KTA is a non-profit incorporated association established in 1992 aiming to encourage sharing the information associated with a variety of issues involving tunnelling and other underground space technologies.
KTA publishes a journal under the name of ‘Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association’. Two award winning papers entitled ‘Study on evaluation of bond strength of cone-shaped button cable bolt’ and ‘Development of design charts for concrete lining in a circular shaft’ are also included in the volume.
There was an annual conference held on April 28th 2011 in the main auditorium of the Korea federation of science and technologies societies, Seoul, where a total of 15 presentations were delivered to some 250 delegates including 3 keynote lectures.
There was an open forum on tunnelling technology held on September 29th 2011 in the DongBu financial center, Seoul with some 200 delegates with the topic of ‘Past and future of tunnelling research in S. Korea’.
There was also an international symposium on the mechanized tunnelling technology held on November 11th 2011 in the Dasan hall of the Korean federation of teachers’ associations, Seoul, where a total of 16 presentations were delivered including 3 invited lectures to some 170 delegates.
There is a total of 6 technical working groups in KTA with a variety of expertise including i) tunnel standard and specification, ii) mechanised tunnelling, iii) tunnelling and support, iv) geotechnical survey and information technology, v) urban tunnelling, and vi) disaster prevention and environment. These working groups were not only performing their own research activities but also actively participating in the preparation for the major events reported in the Part 1. Note that in addition to the technical working groups, there are three special committees that have launched this year; namely, the young engineers committee, the publication committee and the underground space development committee. It was the publication committee that has published ‘Tunnels and underground space in Korea 2011’ distributed in the Helsinki congress.