The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) has announced the finalists for the ITA Tunnelling Awards, 6th edition. In 2020, for the first time the event will be held online, due to Covid19 restrictions, on December 3rd and 4th with the presentations and virtual exhibition remaining available for several weeks thereafter. The Finalists for the 8 Categories are:
Major Project of the Year (over €500M)
- John Holland/CPB Ghella Joint Venture: Tunnelling and Station Excavation Works for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest Project – Australia
- Ryfast: Construction of the world’s longest sub-sea road tunnel – Norway
- Jinjiazhuang Spiral tunnel project of Yanqing to Chongli expressway – China
Project of the Year (between €50M and €500M)
- Chinatown Station of the Central Subway Program – USA
- Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project – Sri Lanka
- Large scale underpass using multiple construction methods at Banxuegang hightech-city – Shenzhen, China
- Micangshan Tunnel on G85 Expressway – China
Project of the Year incl. Renovation (up to €50M)
- Lower Otta Hydropower Project – Norway
- FEDRO’s Tunnel Renovation Method – renovation of a non-reinforced primary lining using night shifts while keeping all traffic lanes open during the day – Switzerland
- Züblin: Nord Stream 2 Trenchless Shore Crossing (Micro Tunnel) – Germany
- The Integration of Subway Station Construction and Ecological Environment Protection in Complex Environment – China
Technical Innovation of the year
- An Innovative Automated Geological Forward-prospecting Technique Mounted on Hard-rock TBM – China
- Innovative digital condition assessment of Brunel brick tunnels – United Kingdom
- An Innovative GB-InSAR System for Real-time Tunnel Face Safety Monitoring – Italy
- Laser-guided system for conventional tunnelling – Spain
Overcoming the challenge
- Chengdu-Guiyang High-speed Railway, Yujingshan Mountain Tunnel Crossing Giant Karst Cave and Underground River – China
- 3°C Ultra-high Ground Temperature Treatment for the Sangzhuling Tunnel in the Nyingchi-Lhasa Section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway – China
- High performance EPB excavation in mixed face and variable ground with up to 7 bar groundwater pressure – Mexico
Oddities of the underground
- The Spiral Tunnel (Drammen) – Norway
- Tunnelling in the service of archaeology – Israël
Innovative and Contributing Underground Spaces
- Union Square/Market Street Station – Battered Drilled Shafts as Permanent Ground Support – USA
- Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Padur – India
- Shenzhen Chegongmiao Integrated Traffic Hub Project – China
Young Tunneller of the year
- Josh Barry – Australia
- Laurence Delplace – Belgium
- Dimitrios Litsas – Greece
- Sandeep Singh Nirmal – India
- Qingfang Liu – China
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