By Ashley Karen
The 8th Edition of the ITA Tunnelling and Underground Space Awards ended on 8th October, with the winners in the eight categories announced during the online event.
Held since 2015, the international competition rewards remarkable achievements in tunnelling and the underground industry. The event which is organised by ITA (the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association), showcases the most ambitious underground projects plus the most delinquent innovations, techniques, and methods in tunnelling.
President of the ITA, Arnold Dix, praised the quality of the award-winning projects, underlining that “The Tunnelling Awards is a celebration of the great milestones and the great innovations achieved. It also highlights the contributions made to our planet and people. This year, 70 nominations from almost 20 countries have been considered by a panel of independently select judges. The ceremony today rewards the best in our industry, from the largest projects on earth right through to the latest innovations and productions. These amazing achievements can be enjoyed today”.
The winners in each category of the 8th edition of ITA Tunnelling Awards are as follow:
- Major Project of the Year (more than €500m): Purple Line Extension, Section 1
- Project of the Year (€50m-€500m): World’s first spiral excavation using H&V shield tunnelling method
- Project of the Year incl Renovation (up to €50m): Guanyinyan Tunnel: an urban tunnel project of the unequal span four-arch tunnel with two-way and ten-lane
- Technical Innovation of the Year: Unprecedented in-tunnel diameter conversion of the largest hard rock TBM in the US
- Beyond Engineering: Multi-pipe jacking method for the construction of city-core metro station in soft soil stratum
- Product/Equipment Innovation of the Year: Integration of robotics into the construction works of the Chuquicamata underground mining site
- Innovative Underground Space Use: V-column space of Shenzhen Huangmugang Transportation Hub
- Young Tunneller of the Year: Erica Frederickson (US)
Those interested, can access to all finalists’ presentations, panel discussion, and digital exhibition on the platform, available until January 2023.
Click here to visit this Virtual Experience.
