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Getting yourself into Tunnels & Tunnelling International
Tunnels & Tunnelling International is read monthly by an estimated 13,000 tunnelling professionals, ranging from contractors and consultants to clients and machine manufacturers. Now 38 years old, the magazine is found on construction sites all around the world and is one of the very few journals that is archived for future reference by nearly all of its subscribers.
This is mainly due to its valuable technical content and its in-sight into the trials and tribulations of the tunnelling industry.
You and your company can easily be a part if this, by contributing editorial.
Site reports
Traditionally, site reports have formed the backbone of the magazine. These project specific articles usually cover three pages and comprise around 2000-2500 words (no less) with up to 6-7 illustrations (photos, diagrams and tables).
Reports can be from anywhere in the world and be about any type of tunnel project! They are also a great way of telling the international industry about technical challenges YOU have overcome during a tunnelling project, either recently completed or still underway.
As we all know, every tunnelling project is different, therefore every tunnelling site report will follow suit. But there are basic ways of making writing an article for T&TI easier!
Structuring your article
Firstly, although initially it may seem a lot, 2000-2500 words really isn’t very much at all. In fact, once started it can sometimes be a difficult to stick to this word limit!
Split your article into easy sections, possibly 4 or 5, using sub-headings to help you structure the text.
Start with a brief introduction to your project. It’s great to include a little on why your project is interesting - this basically tells the reader why it is worth reading the article in the first place!
On to the actual construction - write as though you are telling a story, trying to keep things in chronological order. Remember, the readers are all engineers too, so keep it reasonably technical. Say when tunnelling started and then go into detail.
For example, if it is a TBM tunnel, describe the machine and the lining, if NATM tell us your excavation sequence and give details of your support and lining designs, if hard rock drill and blast explain your drilling and blasting patterns and mucking out sequences. Obviously there is plenty more you can write about, these are just some of the basic facts that need inclusion.
We, and the readers, really enjoy articles that focus on particular challenges and how they were overcome. These could be anything – difficult geology, TBM cutterhead problems, spoil disposal headaches, sprayed concrete dramas, NATM support worries.
This is a great way to show off your ingenuity and will of course be job specific. You will know what is special about your own project.
Once all of this is down in words, you will probably be well on the way to (or even past) the word limit, so consider wrapping things up soon in a conclusion. This is usually best done by saying what you have learned on the job and what the current status is. Are you on schedule? If the job is late or over budget, or ahead of time and under budget, give details. What have your advance rates been etc?
There, that’s about it. Now you should have a perfectly good site report that should gain inclusion in a future issue of T&TI, telling the international industry about your activities.
All about the people!
Always, always try to include the names of all the companies involved in the project, as well as manufacturers and models of equipment you are using.
Deadlines deadlines!
Due to the technical nature of the articles, and the time it takes to re-draw the illustrations, we like to have articles with us about 6 weeks before they are published. As an example, for the December issue we would expect the finished work in hand by the 15 October. This is the absolute latest, and in fact we would prefer submission even earlier if possible.
If you agree to write an article we pencil it into our schedule accordingly. If you do have problems with the deadline please let us know as early as possible so we can look for alternatives.
How to submit
All text should be written in Microsoft Word, if possible. All photos and diagrams should be also supplied in an electronic format (where possible), as jpeg, eps or tiff files. The photographs need to be high-resolution (300 dpi) for reproduction in the magazine.
Please mark up the position of the illustrations in the text (including a caption to accompany them) and send the pictures separately (i.e. not imbedded into a Word document).
Technical articles
Technical articles form the basis of T&TI's shelf-life. For the last four decades, technical articles published within T&TI have expanded knowledge within the industry and raised awareness of new research projects or construction techniques. Technical articles are generally published at between 2500-3000 words, but we occasionally accept more or less depending on the subject matter.
The article should form a basic introduction, main body and conclusion format and should include as much technical data as possible, using tables and graphs where appropriate.
Try to be concise - break the article up into manageable paragraphs with succinct subheadings as this helps the article flow. Keep bullet points or numbered lists to a minimum as they take up a lot of room on the page.
We always like to include a short single paragraph introduction (or abstract) at the top of the article and ask that you include your full name and job title, as you would like it to appear in the magazine. Make sure that references are numbered (both within the text and at the end of the article), and that they include all relevant details (i.e. author, publication date, title of paper, publication name and issue, page number).
Submission
Due to the technical nature of the articles, and the time it takes to re-draw the illustrations, we like to have articles with us about 6 weeks before they are published. As an example, for the December issue we would expect the finished work in hand by the 15 October. This is the absolute latest, and in fact we would prefer submission even earlier if possible.
If you agree to write an article we pencil it into our schedule accordingly. If you do have problems with the deadline please let us know as early as possible so we can look for alternatives.
All text should be written in Microsoft Word. All photos and diagrams should be also supplied in an electronic format (where possible), as jpeg, eps or tiff files. The photographs need to be high-resolution (300 dpi) for reproduction in the magazine.
News
We're always interested in hearing about project developments or information in regard to possible news stories, as well as newsworthy photographs or information about tenders and contract awards.
If you would like to introduce yourself to T&TI's news desk, then drop our news editor, Patrick Reynolds, a line on +44 (0) 20 8269 7789 or email afoley@tunnelsonline.info
Press releases / Product news
If your company has developed a new product, why not share your success with T&TI readers? The best advice we can offer you is to send us a press release detailing your new product and any advances in technology. Make the release simple and informative. Make sure you concentrate on the product/development in question and don't include too much information about your company history.
There are specific formats for writing press releases. You will improve the possibility that your story will be used if you follow these. The first part of the press release needs to include a brief summary of the product or subject. It should follow the basic 'who, what, why, when, where' information formula. This ensures that you'll get the most important information in at the start of the release.
Press releases generally follow what is known as an 'inverted triangle'. This means that the most important information should be at the beginning, with less important information in the second paragraph, and so on. Press releases are designed to transmit facts - any opinion expressed should be placed in quotes, clearly stating whose opinion it is and their role in the company. Most importantly, make sure you include contact details in case we have any questions about the release.
All text should be written in Microsoft Word, if possible. Photos should be also supplied in an electronic format, as jpeg, eps or tiff files. The photographs need to be high-resolution (300 dpi) for reproduction in the magazine.
Jon Young - Editor 
tel: +44 (0) 20 7936 8826; email: jyoung@tunnelsonline.info
Maurice Jones - Technical Editor
tel: +44 (0) 20 7936 8827; email: mjones@tunnelsonline.info
Kris Mole - News Editor (News)
tel: +44 (0) 20 7936 8828; email: kmole@tunnelsonline.info