Organisations are created by individuals instrumental in their formation and subsequent growth. For the ITA, International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, there are few more influential in its early development and survival than Claude Bérenguier. When the Association was founded in 1974 and its Secretariat established in France, Claude headed that Secretariat team as its Secretary General. He remained in that post for more than 30 years to 2011, when he continued his dedication to the Association as a driving force behind the creation of the ITACET Foundation which has been organising training courses all over the world for the past 15 years.

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Claude died suddenly and unexpectedly after suffering a heart attack on Friday, 30 August 2024 , aged 82.

For many in the ITA family of 80 Member Nations, Claude will be remembered as a fine diplomat, expert administrator and tireless promoter of underground infrastructure, its use, design and construction.

Claude studied civil engineering and graduated as an Ingénieur des Travaux Publics de l´Etat from the ENTPE - Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l´Etat in Vaulx-en-Velin, a small town east of Lyon, in 1965 and began his professional career at CETU – the Centre d´Etudes des Tunnels in Bron, Lyon. This was followed by a move to Paris where he worked for three years with the Ministry of Economy and International Affairs before returning for another six years of study at the ENTPE.

Together with taking on the position of Secretary General of the ITA, Claude began his career as a skilled communicator and influential civil servant with a period of 1989 to 1992 working for SETRA, the Service d´Etudes Techniques des Routes et Autoroutes (Public Institute on Roads and Motorways). This was followed with a four-year association with CETE Méditerranée, an association for Public Consulting on Roads, Transport, Environment and other infrastructure in the Mediterranean region, and from 1996 to 2000 with CODATU – Coopération pour le développement et l´amélioration des transports urbains et périurbains to promote cooperation for the development and improvement of urban and suburban transportation. Before retiring after 36 years of outstanding public service in 2002, he supported the work of CNAM – the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Institute of Technical Sciences).

For the ITA, Claude’s guiding principal was appreciation that the Association is a federation of its Member Nations. Through his skilled administration, Claude oversaw the growth of the Association and its activities and worked tirelessly to increase its influence in the promotion of the use of underground infrastructure throughout the world, taking in his stride smooth operation of its Secretariat services and managing the duties of the General Assemblies of the Member Nations each year. Claude applied these same qualities and with equal energy and dedication to the ITACET Foundation, ensuring its efficient operation and managing training courses on wide ranging topics to support the development and operation of underground infrastructure across the world.      

We will miss our colleague and friend deeply and will remember Claude’s contributions to ITA in memorials at ITA events and with ITA Member Nation societies that owe so much of their success to Claude’s untiring support and promotion. 

R.I.P. Claude