleman Assessments targeted towards operators with minimum three years of experience, and to hold
EFNARC C2 training courses targeted towards both novice and experienced nozzlemen.
The next EFNARC Nozzleman Examiner Certification at Hagerbach Test Gallery is scheduled for September 20-22, 2022.
Meanwhile, Hagerbach Test Gallery will continue its cutting-edge research on tunnelling, mining, underground green farming and data centres, fire resistance tests and prototyping.
Please get in touch with us if you are interested in EFNARC certifications.
