The World Tunnel Congress 2017: 6 days of innovation
sharing
Lausanne, August 2017.- Held in Bergen, Norway from 9th to 15th June by the International
Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) and the Norwegian Tunnelling
Society (NFF), the World Tunnel Congress and 43rd ITA General Assembly were a
momentous occasion and an undoubted success for the global tunnelling industry.
During the six days, over 1,500 delegates - experts, academics, civil and
tunnel engineers - shared their experiences, methodologies and state-of-the-art
technologies on different aspects of tunnelling and underground construction.
Key issues faced by the industry were discussed in order to achieve a unified
industry response to the surface challenges that affect urban populations.
A serene classical music introduction by the Holbergsuiten Grieg
ensemble, and an opening speech given by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon
Magnus of Norway, were followed by the warm welcome given by ITA President
Tarcisio Celestino. This paved the way for the start of the congress.
From this point flowed presentations, working groups, seminars and site
visits. With 340 technical papers and 120 lectures, the World Tunnel Congress
has once again consolidated its position as the world's premier tunnelling
event.
The International
Tunnelling and Underground Space Association makes major announcements during
the World Tunnel Congress 2017 :
• The ITA releases the
new global market study of Tunnelling industry
During WTC 2017, the
ITA released its latest market survey highlighting the economic trends in
global tunnelling. If 2016 was an excellent year, then the future is definitely
bright.
With a total €86bn global output for tunnel and underground space
construction in 2016, which represents a 23% increase over the figure for 2013,
the industry's prospects for the coming years look to be very positive.
A few noteworthy
factors have emerged, notably the rise of the Middle East as a strong market
with its €10,2bn output in 2016 comparable to that of Europe (€9,7bn). Also on
the rise is the Indian market that has doubled in three years. The European
market however remains stable. China by itself represents about 50% of the
world market.
The key future trend in
tunnelling is undoubtedly the correlation between tunnels and sustainable
development. Throughout the world, major underground projects are characterised
by their sustainable credentials: for example, many cities are now building
tunnels for the temporary storage of storm water (typically 5m-10m diameter and
several kilometres long). Metro tunnels are increasingly used to alleviate
traffic and reduce air pollution in most cities in China, with similar huge
developments on the horizon in India, in addition to recent projects in Qatar
and Saudi Arabia.
The ITA analysis predicts a global output in tunnel construction of
around €680bn, representing a pipeline of work of more than eight years. The
total combined projects for India, South-East Asia and China match the total
for Europe, and together they represent 75% of the global tunnelling output.
• The Tunnelling
Association Nigeria joins the ITA:
Nigeria was officially welcomed as the 74th member nation and
represented by Mr. Abidemi Agwor, President of Tunnelling Association Nigeria.
Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world and currently 7th
most populous nation in the world, however Nigeria’s population is expected to
grow rapidly to become the 3rd most populous nation in the world behind China
and then India which is expected to leap frog China to the first in the next 20
years. In 2015, 57,757,000 people in Nigeria lacked access to
"improved" water. A 2006 study estimated that only 1% of Lagos
households were connected to sewers.
The new membership of Nigeria into the ITA shows the strong
determination of the Africa’s most powerful economy, which represents
$520.1B with a capacity to grow at rates
greater than 5 percent yearly, as demonstrated in the 6.2% growth rate before slowing down in 2015, to attain the
goals fixed by the UN. For example, the African Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat
programme) sets sustainable development targets for a 2063 horizon; and the
sixth main target of the UN for sustainable development that states “By 2030,
[to] achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking
water for all”.
A lot of things have already been done in order to improve the
situation: Lagos has four wastewater treatment plants which have been
rehabilitated around 2010. From 2011, the state planned to build ten new
"mega wastewater treatment plants" over a five-years period with the
help of private investors. The National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan
launched in December 2013 proposed a yearly spend of $30 billions over the next
5 years.
“Membership of the ITA will certainly boost the efforts that have
previously been put into initiating the extensive promotion of using our
underground space in Nigeria. We have set ourselves a 10-year strategic plan
which we expect not just to achieve but surpass and being a member nation of
the ITA is key to us meeting these goals.
As an association with global relevance, part of our objectives is to
promote the sustainable development Goals as set by the United Nations
especially the goals that directly affect water and sewage, infrastructure and
habitable environment, we are aware that these are also core global objectives
of the ITA.” Mr. Abidemi Agwor, President of Tunnelling Association Nigeria
• From Norway
to…Malaysia!
On Wednesday 14th June, during the ITA General Assembly, the 74 member
nations of the ITA elected the host nation for WTC 2020. After rigorous
scrutiny of the three applicants, the winner was Malaysia with 30 votes,
against 22 for Australia.
Co-organised with The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM), the 2020
World Tunnel Congress will have as its theme “Innovation and Sustainable
Underground Serving Global Connectivity”.
Tunnelling Market in Malaysia:
Malaysia is experiencing steady growth in urban areas and therefore
requires improved infrastructure in transportation and energy. Recently, the
country launched successful urban underground projects such as: the SMART
project to provide a storm water storage reservoir and a 9,7km, 11,8m diameter
bypass tunnel; Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer Tunnel, which can deliver
1,89 billion litres per day, and the Mass Rapid Transit, a rail-based public
transport network.
A worldwide event
dedicated to innovation & high-skilled expertise :
The line-up for WTC2017 included:
Muir Wood Lecture
Now a much anticipated
event at WTC, this year's Muir Wood lecture was given by Professor Hakan Stille
of The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. The theme was 'Geological
Uncertainties in Tunnelling - Risk Assessment and Quality Assurance' and Prof
Stile noted that compared to other civil engineering projects, the greater
uncertainties in rock tunnelling may require adapting various standards to suit
underground projects. The tunnelling industry needs an appropriate project
model based on tollgates and milestones that is applicable to rock engineering
based on the epistemic nature of geological uncertainties and which can be
minimised by updated observation and investigation.
Prof Stille said that
interpreting warning signs can prevent events such as tunnel collapse and high
levels of water ingress, and if the project manager has overall responsibility
the work can respond to the encountered complexity.
He reminded the
audience that rock is unlike concrete and steel, so normal calculations alone
are insufficient for design verification. In most cases therefore, the
observational approach in tunnelling is mandatory and can be seen as part of
risk assessment and quality control.
A common approach is to adopt prescriptive measures such as rock
classification systems although their limitations must be understood in order
to achieve adequate risk assessments. ‘Doing things right’ and ‘doing the right
things’ form part of a dual quality system as defined in Euro Code 7 (EC7) that
must be adapted to rock engineering problems.
The “Open Session”:
Tuesday's Open Session
had as its theme 'Rethinking major infrastructure projects: a new look at
underground solutions and public acceptance.' A total of seven eminent speakers
enthralled the audience with a variety of tunnel projects and themes that
explored not just the technical and financial aspects, but also questions
around the importance of gaining public acceptance. But how do we achieve that?
Communicating to the
public the benefits of tunnelling projects, including works mitigation and
schedules, and environmental considerations, was considered critical in getting
public support and understanding for these schemes. In many of the projects
discussed, such as enlarging the underground station adjacent to Norway's
National Theatre in Oslo, and New York's Second Avenue Subway it became
apparent that neighbours and residents desire minimal disturbance (noise,
vibrations, dust etc) and limited project visibility, as well as early
promotion of the contractor's environmental programme and mitigation measures.
Where possible, from
the earliest possible stages, we should clearly identify and communicate the
benefits that these projects will bring to the localities concerned. This is
particularly true if there are to be spin-offs in terms of economic growth,
wealth creation and jobs. Local community support is therefore essential and it
is important to:
Liaise with neighbours,
stakeholders, politicians and media to highlight the construction works
schedule and identify challenges and mitigation measures; communicate with them
at all stages of the project to keep them involved;
Each project is different
and therefore technical solutions must be adapted to suit the local environment
and
Respecting the general
public is key to gaining acceptance for the project, especially when the work
site is in a sensitive area and the project has high media scrutiny.
The open sessions
generated interesting questions including how to define an environmental
programme during the construction phase; what kind of mitigations were put in
place to minimise disturbance and environmental impact (can these be reused as
tools on other projects?). And did project design teams include specific
sub-teams to take care of liaison and community relations?
Combined technical sessions
It wouldn't be a WTC
without the participation of the ITA's expert committees which were fully active
in Bergen.
The ITA Committee on
Technologies (ITAtech) looked at 'Innovation in Drill and Blast, and Rock
Support'. Papers included the use of conveyor belts for mucking on the Solbakk
project (the world's longest and deepest subsea road tunnel); investigating
blast damage; insitu pressure
measurements during pre-excavation grouting in rock tunnels, and the
design philosophy for permanent sprayed concrete linings.
ITACUS (Committee on
Underground Space) examined the 'Use of the Underground', and in particular new
ideas and uses for underground space. This went beyond simply utility tunnels
and examined new commercial uses, underground concourses and how cities can
utilise underground space for sustainable development. How can we as an
industry influence the development of new undergound uses?
The ITA-COSUF
(Committee on Operational Safety and Underground Facilities) had the theme of
'New Security Challenges for Design and Operation'. Terrorism has unfortunately
become a fact of life. How should it be managed in tunnel systems? How will
decision making be influenced in times of disaster and terror? And how can we
protect tunnel control centres from threats to their cyber security?
Working Group 22: dedicated to digital applications and BIM
The creation of the
Working Group 22 was agreed by the ITA General Assembly, around “Information
Modelling in Tunnelling”. This group gathers Australia, Austria, Brazil,
Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and United
Kingdom. Its animator is Dr. Jurij Karlovsek and Vice -animateur is Mr. Paolo
Cucino.
This working group aims to study “Building Information Modeling”
software’s application for the underground construction. Identifying the
differences between civil engineering and underground constructions and ensure
that BIM respects these differences is one of the main goal of this group. It
also focuses on the development of common procedures based on experiences and
lessons learned including other engineering fields.
About the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association:
The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) is
a non-profit and non-governmental international organization, which promotes
the use of underground space for a solution to sustainable development. Founded
in 1974 and operating out of Lausanne, Switzerland, ITA currently associates 74
Member Nations, 300 affiliated members, 17 Prime Sponsors and 60 supporters, as
well as individual members.
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