Main activities of the CzTA in 2011:

Tunnellers´ Afternoons

  • The CzTA organised the Tunnelling Afternoons (regular seminars focused on various aspects of tunnelling). The first Tunnelling Afternoon was focused on the construction of tunnels on the 4th rail transit corridor between the towns of Benešov and Votice. It took place on 23rd March 2011.
  • The second event of the Tunnelling Afternoon was held on Wednesday the 1st June 2011, attracting great interest of Czech professionals. It was focused on the planning and construction of the Prague metro line VA using two Herrenknecht EPB TBMs. Part of the event was an excursion to se one of the machines, the one deployed on the Vypich construction site.
  • The third Tunnelling Afternoon took place on Wednesday the 14th September 2011 in Brno. It was organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Technical University of Brno. Its topic was the secondary lining of tunnels, with a particular focus on the Královo Pole road tunnels, which are currently being completed.
  • Designing, execution and complications associated with construction pits for portals were the topic of the last Tunnelling Afternoon in 2011. It was held on 22nd September 2011 in Prague.

Tunnel Magazine

  • CzTA regularly publishes the magazine TUNEL, it is published both in Czech and English languages. The magazine is distributed to Czech and Slovak readers and to all tunnelling associations. Four issues were published in 2011.

CzTA Documents Edition

  • The CzTA editing activities were exceptionally ample in 2011. The following documents were published one by one:
  • Underground construction terminology survey (containing terms in Czech, English and German). Part 1 is divided into six topic areas; it contains the explanation and translation of terms. Part 2 contains alphabetical lists of terms in individual languages (Czech, English, German).
  • The Austrian Guideline for the Geotechnical Design of Underground Structures with Conventional Excavation – translation to Czech (the translation to Czech was published with the gracious approval of the Austrian Society for Geomechanics, ÖEGG)
  • The translation of the ÖNORM B 2203-1: Underground Works – Works Contract, Part 1: Cyclic Driving (Conventional Tunnelling), to Czech; the translation to Czech was published in a limited edition with the gracious approval of the Austrian side.

Technical excursion abroad

  • A traditional annual excursion to construction sites abroad was organised in October, this time heading toward Austria. On the 6th and 7th October 2011 participants visited the underground pumped storage power station, Reisseck II. They also visited the Grosser Mühldorfer See dam, which will serve as the upper reservoir for the pumped storage power station, and the very interesting mining museum in Klagenfurt.

The following CzTA Working Groups actively worked in 2011:

  • The Working Group on sprayed concrete – it focused itself on updating technical specifications on the application of sprayed concrete in the Czech Republic to rail tunnels, road tunnels, final linings and on problems of the certification of nozzle operators.
  • The Working Group on technical education – members of this WG contributed most of all to the publication of the CzTA document: Underground construction terminology survey.
  • The Working Group on mechanised tunnelling: the establishing of this new CzTA WG relates to the deployment of two EPBS machines on the Prague metro Line A extension project. The main intention of the WG is to prepare a user manual on mechanised tunnelling in the conditions of the Czech Republic