Anyone who owns a car or has taken the metro
has already experienced underground space. If “tunnels” are a common concept
and may look alike one another; behind the curtains, civil engineers,
designers, architects, urban planners and the global build industry keeps on
thinking and re-thinking underground space. At the crossroads of environmental,
technical, technological and societal issues, the utilization of subterrean
spaces represents a solution for the future and a sustainable development.
Since 2015, the international competition
"the ITA Tunnelling Awards" seeks and rewards the most
ground-breaking international innovation and outstanding projects in tunnelling
and underground space utilization. The two first editions of the ITA Tunnelling
Awards received more than 200 entries and 64 nominations, rewarded 21 projects
and personalities and gathered more than 450 attendees.
Through 9 categories and 1 Lifetime
Achievement Award, the ITA Tunnelling Awards is becoming an international
standard for tunnelling projects. This edition, the event took place in Paris,
November the 15th, during the congress of AFTES (French Association of
Tunnelling and Underground Space). After 2 days of congress and technical
conferences, the Awards ceremony was a grand finale and offered a vibrant
Parisian evening at famous Salle Wagram, rhythmed by a French cabaret. With
more than 400 attendees for the 3rd edition (day and ceremony), the ITA
Tunnelling Awards is becoming a new “rendez-vous” for the global tunnelling
industry.
• ITA Tunnelling Awards 2017: winners
of the 3rd edition!
• Major Project of the Year (over
€500M): Doha Metro - Qatar
The
Doha Metro is an underground, elevated and at-grade rail network that will be
built in two phases. The first phase with 85km network length is planned to be
operational in 2020, consists of 3 Lines with 37 stations and will be served by
75 trains.
For the tunnelling, 470,497 concrete segments
were required to produce 70,071 tunnel rings to construct the 111.5 km of
tunnels between July 2014 until September 2016. In 2015 Qatar Rail achieved the
Guinness World Record of the highest number (20) tunnel boring machines
operating on a single project. The
continue effort amongst Qatar Rail’s 54,000-strong workforce has enabled the
projects’ accident frequency rate to be one of the lowest for any major project
in the world. Qatar Rail being recognized internationally by several
prestigious organizations such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents (RoSPA) Gold Award 2016, the British Safety Council’s International
Safety Award in 2017 for Qatar Rail’s Headquarters, and the International
Standards Organization (ISO) accreditation in 2016 for quality, environment,
health & safety. The Doha Metro will revolutionize the way people move
around Doha and its suburbs.
• Tunnelling project of the year
(50-500m€): MTR Shatin to Central Link (SCL) – Hong Kong - China
The project included high-risks tunnelling
works in a 4km tunnel (part of a 17km strategic railway line), underneath Hong
Kong’s highly built-up urban areas, in close proximity to residents. In a
complex geological situation, different tunnelling methods had to be used such
as cut-and-cover and drill-and-blast at only 6m above a live water supply tunnel;
TBM crossing twice at 6m below an operating railway line…
A particularity to be mentioned is the
alternative design which was used for a large-span mined soft ground tunnel to
reduce construction and safety risks as well as the redesigning of the ventilation
shaft to improve safety.
• Project of the year – up to 50€M :
Fjærland Hydropower Plants-Norway
The Fjærland HPP consists of 6 HPP in rural
surroundings along the Fjærland Fjord. Two of these HPP is with tunnel. These
tunnels where developed without road access and within strict environmental
requirements.
Innovative solutions were developed in the
project and small interventions in the surrounding nature were operated. The
finished result will be not only an environmentally friendly production
facility for electricity but also a beautiful feature on the shoreline along
Fjærlandsfjorden.
• Technical Project Innovation Of The
Year : Construction of bifurcation section of underground expressway underneath
residential area in Yokohama (Japan)
In this project, instead of using open cut
method, new technologies were developed and introduced to construct the large
bifurcation section of 20m width and 200m length from the main tunnel by trench
less construction method directly under the residential area. New technologies
for widening tunnel from segmentally lined tunnel were deemed such as the
combination of Enlargement Shield Tunnelling Machine (ESTM) and Large Diameter
Pipe Roof (LDPR).
Utilization of advanced technologies
contributed to the completion of the bifurcation works without giving any
adverse impact to the residential area at surface and the successful opening of
Yokohama North Line (8.8km) expressway.
• Technical Product/Equipment
Innovation of the Year : Strength monitoring using thermal imaging – United
Kingdom
SMUTI is a completely novel method of
monitoring sprayed concrete strength gain. SMUTI allows the strength of the
whole shotcrete lining to be monitored continuously in real time from a secure
position, bringing huge benefits to safety, quality control and productivity.
SMUTI is easier to use, safer and quicker than existing methods and the data is
accessible, auditable and traceable.
• Sustainability Initiative of the Year
: Anacostia River Tunnel Project - USA
The Anacostia River Tunnel (ART) is a major
component of the DC Water Combined Sewer Overflow remediation program. When
completed, the entire project will reduce sewer overflows to the Anacostia
River by 98%. The ART is a 3,8km long tunnel with an internal diameter of 7m.
Existing overflow sewers are connected to the tunnel using 30m deep shafts with
a specially designed configuration to control inflow into the tunnel while
reducing wear. Tunnel has 100 year minimum design life. Tunnel was excavated in
urban setting with minimum impact to the environment and the surrounding
community.
• Safety Initiative of the Year :
Telemach Cutterhead disc robotic changing system – Hong Kong - China
Telemach is a semi-automatic multi-purpose
robotic arm installed inside the front shield of TBM aiming to safely replace
used cutter discs with the operator remaining inside TBM control room. During
the stoppage for TBM maintenance, the arm is able to manoeuvre into the
cutterhead chamber and perform cleaning and replacement of worn discs by a new
unit.
This 10 years development project is part of
the demonstration that Robotic industry, adapted to Tunnelling environment, can
contribute to a better and safer tunnelling environment leading to an enriched
wellbeing of workers.
• Innovative Underground Space Concept
of the Year : Cavern Master Plan – China, Hong-Kong
China is currently facing urban housing
issues as the cities are overcrowded and lack of available space is now
obvious.
The project was born by noting that rock
caverns may serve as a sustainable source of long-term land supply in Hong Kong
and may represent a new solution to relocate some functions and release some
precious space.
To unleash the potential of this hidden land
resource, Hong Kong has formulated its first Cavern Master Plan (CMP) to guide
and facilitate territory-wide application of rock caverns for supporting
continuous social and economic development of the city. The potential uses of these cavers vary
between food/wine storage, archives and data storage, research laboratories,
vehicle parking…
With the launch of the CMP, numerous cavern
projects covering a wide range of uses are being implemented in various the 48
Strategic Cavern Areas delineated in the plan.
• Young Tunneller of the Year : Tobias
Andersson – Norway
Tobias started as a young engineer for JV
SkanskaVinci at the notorious and challenging Hallandsas project in Sweden
where after 4 years he became a TBM manager. He moved on as TBM Site Manager
for LNS AS to be a part of bringing TBMs back to Norway through the Rossaga
HEPP, close to the arctic circle, were challenges like extreme winter
conditions, karstic ground and very hard rock over 300MPa were faced. Tobias
and his team managed a 25ton mainbearing change, 3km into the tunnel in impressively
6 weeks. Now he works as a TBM construction manager for JV SkanskaStrabag at
the Ulriken project in Norway and just had a breakthrough in the first railroad
tunnel excavated with a TBM in the Norwegian history.
• The Lifetime Achievement Award: Prof.
Einar Broch
Professor Einar Broch has been a member of
ITA since its creation. He was President of ITA from 1986 to 1989, and he is a
member of Norwegian Academy Technology Sciences and the Norwegian Society
Professional Engineers. He is notably recognized for his outstanding
contributions (more than 100 scientific publications) concerning hydroelectric
installations.
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 aims at promoting the use of underground space as a
solution to sustainable development. Founded in 1974 and operating out of
Lausanne, Switzerland, ITA currently has 74 Member Nations, 300 affiliated
members, 17 Prime Sponsors and 60 supporters.
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