Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, 29th September 2009

8.15 – 9.00        Registration & Coffee

9.00 – 9.10        Editor’s Comment, Tris Thomas 

9.10 – 9.50        TBM technology up-date - Dr Martin Herrenknecht, Chairman of the Board of Management, Herrenknecht AG, Germany.

An in-depth presentation covering modern advances in TBM technology 

9.50 – 10.30      A TBM/NATM synergy? - Lok Home, President of The Robbins Company,

A discussion on whether TBMs can be designed to achieve daily advance rates in caving, squeezing, unconsolidated ground conditions equal to those achieved by the NATM method. Further, the talk will go into whether some of the NATM rock support principles can be applied and integrated into an overall systems approach. 

10.30 – 11.00    Tea & Coffee  

11.00 – 11.40    Advances in Sprayed Concrete Lining technology and practices - Alun Thomas and Ross Dimmock, Mott MacDonald, UK 

A review of the latest developments in sprayed concrete linings (SCL), charting the development from traditional two pass linings through the use of permanent sprayed concrete for secondary linings to "single-shell" permanent SCL, both with spray-on waterproofing membranes and without any additional waterproofing. The move from steel mesh reinforcement to steel and synthetic fibres will also be presented. The advances in technology that have permitted these shifts towards realising the full potential of SCL tunnelling will be reviewed as well as the improvements in design methods needed to support this. Practical examples will illustrate the benefits and remaining challenges. 

11.40 – 12.20    Experiences and research findings on sprayed concrete - Volker Wetzig, Research Director, Hagerbach Test Gallery, Switzerland. The presentation will cover exclusive research findings relating to: 

Sprayed concrete under high temperatures (> 40°C rock temperature) at the Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland
Producing high quality concrete out of crushed aggregates of a tunnel
Producing concrete with limited resources of aggregates
New additives to reduce the rebound of sprayed concrete
Possibilities to increase the fire resistance of concrete/sprayed concrete
Advantages of nozzle-man training 

12.20 – 13.20    Networking Lunch 

13.20 – 15.00    Extended Crossrail Project Special + 15 minutes Q&A:

• Project overview – the last six months and the next - Chris Dulake, Client Package Manager, Tunnels, Shafts and Portals
• Planned approach on procurement and design and construction delivery - Bill Tucker, Director, Tunnels, Shafts and Portals 
• TBM requirements - Bob Hodgetts, Construction Manager, Tunnels,  Shafts and Portals
• Ground Movement and Monitoring strategy - Neil Moss, Crossrail Tunnelling Engineer 
• Establishing the Academy - Paul Chatten, Client Manager
• Crossrail Panel questions & answers session

15.00 – 15.30    Tea & Coffee

15.30 – 16.00    Avoiding conflicts in Tunnelling - Michael Stokes/Garry Crossley, Navigant Consulting:

Proactive examples of how to avoid conflict on underground construction projects using speakers' experiences of disputes on major construction contracts. 

16.00 – 16.40    Building Barcelona’s Line 9 - Nicola Della Valle, specialist tunnelling consultant: 

The presentation will deal with various aspects of the 46km long Line 9 Metro Project, from the innovative conceptual design to the construction challenges. In particular the tunnel station system will be illustrated consisting of a deep large diameter tunnel with stacked tracks and self-contained passengers platforms. Details on issues like tunnel structural design, ground treatments, excavation volume losses, as well as site logistics and work progress will be discussed. 

16.40 – 17.20    Croydon Cable Tunnel – Speaker TBC, Morgan EST: 

A presentation on the extreme construction challenges experienced during the construction of the 9.8km long Croydon Cable Tunnel, bored by a 3.6m diameter mixed face EPBM through highly water bearing variable ground.

17.20 – 17.30    Closing Address