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Tarcisio B. Celestino – Interview
31 October, 2023
Professor Tarcisio B. Celestino is a tunneller of international renown. A past President of the ITA, he combines university professorship in his native Brazil with lecturing and Ph.D. jury work abroad. He has written academic papers on sprayed concrete and on complex loading conditions in asymmetric geologies among many other topics; and, he remains a working engineer, leading Geotechnical Engineering for Themag Engenharia Ltda on projects in South America and around the world. He spoke to Julian Champkin

Counting geoscience measures
30 October, 2023
Bentley’s subsurface specialist company, Seequent, recently published its latest report on data management trends, challenges and opportunities in geoscience

Pumped storage hydropower – helping to drive the energy transition
30 October, 2023
With the need to address the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources, pumped storage hydropower can help, says Stantec’s Greg Raines, Vice President, and Don Erpenbeck, Vice President and Global Section Leader (Dams & Hydropower). Underground construction has a role to play in pursuing that path

BIM-based ground modelling for tunnel projects
30 October, 2023
The trend for digitalisation in geotechnics and tunnelling has been spearheaded by developments in BIM. But despite advances, BIM ground modelling remains a challenge due to the inherent heterogeneity and uncertainty of ground conditions, which are difficult to describe and model. This paper presents a new concept and framework for ground modelling in BIM. It looks at state of the art use of the approaches on Austria’s Angath Tunnel project and discusses also what is required still to enable industry-wide adoption. The work on BIM ground modelling contributes to standardised and comprehensible work processes, and also gives a stronger foundation in data to support decision-making

Trenchless solutions serve Red River Valley needs
30 October, 2023
Key infrastructure to meet vital water supply needs in Red River Valley, North Dakota, were met with the help of trenchless tunnelling. The project is described by Victoria Encapera, Aswathy (Ash) Sivaram, Kurt Ronnekamp and Kayla Christopher of Black & Veatch

STUVA 2023
27 October, 2023
The STUVA conference takes place in Munich in early November and promises a packed programme with varied discussions plus a busy exhibition

Rental Solution in Stockholm
26 September, 2023
Working on two short-term subway tunnel and station projects in Stockholm, Sweden, the Italian construction company Itinera had the challenge of acquiring expensive mining equipment or find another solution. It did so through a rental deal with Sandvik that includes equipment, parts and a full-time service agreement, says Mikael Vallgren

Breakthroughs on Turkey Rail Project
26 September, 2023
A Robbins single shield machine recently successfully completed its second tunnel in challenging hard rock on the Bahçe-Nurdagi rail project, in Turkey

Updated Code on Risk Management
26 September, 2023
Earlier this year, the ITA and IMIA published the updated, 3rd edition of their Code of Practice for Risk Management in Tunnel Works

Stronger for the Next 50 Years
26 September, 2023
To help deliver on the ambitious agenda that got him elected barely 12 months ago, ITA President Arnold Dix has had a whirlwind year of near non-stop global travel. As promised to the organisation’s gathering on the occasion of the World Tunnel Congress (WTC), in September 2022, in Copenhagen, Dix planned to act fast and relentlessly in pursuit of the mission that got him elected, unopposed. Since then, he has built momentum for speedy delivery, barely stopping on the way. Here, he outlines for T&T readers what has been achieved so far and what is coming next

Helping to See the Way Ahead
26 September, 2023
Lighting technology has advanced in recent years to bring sufficient cost-effective, environmentally well-performing illumination to underground settings in support of health & safety as well as construction efficiency on projects. Darren Woodhouse, Lighting Director of LMXLED, discusses with T&T the developments and options of using LED systems in tunnel projects

AFTES 2023: Gather in Paris
26 September, 2023
Michel Deffayet, President of the French Tunnel and Underground Space Association (AFTES), outlines the key aspects and packed programme of the major tunnelling conference to be held in Paris, in early October

Extending Access Possibilities
26 September, 2023
Preassembled, needing only a small footprint and able to self-extend during shaft sinking as well as remain for permanent use afterward, XL Industries’ XE5 mechanised access lift system has worked on some major tunnel projects

Hydro Caverns
26 September, 2023
A review of the world’s hydropower caverns by Dr Klaus Hönisch of Fichtner GmbH’s Renewable Energies & Environment, Hydropower Department

From Gold Mine to Hydroelectricity – Kidston Pumped Storage Project
26 September, 2023
At the annual joint BTS and MinSouth meeting, held on 9 February at the Institution of Civil Engineers, in London, Clare Önal – a Principal Engineer with the tunnels team of Mott MacDonald – gave a presentation on the conversion of an abandoned gold mine at Kidston in Queensland, Australia, to a pumped storage hydroelectric (PSH) scheme. Andrew Hindmarch, Senior Principal Tunnel Engineer of Mott MacDonald was the rapporteur

Forecasting tunnelling progress using AI
25 August, 2023
The Harding Prize Competition is named after the founder of the British Tunnelling Society, Sir Harold Harding, and is for entrants under the age of 33. Shortlisted papers were presented to the BTS evening meeting on 13 April, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, in London. Jake Rankin, data scientist with J Murphy & Sons Ltd for this project, was voted winner of the 2023 Competition with a paper entitled ‘Artificial Intelligence for Forecasting Tunnelling Progress’. It is published here with the author’s permission

Boring for Silvertown
25 August, 2023
Silvertown road tunnel project features a huge, single TBM – and a U-turn for the machine – to complete the twin tube under the Thames, in London

Spalling Risk Reduction
25 August, 2023
Narrower diameter PP fibres where shown earlier this year in fire test to reduce concrete spalling risk, and for lower dosages of the new Ignis product. Adfil’s Jeroen Smet, Technical Director, discusses the R&D results

Fibre Optics for Measuring Temperature
25 August, 2023
Fibre optic cables plus powerful heat detection and evaluation systems can enable more rapid and focused response to fire incidents in tunnels. Report by Thomas Schmidt

Water-mist for fire suppression
25 August, 2023
Mario Flores, Manager of Mining & Tunnelling Segment at Fogmaker, discusses design approaches for water-mist fire suppression systems for rapid and reliable intervention on underground equipment