The Committee faces a busy schedule over the next few months, preparing the programmes and choosing the lecturers for several training sessions which are in the pipeline and will be organized by the ITACET Foundation.
“Long Tunnels at Great Depth” will be the topic of a training session to take place on June 20th-21st at the University of Savoie, Le Bourget du Lac, France. This event has been organized at the request TELT (the Lyon –Turin Euralpine Tunnel promoter), which is in charge of the completion of the 65 km long international section of the tunnel, from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in Frane to Susa/Bussoleno in Italy. The aim is to share experiences on the excavation of long tunnels at great depth, with examples from around the world. The session will take a look at the Mont Cenis Base Tunnel project, technical issues surrounding the construction of long and deep tunnels (with an example from Asia), financial and contractual issues and specific concerns of tunnel owners such as environmental impacts, health and safety and communication.
South America continuous to remain highly active in education actions, with training sessions planned in Argentina, Chile and Colombia. The session in Argentina will take place on 5th September 2018 within the scope of the 8th “Tunneling and Underground Space Days”, organized by the Argentinian Association of Tunnels and Underground Space (AATES) and will focus on The Management of (User) Safety in Underground Railway Facilities”. The programme for this session will be established in collaboration with ITA COSUF and will look at safety principles for railway and metro tunnels, lessons learnt from past tunnel incidents, the role and main features of safety equipment, the main actors, roles and responsibilities in terms of safety for tunnels in operation, safety documentation, crisis preparation and maintenance requirements. The Sao Paolo metro network will serve as a case study. Last year’s session on “Sustainability and Eco-friendly Tunnelling” organized within the same event, gathered 111 participants and it is hoped that this year’s session will be just as successful.
Two other training sessions are also planned in September in Chile (date not yet fixed) and Colombia on 17th -18th September (to be confirmed at the time of writing). Both will deal with “Mechanized Tunnelling” and topics covered will include the advantages and disadvantages this type of excavation, selection criteria for TBMs, microtunnelling and trenchless techniques, segmental lining, FRC tunnel segments, deep shafts, cutting tools, compressed air works, new variable density machines, risk and safety management and on-site logistics.
Preparations for the WTC 2019 in Naples, Italy, are already underway and two separate short courses will be offered. A two-day course on “Information Technology for the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Underground Works“ will be held on 3rd-4th May 2019. The aim of this course is to highlight some of the most advanced aspects of digital and information technology applications in the design, construction, maintenance and refurbishment of underground works. The use of BIM in tunnelling will notably be discussed, in addition to the use of automation and virtual and augmented reality as tools to improve the tunnel construction process and advanced technologies for geotechnical mapping, exploration and monitoring.
The second course will take place on 4th May 2019 and will focus on “Tunnel Design, Construction and Operation: Communication and Stakeholders Engagement”. There is growing awareness of the need for efficient communication with the populations and the stakeholders involved in the increasing number of underground projects all over the world. Engaging in dialogue is necessary at all stages. This course will provide advanced information on communication techniques and approaches that can be applied to foster interaction amongst stakeholders, through the use of new media.
Various other sessions are still at the initial discussion stage and will hopefully take place in Mexico, Brazil, China, Nepal, Nigeria and Malaysia.