Blogs Archive

Preparing for what may be ahead
21 August 2023 Over recent weeks and months, instances of extreme weather in some places call to mind – not that such should ever really be absent – that problems can and do occur.

Counting carbon, and more
24 July 2023 What gets locked into plans comes from the early thinking gone into the endeavour. Same for projects, such as underground infrastructure. Or anything.

Get together, again
28 June 2023 Summer is for gatherings and celebrations – getting together to share experience and lessons learned, such as at RETC 2023, in Boston in June, and also to celebrate successes and knowledge gained to be of benefit to the future.

Greetings, anew
28 June 2023 With the covid pandemic still on the minds on many, and the economic impacts being felt still and set to continue, and with financial wobbles in the markets yet infrastructure investment sorely needed, there is a lot to come together to discuss in the forthcoming large gatherings of the industry.

Challenges, opportunities
26 June 2023 Groundwater is never an insignificant part of the challenge of determining what is below the ground surface. It can be present in so many, often puzzling, ways and brings potential for difficulties. Consequently, examinations and what information can be obtained from such investigations carried out, ideally early on, will help to inform approaches for dewatering to counter – or might be needed to solve – construction challenges.

Weighty works
15 May 2023 In this issue, the challenge of gauging what ground conditions most likely exist is examined in a paper based on research, tested in the field, that combines employs geostatistics to sampled borehole data to generate probabilities, especially of transitions in soil profiles.

A sense of time
24 April 2023 Athens greets the international tunnelling industry in May, and with its long history of sharing knowledge and tunnels from ancient periods it also offers some appreciation of time.

With sight to see
27 March 2023 In this issue it gives us pleasure to present and consider research and thoughts around ways of seeing what is and what might be.

What may come
16 January 2023 In the infrastructure and energy sectors, and the financing and fulfilment of the same, that takes a mighty amount of planning. Consideration. Studies. In depth. Based on experience.

Paths from the present
09 January 2023 Tunnel projects are everywhere in the Americas and internationally, and the need for infrastructure investment in building new and upgrading existing underground space assets is even more pronounced.

Everything between
27 December 2022 The early days of December see attention turn more to the tunnellers’ patron, St Barbara. This annual day of celebration brings further focus to the eternal desire that projects, whether new or underway, will go well. Success and safety are wished by all.

Equipping for the future
24 November 2022 A fresh array of tools for designers and constructors is coming into play with the rising wave of digitalization. Tools are adding to the potential ways of developing and operating all types of infrastructure and energy assets, including those with tunnels.

Long sight, deep dive
21 November 2022 With so much up the air, it seems, as costs and economics bust out of their cages and politicians take to deciding what to do, for the best, recently some noises came to be made about cutting construction projects.

Exchanges and views
01 November 2022 Come autumn, come the season of meetings and gatherings and intimate conversations, in huddles as days shorten and darker evenings return, and openly at large events that draw interest from across the industry.

Space below, time above
26 September 2022 Most often, the focus of discussion surrounding projects can be about how tunnelling is being done or could have been executed. Attention is paid to process details, to design but most of all to the many choices for construction, and then the details of equipment and materials, and logistics and cost, and minimising risk while overcoming what surprises the ground may reveal as tunnels advance.

Seeking sustainability
30 August 2022 With the global industry gathering in Copenhagen for the first in-person World Tunnel Congress for a few years, much more focus is on sustainability in the creation and long-term use of underground space.

Taking a grip
03 August 2022 We are always looking to the future while trying to learn useful tips from the past, whether from our own history or the experiences of those kind enough to share lessons.

Being realistic
24 June 2022 Using London’s newly-opened Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) is a wonderful experience. How marvellous when everything is fresh and operates seamlessly. Congratulations to all teams and crews involved.

See you in Philly
22 June 2022 This issue of Tunnels & Tunneling North America (TTNA) will be circulated at the North American Tunneling show (NAT) and it’s gratifying to see that after a Covid-enforced break, NAT is back with us once more. It’s going to be a great show and we look forward to seeing you there.

A couple of milestones
23 May 2022 We mark two completions this month, one momentous, the other – well, perhaps not so.