Skip to main content

Shortlist announced for International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) Awards

More than 30 nominated companies and individual will be running for the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association’s (ITA) Awards. The awards, to be held in Hagerbach, Switzerland on November 19, consist of nine categories, from ‘Major Project of the Year’ to the ‘Innovation of the year’. Nominee selection was difficult because of the high number of quality applicants – 110 – and impressive projects – 105 – that the judges had to examine. Finally, three to eight nominees were selected
September 23, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
More than 30 nominated companies and individual will be running for the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association’s (ITA) Awards.

The awards, to be held in Hagerbach, Switzerland on November 19, consist of nine categories, from ‘Major Project of the Year’ to the ‘Innovation of the year’.

Nominee selection was difficult because of the high number of quality applicants – 110 – and impressive projects – 105 – that the judges had to examine. Finally, three to eight nominees were selected for each of the nine categories.

“The field of tunnels and underground spaces is in constant evolution because technical innovations are numerous,” said ITA president Soren Degn Eskesen.

“The ITA Tunnelling Awards are to detect such innovations. With more than 66% of the global population projected to be living in cities in 2050, and regular floods caused by the global warming, the tunnels’ engineering has got a strategic role to play in the construction of sustainable urban areas,” said Eskesen.

MAJOR PROJECT OF THE YEAR (more than €500 million):
• Eurasia Tunnel Project – Turkey
• Futian Station of Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong King
• New York City’s Second Avenue Subway Project – United States

TUNNELLING PROJECT OF THE YEAR (from €50-500 million):
• 1st Phase of Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Construction – South Korea
• Indianapolis Deep Rock Conveyance and Storage Tunnel Project – United States
• Lake Mead intake number three – United States

OUTSTANDING PROJECT OF THE YEAR (up to €50 million):
• Grosvenor Decline Tunnels - Australia
• Norsbork Metro Depot – Sweden
• North Strathfield Rail Underpass – Australia

TECHNICAL INNOVATION OF THE YEAR:
• An Innovative Vehicle – mounted GPR Technique for Fast and Efficient Monitoring of Tunnel Lining Structure Conditions
• Combination of techniques for immersed tunnel
• Development of the New Joint (SB Joint) for Shield Tunnels
• Monitoring tunnelling induced ground displacements using distributed fibre optic sensing
• New innovative system for layer thickness control on spray mobiles
• The evolution of the “Nazzano” method to widen tunnel without interrupting traffic flow

ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR:
• Brenner Base Tunnel / Isarco Undercrossing Lot – Italy
• Innovative Overhead Conveyor Belt for Urban Environmental Benefit – Qatar
• The Corribtunnel Project – tunnelling in an environmentally sensitive area – Ireland

SAFETY INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR:
• MineARC Systems Compressed Air Management Solution
• Safety cabin of tunnelling drill
• Semi-Automatic Tubular Steel Arch: an innovation on safety

INNOVATIVE USE OF UNDERGROUND SPACE:
• Reviving burial in tunnel – Israel
• Sydney Opera House Vehicle Access and Pedestrian Safety (VAPS) project - Australia
• Toledo Metro Station on Line 1 in Naples – Italy

YOUNG TUNNELLER OF THE YEAR:
• Philip Duarte
• Petros Fortsakis
• Jurij Karlovsek
• Liu Hao
• Sindre Log
• Ryan McCarron
• Angelo Palma Filho Eloi
• Ponciano Perez Lupi

To attend to the one-day awards conference and banquet, register by %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal clicking here book conference and dinner page false https://awards.ita-aites.org/book-conference-and-dinner.html false false%>.

The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association is a non-profit and non-governmental membership international organisation that promotes the use of underground space as a solution to sustainable development. ITA is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has 73 member nations, 300 affiliated members, 17 prime sponsors and 60 supporters.

Related Content

  • Hoover Dam’s innovative new bridge bypass
    April 12, 2013
    Soaring over 271m above the Colorado River, the Hoover Dam Bypass overlooks one of America’s greatest icons and assets. The October 2010 opening of the bypass improves the security of the historic Hoover Dam by removing through traffic from US Route 93. This has reduced its vulnerability to a terrorist attack against an international landmark and guarded the most sustainable source of electricity and the scarce water supply for the entire southwestern United States. By diverting traffic from the hairpin tur
  • Australian mega link route opens
    November 29, 2012
    Australia’s largest and most complex transport infrastructure project in the city of Brisbane has been officially opened to traffic. The first vehicles have now used the Airport Link, Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) and Airport Roundabout Upgrade projects, which together form an extensive US$5.85 billion transport project. The project in Australia’s third most populous city in the state of Queensland comprises a toll road and dedicated busway route, together involving almost 12km of tunnels (described
  • Australia responds to infrastructure funding challenge
    July 13, 2012
    The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has drastically changed the way governments and the private sector is prepared to procure vital infrastructure projects, says Philip Davies Governments have responded to the GFC by focusing on long term investment in transport infrastructure and shorter term stimulus packages to kick-start economies. As these projects proceed, the focus will shift to maintaining and achieving maximum benefits from assets and future infrastructure funding. The Public Private Partnership (PP
  • China: IRF Geneva supports the World Transport Convention 2018
    May 16, 2018
    IRF Geneva’s long-standing partnership and collaboration with China Highways and Transportation Society (CHTS) and with the Government of China will be at centre stage again this year. This will be seen at the World Transport Convention 2018 to be hosted in Beijing from 18th to 21st June. The 2017 edition of the World Transport Convention (WTC) was hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and organised by the China Highway & Transportation Society (CHTS). It also had the support o