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

  • Bentley’s Be Inspired Awards highlight innovation in software use
    January 6, 2015
    Innovation, from design to on-site execution, is alive and well, thanks to a good helping of software application. David Arminas reports from software developer Bentley’s annual global conference, held this year in London Successful project delivery is increasingly about hard men and women using software to get the job done and this year’s global conference in London by US-based software developer Bentley highlighted some innovative - and startling - examples. As usual, the Year in Infrastructure 2014
  • EastLink tollway a winner at the 9th ITS Australia National Awards
    June 4, 2019
    The Freeway Tunnel Ventilation On-Demand System for Melbourne’s EastLink project picked up the top Industry Award category at the recent 9th ITS Australia National Awards Traditional tunnel ventilation systems are inefficient. Fans operate at fixed speed in manual mode or with individual fans programmed to switch on and off at preset times to ensure zero portal emissions with all emissions dispersed via ventilation stacks. EastLink’s new ventilation on demand – VoD - system matches variable speed fan
  • ARTBA opens up work zone safety awards for entrants
    June 25, 2013
    The American Road & Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF) is accepting nominations for its 2013 Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Awards and Contractor Safety Awards. These recognise the best successes of public and private-sector organisations involved in building the US transportation network.
  • Tackling Indian road safety
    December 5, 2012
    India’s road safety record is the world’s worst but there are plans to tackle the problems. Patrick Smith reports from New Delhi. A speeded up video of a short section of road in the Indian capital Delhi was followed by a question. “How many infringements did you count in that 25-second clip on a typical day in Delhi,” asked Dr Rohit Baluja, a question that brought understandable silence. It equated to hundreds of millions of infringements each year, said Dr Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Educ