During the 45th General Assembly in Naples, the ITA approved the creation of a new working group called Shaft Design and Construction.

16 individuals from 8 countries participated in the first Working Group 23 meeting, facilitated by Siamak Hashemi and Joe Lux, Animateur and Vice-Animateur, respectively.

For this first year, the objectives of the new WG will be to:

• Establish the correct terminology and nomenclature for shaft design and construction by providing suitable definitions for relevant items,
• Provide suitable classification for shafts based on their geometry / application / construction method for a more uniform understanding of the design and construction implications,
• Classify the shaft construction methods for soft ground and rock and provide some general design guidelines,
• Create a database of shaft construction case histories, look at the extreme conditions and challenging cases,
• Produce literature on shaft design and construction to meet the needs and demands of the members,
• Offer short courses and workshops for design and construction of shafts using the top experts in the world,
• Interact with other working groups to collaborate on issues of common interest (i.e.conventional VS mechanized systems with WG14 & 19, Health and Safety with WG-5, maintenance with WG-6, Seismic with WG-9, etc.).