By Lynda Myer
Being held December of current year in digital, the 8th edition of the ITA Tunnelling and Underground Space Awards is an international competition and seeks and rewards significant achievements in tunneling and the underground industry. Involving the most ambitious underground projects all over the world as well as the latest innovations, techniques, and methods in tunneling, the intended event is organized by the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.
Return of the category dedicated to equipment: Product/Equipment Innovation of the year, will be the novelty for this year’s event.
Considering as the heart of the tunneling sector, innovations are related to new product or new knowledge of an existing product and also address challenges of safety, cost-effectiveness, academic research and sustainable objectives.
Major Project of the Year (over €500M)
- Tamoios Highway – The construction of the largest road tunnel in Brazil (Brazil)
- CVB Tideway East (UK)
- Purple Line Extension, Section 1 (USA)
Project of the Year (between €50M and €500M)
- Subsea rock tunnels (Faroe Islands)
- Xiamen Metro Island-Xiang’an Cross-sea Tunnel (China)
- World’s first spiral excavation using H&V Shield Tunneling Method (Japan)
- Tiantaishan Tunnel Project of Baoji- Pingkan Highway (China)
Project of the Year Incl. Renovation (up to €50M)
- Circle Line 6 Contract 885 – Construction of Prince Edward Road Station and Tunnels (Singapore)
- Underground Tunnel Project Passing through Taiyuan Railway Station (China)
- Guanyinyan Tunnel: An Urban Tunnel Project of the Unequal Span Four-arch Tunnel with two-way and Ten-lane (China)
- Huanping Road Project (China)
Technical Innovation of the Year
- Technology for Shallow Three-lane Extra-large-section Rectangular Pipe-jacking Tunnel (China)
- Unprecedented In-Tunnel Diameter Conversion of the Largest Hard Rock TBM in the U.S. (USA)
- Semi-continuous Advance for Single Shield TBMs using Centre of Thrust Technology (UK)
- Shield Tunnel of Super-Large Section Embedded In Soft-Hard Stratum at High Earthquake-Intensity Area (China)
Beyond Engineering
- Multi-pipe jacking Method for the Construction of the City-core Metro Station in Soft Soil Stratum (China)
- Urban Long Span Tunnel Construction Hazard Mitigation Technology and Application (China)
Product/Equipment Innovation of the Year
- Non-Circular Tunnel Boring in Hard Rock (Mexico)
- Integration of Robotics into the Construction Works of the Chuquicamata Underground Mining Site (Chile)
- Equipping the TBM with “Ears” — Real-time Tunnel Geological Prediction System for the TBM Based on Rock-boring Seismic Source’ (China)
Innovative Underground Space Use
- Innovative Application of Low-carbon and Energy-saving technology to Erlangshan Tunnel on Sichuan-Tibet Expressway-A Power-generating and Self-Breathing Tunnel (China)
- Underground Transportation Complex in the Optics Valley Plaza (China)
- V-column Space of Shenzhen Huangmugang Transportation Hub (China)
Young Tunneller of the Year
- Cláudio Cabral Dias (Portugal)
- Erica Frederickson (USA)
- Feng Huanhuan (China)
- Han Chen (China)
- Lorenzo Peila (Italy)
- Rob Margariti Smith (UK)
- Sylvia De Vuyst (Norway)
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