The International Tunnelling Association‘s (ITA) World Congress in Amsterdam this April looks set to be an event not to be missed. The response to the ITA’s call for papers has been outstanding and therefore the technical programme for the Congress includes a wide range of papers from tunnelling communities around the world.
The organising committee forms an impressive list of members, lead by Henk Oud, Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management and president of the Royal Institute of Engineers, Department of Tunnel Techniques and Underground Works. As chairman, Oud expects a exciting and thought-provoking event. “This congress, with the theme, ‘(Re)claiming the underground space’, will be an important stimulus for further development and realisation of techniques and knowledge of underground construction, for the Netherlands, as well as for the owners, clients, developers, consultants, researchers, scientists, contractors and suppliers all over the world,” he said.
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The whole event, including ITA activities, takes place at the International RAI Congress Centre, situated close to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, from Saturday 12 April to Thursday 17 April. Following a reception at the RAI on Sunday evening, the Congress will be opened on Monday 14 April at 9.00am. After the opening session address ‘Use of underground space – Visions of the future’ presented by Professor Moshe Zwarts from the Netherlands, keynote lectures will be given by distinguished speakers, including papers such as ‘Safety in Tunnelling and Underground Construction – An Australian Perspective’ and ‘The ‘Big Dig’ of Boston, Massachusetts: Lessons to Learn’.
As well as ‘Rock Tunnelling’ and ‘Soft Ground Tunnelling’, themes for the Congress sessions include: ‘Underground Space Use’; ‘Underground Space Construction’; ‘Sustainability of Underground Space’; ‘Safety’; ‘Immersed and Floating Tunnels’; ‘Research & Development’; and ‘Contract Management & Financing’. All together, more than 140 papers are due to be presented over three days, and as Roelf de Boer, Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, puts it: “an occasion like this offers a wonderful opportunity to find out the latest about new ideas, new structures and new projects that have been developed over the past years”.
Along side the Congress, a workshop is due to be held by the Netherlands Centre for Underground Construction (COB) entitled ‘Hidden Space’. In the past decade the COB has initiated and carried out research into possibilities for the use of underground space, as well as technological research undertaken on tunnel projects constructed during this time. These aspects will be the main focus of the workshop, results will be presented and possibilities illustrated and discussed.
With over 40 participating companies, this year’s exhibition is set to outdo previous events. As well as a number of high profile consultants, contractors and manufacturers, there are also a number of Dutch clients, research institutions and contractors exhibiting. Roelf de Boer describes this involvement as an intrinsic quality of the Dutch tunnelling industry. “In the Netherlands, the field is characterised by close cooperation between academic, technical and business partners, including universities, research institutes such as the Netherlands Concrete Society and the Centre for Underground Construction, contractors, the Dutch cement industry and many others,” he said.
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By GlobalDataAn extensive social programme has also been organised, including the Mayor’s Reception at the Van Gogh Museum on Monday 14, the Gala Closing Ceremony and Banquet on Wednesday 16. Technical site visits are arranged for Thursday 17 April and include coach trips to the Benelux and Botlek railway tunnels and the Westerschelde and Groene Hart tunnels.
T&TI has been working closely with the organisers of this event and will be exhibiting at what looks to be a very successful show.
