Nov 2015

HE Essa Al Maidoor opens the exhibition of the 2015 event

Prelude in Dubai for world gathering in 2018Shani Wallis, TunnelTalk

Organisers of the third Arabian Tunnelling Conference and Exhibition in Dubai in November 2015 have a clear goal in sightand that is to strengthen the annual event towards the region’s hosting of the World Tunnel Congress (WTC) and GeneralAssembly of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) in 2018.

In just three years, the TunnellingChapter of the United Arab EmiratesSociety of Engineers (SOE­UAE), underthe auspices of its President, HisExcellency Engineer Essa Al Maidoor,has been inducted as the membernation representative of the ITA,hosted three annual conferences andsucceeded at the ITA General Assemblyat the WTC 2015 in Dubrovnik, Croatia,in a close­run vote with India, and bythe ITA Member Nations, to host theWTC and ITA General Assembly in2018. It is a remarkable developmentby the Tunnelling Chapter of the SOE­UAE and corresponds with the rapidcivil and urban development of themajor cities of the UAE and the evidentgrowth in the need for undergroundfacilities and the construction ofunderground projects in the glitteringcities of the Arabian region.

For the third annual event of the series of annual conferences in 2015, the active members of the Tunnelling Chapter ofthe Society and the conference organising department of the SOE­UAE gathered together a technical programme ofleading international speakers, a delegation of high­level officials from various government authorities and privatecompanies of the region, a delegation of approximately 500 registered delegates, an exhibition of international serviceproviders, and a vibrant group of young university civil engineering undergraduates for an introduction to tunnelling andunderground space study.

In preparing the technical sessions of the two­dayconference, the organisers created a programmethat focused specifically on topics that are, andshould be, high on the region’s list of undergroundcivil engineering priorities, inviting a group of high­profile keynote speakers to establish the themes andintroduce the important issues. The ease ofappreciating the programme was helped also by thesingle track of technical presentations, with theexception of Monday afternoon when key speakers

and organisers also hosted a Young Engineers Forum; and by an interactive conference programme that was facilitated byfree high­speed wifi internet connection and the fully enabled tablet given to all registered delegates and preloaded alsowith the full conference proceedings. Most of us can remember two or three heavy volumes of printed proceedings, thenthe CD of proceedings, and the amazing give­away of USB drives loaded for delivery of the proceedings. To provide agiveaway tablet for the purpose is a true mark of the times and the advance of the Arab region of the world in adoptingand driving forward new communications technology.

Two important themes of the conference centred on safety in operating underground facilities and the availability of theunderground dimension to provide sustainable solutions to the traffic congestion and harsh climate of the region’s major

Companies with booths at the event’s accompanying exhibition

At the controls of the shotcrete nozzlesimulator on the BASF stand

cities.

In his keynote address, Arnold Dix of Australia andcurrently based in Qatar, spoke of the vital need toaddress minimum standards of safety in operatingtunnels and underground space. In a video of a firedemonstration in a tunnel laboratory, it was madecrystal clear that it is the behaviour of smokegenerated by a major fire that causes mostfatalities, the enclosed environment becomingquickly filled with thick black smoke that not onlypoisons the air but completely blacks out visibility.Dix emphasised that minimum standards should beintroduced for all road and rail tunnels in the region, and for installing fire life safety facilities, including for the design andsignage of escape routes and for the management of sand and water inrush at the portals and entrances to undergroundspace during the heavy rain downpours and sandstorms experienced in the region.

The theme was advanced in presentations by Uwe Klinkhardt, CEO, OneSeven of Germany, about the installation of thecompany’s foam­based fire extinguishing sprinkler system in the A4 Jagdberg highway tunnel in Germany; and by ErikNeun, Principal Engineer, Coordinator International Projects, EDR GmbH, about optimising structural fire engineering formetro tunnels.

Deep, long, rail tunnels and infrastructure for high speed rail systems was a focus theme with a keynote by KonradBergmeister, who is CEO of the procurement authority of the Brenner Base tunnel through the Alps between Austriaand Italy. Tim Smart, Director in the UK of the International High Speed Rail, Transportation Business Group for CH2M,described the engineering and operating principles of high speed rail tunnels for HS1 in the UK which has been inoperation for some time, and for the HS2 project which is in planning and design and being steered by Smart through itsparliamentary approval process.

On a related topic, Paolo Perello, Engineering Geologist of GDPConsultants, raised the question of the reliability of geologicalforecasts for long and deep tunnels, and whether reliable geologicalforecasts are possible, using experience gained on relevant railprojects in Italy to illustrate these important points.

The design and construction of tunnels for potable and wastewaternetworks is a particular focus for the region and it was addressed byseveral papers and introduced by Martin Knights, Senior VicePresident and Managing Director of Tunnels & Earth Engineering forCH2M, through his presentation about the design and construction ofthe Thames Tideway and Lee Tunnel CSO Programme in London.

Several presentations addressed the design and development ofmetro and road tunnels. Karin Bäppler of Herrenknecht, Germany,described the growing demand for very large TBM diameters and thetechnical challenges involved with application of the EPB machinethat excavated the Waterview highway project in Auckland, NewZealand; and Jens Classen, Director or Mechanized Tunnelling forToto Costruzioni Generali relayed the challenges and innovationsapplied for excavation of the twin­tube TBM­bored Sparvo highwaytunnel in Italy.

The excavation of the vital cross passages between twin tubehighway and metro tunnels was the focus of a paper by Toby Roberts, Chairman of WJ Groundwater Ltd, who describedthe use of ground modification methods for depressurisation of cross passage excavation in central London; while in theexhibition area, representatives of SWS at its booth, promoted the use of its specialised TBM application for the full­facemechanical excavation of cross passages through any type of ground conditions and at higher speed than open­face andhand­mining methods.

A particularly interesting presentation was delivered by Davorin Kolic, President of the Tunnelling Society of Croatia,about the historic development of urban pedestrian tunnels and their current vital contribution to sustainable cities. Vastunderground urban precincts are being developed in Helsinki, Montreal, Toronto, Hong Kong and Singapore, providing forpedestrian access beneath the wide and congested traffic arteries on the surface, while simultaneously affording shelterfrom harsh climatic conditions. The need for such pedestrian facilities is particularly evident in the Gulf States region, withcity streets creating impassable barriers for pedestrians wanting to cross the urban environment, and with the heat of the

Gathering of the Young Engineers’ Forum

Presentation about the Khorfakkan road tunnel project in Sharjah

TunnelTalk has attended all three ATC events and is a continuing MediaPartner of the conference series

desert sun discouraging pedestrianappreciation of the cities. This situationforces everyone into their air­conditioned cars, which furtherexacerbates the problem. Perhaps thedevelopment of high quality,underground, air­conditioned metrostations and networks will provide thecore off which underground airconditioned pedestrian environmentscan spring.

The development, procurementstrategy and management of majorunderground projects is always a topicof high interest at all industryconferences, and in Dubai the issueswere addressed by severalcomprehensive and instructivepresentations.

The keynote by Julie Owen, Presidentof AACE International of the USA,described the implementation of theProject Management Office establishedfor the multi­billion dollar undergroundmetro contracts currently beingprocured by the MRT for the LosAngeles Metro; while another keynoteby David Loosemore, President ofICES, delivered a summary of theactivities of dispute adjudication boardsfor tunnelling contracts under theFIDIC forms of contract. MarkJohnson, Regional Tunnel PracticeManager North America for CH2M,concentrated on best practices andlessons learned for adoption of design­build procurement for major tunnelprojects; and Amel Siyam andFrancois Bernardeau, both of CDMSmith, described the structural and

construction challenges experienced during the sinking of shafts on the Abu Hamour surface and groundwater drainagetunnels.

A pdf download of the full conference programme with other interesting and highly relevant presentations for the MiddleEast audience, is attached to the reference list below. Copies of the proceedings are available from Stephanie Foster,Conference Co­ordinator for the Tunnelling Chapter of the SEO­UAE. A request for the proceeds may not include the tabletdelivery vehicle but will be well worth procuring in any format.

On the Monday afternoon, theconference convened another sessionof its Young Engineers’ Forum.Managed by Edgar Small, Coordinatorof Construction Management andAssociate Professor of Civil Engineeringat the American University in Dubai,and Jurij Karlovsek, Chair, and PetrSalak, Vice Chair of the ITA YoungMembers Group, the event attracted anattendance of more than 100 younguniversity students in their third yearof civil engineering degree courses at

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eight regional universities. Until the conference none of the students had benefited from any formal introduction tounderground space design and development as a civil engineering discipline. Following five presentations about thefundamentals of tunnelling and underground space design and construction, a panel discussion of senior conferencedelegates addressed questions about how each started their careers in tunnelling; the important issue of internships andapprenticeships; the importance of working for a contractor to gain necessary practical experience of the industry; and thedifferent qualities required for working in the deisgn construction, sales and management sectors of the industry.Everyone at the conference, including all the students, were invited to attend a session on the shotcrete sprayingsimulator courtesy of BASF, a Gold Sponsor of the event along with one of the region’s main tunnelling contractors: GulfRock.

To top off another excellent programme of technical presentations, organisers and hosts prepared three site visits to theKhorfakkan road tunnel in Sharjah; the Dubai Municipality sewerage station and Dubai strategic sewer tunnel project; andthe 132kV cable diversion works through service tunnels ST4 and ST5 in Dubai.

After a very enjoyable and informative conference in 2015, we all look forward to joining the SEO­UAE at the 4th and 5thArabian Tunnelling Conferences & Exhibitions next year; and in 2017 in Dubai and ahead of its premier event of hostingthe global tunnelling community at the WTC and ITA General Assembly in 2018.

References

PDF download of the conference’s technical sessions programme

Arabian aspirations for greater integration – TunnelTalk, Dec 2013

Internationals address Arabian delegation – TunnelTalk, Dec 2014

Reviving the Saudi trans­peninsula rail link – TunnelTalk, September 2013

Aerodynamics and ventilation in rail tunnels – TunnelTalk, May 2015

Cross­passage excavation made easy – TunnelTalk, Oct 2015

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