ACTIVITY

REPORT

2023
STRATEGY

APRIL 2022 — MARCH 2023

 The Executive Committee is pleased to present
the annual Activity Report of the International
Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.
This report highlights the Association's significant
efforts and accomplishments throughout the past
year.

2 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

TABLE OF
CONTENT
Forewords P4

Highlight of the Year P5

2022 Key figures (Understanding) P6

Vision Mission & Strategy P7

Executive Committee Activities P8

Member Nations P 10

Governance 2022-2023 P 11

Working Groups & Committees P 14

Communication P 20

Conferences & Events P 22

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 3

 FOREWORDS
Underground Solutions for a Better World
ITA -AITES is stepping up to embrace humanities most pressing
challenges underground. We are refreshing and rethinking every aspect
of our internal and externally focus activities so we can intensify and
accelerate our global underground mission. In just 7 months since the
WTC 2022 we have critically risk assessed our ITA commercial and influ-
ence models – factoring in the real, immediate and legitimate world
demands for knowledge sharing and training, identified unmet global
needs for access to ITA, and developed a plan to achieve an even more
vibrant and influential ITA. Internally all Working Groups, committees
and associated entities have been encouraged to hold open elections
with excellent adoption including by the ITACET Foundation. New initia-
tives include a by invitation “owners forum” where projects can meet in
privacy to discuss pertinent issues of the day. We have extended our
engagement with development banks such as the World Bank. We have
deepened our trusted relationships with allied organisations such as
PIARC, the World Water Federation, the International Road Federa-
tions, United Nations and United Nations NGOs. We are now actively
engaged with the deep waste repository sector and the extreme phys-
ics research sectors. Our thought leadership in the sustainability space
has built upon our prior technical outputs to now include a special
purpose global sustainability indexing initiative for global underground
Pr. Arnold Dix thought leadership and our Working Groups are in the process of
ITA President restructuring themselves to provide a vibrant template future activity
within ITA and Member Nations. ExCo members have attended dozens
of international events in person and visited many countries. Our
succession planning is well progressed with announcements anticipated
shortly. With nearly one million new social media hits in 7 months our
visibility to emerging professionals is unparalleled. ITA is preparing for a
vibrant next 50 years – your elected ExCo is leaving nothing to chance
– ExCo are embracing the urgency agenda of the 21st century to
consolidate our associations existing position as the authoritative global
voice for all things underground.

Only seven months after the WTC in Copenhagen, we will meet again
in Athens, coming back to a regular pace of our Word Tunnel Congress
and ITA activities. Despite the limited time the new elected Executive
Council started many new activities which will presented more in
Athens, but reading the following pages you will have a glimpse of
what has been done. During these months, we organized 5 physical
Executive Council meetings after Copenhagen, but continue to benefit
to the new means of communication with intermediate visio-
conferences. In November, for the 3rd time the awards were held on a
digital platform. You will read that the ITA WGs and Committees have
also benefit of the possibility to meet, to develop their work and in
many activities organized by ITA or by our Sister Associations or
International Organizations. We are all looking forward to meeting you
Olivier Vion in Athens.
ITA Executive Director

4 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

10 HIGHLIGHTS
OF THE YEAR
#1 ITA new Executive Council #6 ORCA
New Executive Council elected ExCo newly elected started to work on different topics
during the last General Assembly in also answering the questions raised by the ORCA report.
Copenhagen at the WTC 2022. Page 8
Page 8
#7 WTC 2022
#2 ITA new Slogan, vision The 48th ITA-AITES General Assembly
mission and The World Tunnel Congress was
hosted by the Danish Society for
One of the first tasks of the new
Tunnels and Underground Works
executive committee elected in
(DFTU) in Copenhagen from 2 to 8 September 2022.
Copenhagen during WTC 2022 was
to redefine the association's strategy. Page 22
Page 7
#8 Sustainability initiative
#3 ITA at WUF 2022 Creation of a committee whose main objective is to
develop an indexing method that accurately reflects
Participation of ITACUS @ the UN sustainability in our industry.
World Urban Forum organised by Page 9
the city of Katowice in Poland.
Page 15
#9 Client forum
The aim of ITA Client forum is to provide a platform for
#4 Awards Week managers, engineers and project leaders within the client
The 8th edition of the ITA Tunnelling and organizations of ITA to exchange knowledge and
Underground Space Awards took place experience on a broad international base.
digitally and awarded the most innovative Page 9
and exemplary projects in the tunelling
industry.
Page 23
#10 Development of
#5 ITACET Foundation: New governance Communication with
Member Nations
The ITACET Foundation, elected a new President, Michel
Organising a meeting with all NMs and strengthening
Deffayet and a new Vice-President Martin Herrenknecht.
relations with social networks.
Page 9
Page 10

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 5

 KEY FIGURES

78 Member Nations 266 Corporate & individual Affiliate Members

14 Prime Sponsors 850K€ Budget

ITA-AITES
WTC
2 Major event per year 10 Technical publications published
this year

6 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

VISION, MISSION
& STRATEGY
ITA’s strategic approach is guided and framed by its ● The tools to empower decision makers and allied
missions. They are defined by the founders of the professionals to make informed choices about the
association in its statutes. One of the first tasks of the underground;
new executive committee elected in Copenhagen during ● Reliable and economical underground solutions to
WTC 2022 was to redefine the association's strategy. urbanization and environmental challenges;
A key to progress is to have a clear vision for staff and
members to understand where the association is headed. ● Efficient and resilient underground infrastructure for
The vision statement is aspirational and outlines the current and future generations.
future. It defines what you want to become, allowing for
innovation, purpose, and growth. You will find here
attached the full content of the new ITA slogan, mission #4 ITA strategy
and vision.
ITA vision, mission and activities -
aligned with the United Nations
#1 ITA new slogan Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs)-are as follows:
Underground Solutions for a Better World ● Advocate and raise awareness of the use of Tunnelling
and Underground Space;
● Facilitate more interaction and joint activities between
#2 ITA vision Member Nations and industry for development and
sharing of knowledge and experiences between stake-
Lead the world in sustainable use
holders;
and development of Tunnels and
Underground Space ● Create a platform for Education and Training of
engineers on available technologies for construction and
maintenance of tunnels through contribution of Working
Groups and Committees;
#3 ITA mission
Streamline the activities of the ITA for efficient
Lead, advocate and facilitate the interaction between Executive Council, Secretariat,
development of sustainable and Member Nations, Working Groups, and Committees
innovative solutions for increased, through restructuring of the organization.
optimised, safe and equitable use of
Underground Space, enabling the tunnelling industry and
its stakeholders to excel in delivering:
● Technical knowledge in the field of tunnelling and
underground space through publication of guidelines,
training, and creating platforms for exchanging
information and ideas;
● Best practices in health-and-safety, planning,
engineering, contracting, construction, operation, and
maintenance;

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 7

 EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
ACTIVITIES ● Awards 2023
#1 Functioning of the Executive Council
For the 2023 ITA Awards, the 9th edition, the ITA
This year from the General Assembly in Copenhagen the
Tunnelling Awards organized by the International
Executive council renewed with physical meetings, but
Tunnelling and Underground Space Association will take
also continued to have in between digital ones. All
place in India, at the occasion of the Tunnelling
together 6 digital ExCo meetings took place between the
Asia Biennial Tunnelling con-
1st April 2022 and 31 March 2023, as well as 5 physical
ference organized by TAI. The
meetings (Copenhagen, London, New York and 2 in
event will be hybrid.
Geneva).
After the Copenhagen GA, the ExCo newly elected
started to work on different topics also answering the
questions raised by the ORCA report concerning:
● Purpose and relevance: Slogan, Vision, Mission, ● ITA 50th anniversary
Strategy (Motto of ITA strategy which is ONE ITA has 2024 will be the 50th ITA anniversary. The Task force is
been largely presented to Member Nations working since last year on the different events and
representatives )and strategic plan; proposals that will be organized at this occasion at the
● Governance and management: Exco/secretariat WTC but also along the year in different part of the
management, Executive Director succession plan, world. It has been agreed:
management structure; th
 The ITA 50 Anniversary celebration will take place
● Finances and funding model: Strong financial model, on the Tuesday April 24th, 2024. This session will
financial planning, risk assessment, ideas for funding include a presentation of 50 iconic tunnelling and
model; Underground Space projects that are being
proposed by ITA Member Nations and other stake-
● Membership: Membership program review and
holders. The former ITA presidents will be invited
program management, strategic approach to
to Shenzhen to celebrate;
communication;
 A photo contest will be organized;
● Working Groups & Committees: Motivate and
incentivize, technical director, relationship between  A booklet with ITA 50 years of history;
committees and WGs, Young Members;  From the WTC 2024 and during the whole year,
● Training activities: Relation between ITA-CET and some additional celebrations will take place in the
ITACET Foundation. ITA Member Nations.
In addition, several monthly visio-conferences have
been held between the President, the Vice-Presidents,
ExCo members and the Executive Director as
preparations for Executive Council meetings, task forces
and ad-hoc meeting, notably related to WTC 20223 and
all meetings of the different Task Forces. (ITA Awards
2022; ITA 50th Anniversary; Working Groups;
secretariat succession plan; ORCA).

8 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

● Secretariat Succession plan
The Exco is working on the succession plan and notably
for the succession of the Executive Director:
 Advertising the new Executive Direction position:
December;
 Receiving a total of 9 application packages:
January;
 Document screening and selecting qualified
candidates: February;
 Searching Committee conducting online inter-
views: February ~ March;
 Selecting candidates for physical interviews:
March;
 Face-to-face physical interviews in Geneva:
March;
 Making an offer and negotiation at present.
#2 Events
● ITA General Assembly in Copenhagen: The 48th ITA-
AITES General Assembly and The World Tunnel Congress
was hosted by the Danish Society for Tunnels and Under-
ground Works (DFTU) at Bella Center, Copenhagen. The
overall theme for the conference was « Underground
Solutions for a World in Change » with the following
priority themes: Climate resilience; Innovative solutions
for a sustainable society; Subsurface planning; Sustaina-
ble underground structures.
● Meeting with Prime sponsors : During the WTC, a
meeting took place between ExCo members and PS. The
goal of this meeting is to know the expectations of PS
and see how all together we can better contribute to the
development of the tunnelling industry.
#3 Communication with ITACET Foundation
During its Council meeting, the ITACET Foundation,
elected a new President, Michel Deffayet and a new Vice
President Martin Herrenknecht.
#4 Other topics
● Client forum
The client forum was initiated in 2023 with the aim to
bring client organizations together to develop tunnelling
in a client perspective. The client forum may cover
areas which as well are covered by other WG and com-
mittees within ITA. The ITA client forum will only regard
ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023
those areas in a broad perspective and will instead fo-
cus on the client perspective. The aim of ITA Client fo-
rum is to provide a platform for managers, engineers
and project leaders within the client organizations of ITA
to exchange knowledge and experience on a broad in-
ternational base.
Regarded areas which are covered by the ITA client
forum: Procurement; Contract experience;
Technological experience; Project planning; Project
management; Financing; Organizing client
organisations; Lesson learned from innovative contracts
and incentives.
The client forum is only open for invited clients
moreover, to be member of ITA Client forum you need
to be a employed client from a recognised client
organization. A first meeting will take place during the
WTC 2023 in Athens.
● Sustainability initiative
The primary objective of this special purpose committee
is to develop an indexing method that accurately reflects
sustainability in our industry.
The task group leads will be responsible for leading
several work streams, which include:
 Developing a new category of underground
infrastructure for BREEAM, in anticipation of future
adoption.
 Creating a new "optioneering" output to establish
a framework for early decision making.
 Preparing a "state of the art" document that road
tests existing national and regional frameworks,
providing guidance to users and developers of
frameworks.
 Also a new equity group will be part of this index
development. This new equity group will be an
essential part of the overall ITA sustainability
initiative.
The committee will outline its scope and deliverables for
the upcoming year. The committee is encouraging all
Working Groups and Member Nations to distribute this
information among their members and reach out to
people with an interest in this field to contribute to the
newly established committee.
9
 MEMBER NATIONS

During the past year, the Member Nations visited by ITA ● Türkyie - November 2022
Executive Council members were the occasion of An opening keynote presention was given by the ITA
dedicated meeting. The Exco have been to all continents, President at Uluslararasi Tunelcilik Sempozyumu 2022
met with multiple ministers, Bank and development Türkiye Istambul. The presentation was titled « People
banks, inspected many projects. In total 15 Member and Planet - How to get finance for New Projects that
Nations have been visited and Exco members also Mitigate the Perils of Climate Change now ? »
participated in different conferences.
● New York, U.S.A. -January 2023
#1 Development of Communication with Many Exco members attended the UCA George A. Fox
Member Nations Conference. Moreover Arnold Dix gave an enlightening
speech on sustainability and the future of tunnelling.
A special meeting has been organised in March between
ExCo and Member Nations to present the progress of
works related to the ORCA report as well as first new
proposals.
A LinkedIn group has been created to strengthen the
relationship between ExCo and Member Nations
representative. We invite Member Nations that are not
registred to take advantage of this new mean of
communication.

#2 ExCo’s visits to Member Nations

● Morocco - October 2022
Arnold Dix, participated as a speaker in the International
Road Federation (IRF) Annual Conference, held in
Marrakech together with the 4th International
Conference for sustainable mobility. Collaboration ExCo in New York City

between ITA and IRF should be reinforced by the signa-

ture of a Memorandum of Understanding.
● UK - October 2022
Representing ITA, President Arnold Dix and ITACUS
co-chair Antonia Cornaro were among the keynote
speakers on the first day of the BTS conference.
Granada, Spain –october 2022
● Arnold Dix, ITA president as well as Eric Premat, ITA
COSUF Chair as well as other ITA COSUF board
members participated in the 2nd International Confe-
rence onroad tunnel operations and safety & the
8th Spanish Tunnels Symposium. They intervened in
different sessions on Resilience in road tunnels
and Management of urban and high traffic road tunnels.
ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023
10
● Washington, U.S.A. – November 2022
Arnold Dix participated in the IRF Global
conference « Road to Tomorrow ».
● Pakistan
The Pakistan Tunneling and Trenchless Society (PTTS)
has forever positioned Pakistan to become a player in
Underground, research, projects, learning, knowledge
exchange, manufacturing, software development, BIM,
training and cooperation in the World. Pakistan asked to
be admitted as ITAs newest Member Nation at WTC
2023.
GOVERNANCE
2022-2023 ITA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

ARNOLD DIX JINXIU (JENNY) YAN ANDRES MARULANDA HANGSEOK CHOI

PRESIDENT PAST-PRESIDENT FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT
2022-2025 2022-2025 2022-2025 2022-2025

JAMAL ROSTAMI SINDRE LOG DAMIAN MC GIRR MONIKA MITEW-CZAJEWSKA

VICE-PRESIDENT MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER
2022-2025 2022-2025 2022-2025 2022-2025

ANDREA PIGORINI KLAUS RIEKER SANJA ZLATANIC GERARD SEINGRE

MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER TREASURER
2022-2025 2022-2025 2022-2025 2022-2025

IOANNIS FIKIRIS THOMAS DALMALM

WTC2023 WTC2025
2020-2023 2022-2025
ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 11
 ITA GOVERNANCE COUNCIL

The Governance Council worked closely with the Executive on

the Organisational Review and Compliance Asessment (ORCA).

LESLIE PAKIANATHAN BILL NEWNS PEKKA NIEMINEN

GOVERNANCE COUNCIL GOVERNANCE COUNCIL PS REPRESENTATIVE

ITA ADVISERS

Former members of ITA Executive Council have been invited to be advisers of the current ExCo.

FELIX AMBERG, Switzerland, ITA Former Treasurer TIMO LAITINEN, Finland, ITA Former Rep. of Prime Sponsors

ANDRÉ ASSIS, Brazil, ITA Former President YANN LEBLAIS, France, ITA Former Vice-President

LARS BABENDERERDE, Germany, ITA Former Vice-President ERIC LECA, France, ITA Former Vice-President

CLAUDE BERENGUIER, France, ITA Former General Secretary IN-MO LEE, Republic of Korea, ITA Former President

EINAR BROCH, Norway, ITA Former President RICK LOVAT, Canada, ITA Former Vice-President

TARCISIO CELESTINO, Brazil, ITA Former President GUISEPPE LUNARDI, Italy, ITA Former Vice-President

RANDALL ESSEX, USA, ITA Former Vice-President TOM MELBYE, Switzerland, ITA Former Rep. of Prime Sponsors

ALEXANDER GOMEZ, Australia, ITA Former Vice-President DANIELE PEILA, Italy, ITA Former Vice-President

ALFRED HAACK, Germany, ITA Former President SEBASTIANO PELIZZA, Italy, ITA Former President

MARTIN KNIGHTS, UK, ITA Former President HARALD WAGNER, Austria, ITA Former Vice-President

12 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

 ANIMATEUR VICE-ANIMATEUR WORKING GROUPS
WG2 Elena Chiriotti Ron Tluczek
WG3 Matthias Neunschwander Gonzalo Diniz Vieira
WG5 Donald Lamont Werner Burger
WG6 Ed Taylor Sallo Van der Woude
WG9 Conrad Felice Haitao Yu
WG11 Marcel’t Hart Jian Liu
WG12 Karl Gunnar Holter David Oliveira
WG14 Laurence Delplace Karin Bäppler
WG15 Cedric Thalmann Nikolai Bobylev
WG17 Magali Schivre Roberto Schuerch
WG19 Nasri Munfah Robert Galler
WG20 Giuseppe M. Gaspari Andrea Bruschi
WG21 Panagiotis Panos Spyridys Nobuharu Isago
WG22 Florent Robert Alessandro Menozzi
WG23 Siamak Hashemi Verya Nasri

CHAIR VICE-CHAIR
COMMITTEES
ITA-CET Robert Galler Michel Deffayet
ITA-COSUF Eric Premat
ITAtech Nick Chittenden
CO-CHAIR CO-CHAIR
ITACUS Han Admiraal Antonia Cornaro

CHAIR VICE-CHAIR
YOUNG MEMBERS
ALex Novak La Flor Eyðbjørg Amanda Petersen

Olivier Vion Executive Director

SECRETARIAT
Anne Brissaud Communication Officer

Carla Picard Executive Secretary

Jocelyne Kervinio Accountant

Sonia Salles ITAtech Secretariat &

Awards secretary
Anette Schmidt Marketing

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 13

 WORKING GROUPS
& COMMITTEES
The good governance of ITA and the possibility to make
Working Groups and Committees even more efficient are
among the topics the newly elected ExCo has put in its
priorities. New process in election of WGs Animateurs and
Committees, guidelines peer review as well as more
effective relationships between the Working Groups and
Committees will be studied by a New task force
composed by WG Animateurs elected by their peers,
representatives of Committees and Young members
together with some ExCo members. This task force will
propose a process and ideas for the future in the coming
months.
#1 Committees
every month are held from 13:00 to 14:30 Paris time.
They include presentations made by prominent
members of the ITA Working Groups and Committees
(often the animateurs/chairs) and continue to attract
around 150 live participants, with many more registering
to steam the event afterwards. On average, there are
around 400 registrants for each event.
Since the last WTC in Copenhagen, 7 lunchtime lectures
have been held. This series has considerably helped to
strengthen the collaboration with the other ITA
Committees and Working Groups.

The number of ITA-CET Committee members remains

stable, with 28 “academic” and 14 “industry” members,
some of whom sit on the Steering Board. The Steering
Board also comprises representatives of the ITA COSUF,
ITACUS and ITAtech Committees, the ITACET Foundation
and the ITA Young Members Group, in addition to a
● Training and Education for ITA Member Nations
Technical Secretary. Administrative matters and
communication actions are dealt with by the There has been a marked reduction in Member Nation
Committee’s Administrative Secretary. A new Tutor has requests for training sessions over the last three years.
been named for ITA-CET: Mr Jamal Rostami.
However, over the period September 2022-May 2023,
The ITA-CET Committee met in Copenhagen during the the ITA-CET Committee and ITACET Foundation have
WTC and the Steering Board has held several online co-organized the following training sessions for Member
meetings since this event (in November 2022, February Nations:
2023 and April 2023).
 Conventional and Mechanized Tunnelling in Soil and
The activities conducted by the ITA-CET Committee over Rock, September 2022 (Mexico);
the period September 2022-May 2023 are described
 Design and Construction of Road Tunnels, October
below.
2022 (UAE);
● Developing e-learning
 Underground Spaces Unveiled – Planning and cre-
Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, this has become ating the cities of the future, October 2022
the Committee’s core activity, through the (Argentina). An online training session was organized
“Lunchtime lecture series”, co-organized with the ITACET in collaboration with ITACUS and held within the
Foundation. scope of the annual Argentinian “Tunnelling
These lectures organized on the second Tuesday of and Underground Works Workshop”.

14 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

● Training and education for industry (blue-collar training)
The development of a TBM tunnel operator certification
scheme was put on hold during the COVID pandemic,
but actions in this direction have recently started up
again.
When implemented, the scheme will provide an inde-
pendent and standardized means of assessing TBM driv-
ers, leading to recognized ITA certification. This certifica-
tion could be offered to future operators of TBMs as well
as those already in the profession, who wish to deepen
their knowledge through further training.
Simulators from different companies could be used, as
long as they respect specific pre-defined criteria. The
trainers will be experienced TBM experts. The final train-
ing in a real TBM driver’s seat will be gained under the
supervision of experienced drivers.
To gain the final ITA TBM “operator certificate” for a
specific TBM type, applicants will have to provide proof
of work experience in addition to successfully completing
different modules (theory-based elements with
e-Learning and lectures, online exams, simulator training
and oral assessment). The course programme is
currently under preparation and it is hoped that a first
pilot course will be run in the next few months.
● University network
ITA-CET is in charge of developing an exchange
platform for university network members. This network
currently comprises 30 official members from universi-
ties and higher education establishments around the
globe (Europe, North America, South America, Asia,
Australia), that offer Master or post-Master courses in
tunnelling and underground space. Following a first
successful university professors meeting and PhD
students’ conference in 2019, it was decided to organize
a second similar event on 21st and 22nd November
2022. This two-day event was held at Montanuniversität
Leoben in Austria and brought together professors and
PhD students from Australia, India, Austria, Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the UK.
Since this event, several additional professors and PhD
students have joined the ITA-CET University Network
Group on Linkedin.
ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023
● Communication on ITA-CET activities
The Committee has continued to publish its news-
letter, with the latest issue published in March 2023. This
newsletter is sent out to the Committee members, key
correspondents from Member Nations, the university
network, ITA Working Groups, the other Committee’s
and the Young Members.
Advertisement of ITA-CET activities is also made on the
Committee’s web pages, the ITACET Foundation web
site and via the university network group on Linkedin.
The activities below summarise the outreach pro-
gramme and activities of ITACUS, the Committee on
Underground Space during the period April 2022 –
March 2023 :
● The ITACUS Steering Board met on 5 April 2022 on-
line. ITACUS is proceeding full ahead and making good
progress in advocacy and reaching out to new organisa-
tions. Each Thursday is now 'Spotlight Thursday', where
one of our members or relations is put in the spotlight
on social media.
● On International Women’s Day, 31 March 2022, the
International Society of City and Regional Planners
(ISOCARP) celebrated its international women members
and network of Women in Planning worldwide. Antonia
Cornaro, urban planner and ITACUS co-chair was one of
the speakers at this Cyber Agora.
● ITACUS Co-chair Han Admiraal gave a keynote at the
6th International Symposium on tunnels and shafts in
soils and rocks organised by ITA Member Nation repre-
sentative for Mexico, AMITOS. Han spoke on the Urban
Challenges & Opportunities facing the world's cities.
● Participation in the UN- Habitat (United Nations Hu-
man Settlements Programme) World Urban Forum WUF
11 Urban Expo organized by the city of Katowice in
Poland in June 2022. . Olivier Vion, Petr Salak and
Mahak Agrawal were present at the joint ITACUS/
ISOCARP booth and were able to meet many politicians
and representatives of associations from all over the
world.
15
 ● Partnering with « We Don’t Have Time » to find to the United Nations sustainable development
solutions for the climate crisis. It is a review platform for goals at the SIG - Società Italiana Gallerie
climate solutions. ITACUS is proud to have a dedicated conference, held in Bologna from 20On -21 Octo-
partner’s page on the platform and is working with « We ber 2022. The event took place as part of SAIE.
Don’t Have Time » to influence businesses,
governments, world leaders and climate-concious ● Invitation as keynote speaker in the session on
communities about the value of underground spaces. “planning for people and places” at the National
Planning Conference of Royal Town Planning Institute
● ITACUS is now one of the 500 global institutions that and Planning Portal, held from 17-18 November 2022 in
have been recognized by the TNFD (Taskforce on nature- Birmingham.
related financial disclosure). Its aim is to develop and
deliver a risk management and disclosure framework for
organizations to report and act on evolving nature-
related risks, with the ultimate aim of supporting a shift
in global financial flows away from nature-negative
outcomes and toward nature-positive outcomes.
● ITACUS collaborated
with the Indian National
Institute of Urban Affairs
on July 12, 2022, for a
brown bag session. ITA-
CUS Co-Chairs and Activity
Group Lead Mahak ● Invitation for the international conference "Flexible
Agrawal shared possible Planning" which was held last December. This ISOCARP
pathways India can event, was co-hosted by the City of Gdansk, Fahrenheit
explore for underground Universities, and the Society of Polish Town Planners.
urbanism. ITACUS was represented by Antonia Cornaro and Petr
Salak, Lead of the Young Professionals Think Deep
The committee has also Program and CEO of Dr. Sauer & Partners, Israel.
collaborated with the Ministry of Home Affairs (India) to
build knowledge on the value of underground spaces for ● Publication of the case study titled "Use of
a resilient and liveable future. A team of ITACUS deve- Underground Spaces for Resource Efficient Data Centres
loped a thematic paper with the Ministry’s National Insti- in Helsinki, Finland" with the UN Environment
tute on Disaster Management on July 12, 2022. Programme. The study was co-authored by ITACUS
co-chairs and its Development & Outreach Lead
● On June 14, 2022, ITACUS co-chairs engaged with 60+ Mahak Agrawal.
young fellows of the United Nations Sustainable Deve-
lopment Solutions Network Youth (SDSN Youth) for a The study was published by the UNEP in its 2022 edition
webinar on underground urbanism. SDSN Youth of the flagship report "International Good Practice
educates young people about the Sustainable Develop- Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure", and as part of
ment Goals and provides opportunities for them to ITACUS's partnership with the UN agency for the
pioneer innovative solutions to address the world's Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership and Green
biggest challenges. Growth Knowledge Platform.
● ITACUS hosted a special session on underground urba-
nism during the 58th ISOCARP World Urban Planning
Congress wihich took place in Brussels, Belgium from 3-
6 October 2022.
● Co-chairs have been invited as keynote speaker to this
year’s BTS conference. Cornaro's presentation showca-
sed innovative uses of underground space, including
examples of human centered transportation schemes
to space, energy efficient, multi functional and
secure underground infrastructure.
● On invitation by the Italian tunnelling society, ITA-
CUS co-chair Antonia Cornaro presented the
contributions of underground space developments

16 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

 During the last year, ITA-COSUF collaborated with sever-
al ITA entities. 2 ITACET lunchtime series were actually
co-organized : Lunchtime series #11 “Fires in tunnels –
lessons learnt and structural design” on 11 January 2023
with lectures by Götz Vollmann (RUB, D) and Berenice
Moreau (CERIB, F), and lunchtime series #19 “Risks relat-
ed to new energy careers in tunnels” with Antoine Mos
(CETU, F), Jonathan Gehandler (RISE, S) and Peter Sturm
(GU, A), that were both a great success with a lot of
attendees and fruitful discussions. Furthermore ITA-
Contributions in trainings: COSUF appointed Götz Vollmann to be its corresponding
member participating in the activities of the group creat-
● The co-chairs and Steering Committee Member Mari- ed by Arnold Dix on “Benchmarking Underground Devel-
lu Melo Zurita contributed to the ITACET Training ses- opment from a United Nations SDG and Climate Emer-
sions during WTC 2022, on the theme innovative use of gency Perspective- A quantitative Framework”.
underground spaces.
Last but not least Eric Premat participated on the 6th
● Furthermore ITACUS held a virtual training session for
February 2023 in a meeting with the WorldBank
AATES, the Argentinian Tunnelling Association on 27 Oc-
together with ITA President, ITA Vice-President Jamal
tober 2022. The session was part of a 2-day Tunnelling
Rostami, ITACET Foundation President Michel Deffayet
conference of AATES themed “Tunnels for a better quali-
and ITACUS Chair Antonia Cornaro to give an overview
ty of life” with several hundred participants.
about what the global ITA network of experts in
● ITACUS in partnership with ISOCARP (International tunneling can offer.
Society of City and Regional Planners) has recently
After an ITA-COSUF webinar on May 12th 2022 on
made an agreement with the City of Gdansk – which
“Emergency response in road tunnels”, one of the high-
entails a Young Planning Professionals (YPP) – Young
lights of 2022 was the 6th TSO Forum in Brussels on 30th
Professionals Think Deep Program (YPTDP) Workshop.
June and 1st July with exciting presentations about
This workshop took place from 16 to 21 April, 2023 in
tunnels refurbishment, separate parallel workshops, and
Gdansk, Poland.
a fascinating keynote lecture about disaster psychology
by Erica Kinkel (NL).
An interesting technical site visit was also organized
(Lantis Oosterweel Antwerp, completion of the ringway
with tunnels ). All this successful event gave the oppor-
tunity to meet and socialize face to face among the TSO
The last year period was a very active one for ITA-COSUF community with a dynamic animation by Arnold Dix.
both in terms of events and changes.
During WTC2022, ITA-COSUF had his Activity Groups
First of all, starting from the last year´s ITA General As- and SB meetings. A technical session on operational
sembly at WTC 2022 in Copenhagen, Eric Premat (CETU, safety issues was co-chaired by Max Wietek and Eric
F) took over the chairmanship of ITA-COSUF. He has Premat. On 14th December another webinar was
been involved in ITA-COSUF activities and he is a mem- co-organized together with KPT about “The impact of
ber of the Steering Board since 2012. After four years new energy careers on road tunnels”.
leading the Steering Board, Max Wietek (ILF, A), stepped
As the link between ITA and PIARC, ITA-COSUF also
down in accordance with COSUF statutes, but he stays
contributed to 2 events : “PIARC Workshop on
involved and brings his experience and an appreciated
Immersed Tunnels”, in Bilbao on 27th January 2023, and
support to the Steering Board. Peter Kole
PIARC – IRC – ITA Workshop in Dehradun (India).
(Rijkswaterstaat, NL), the former AG4 leader, retired.
The Steering Board would like to express many thanks to
him for his efforts to develop the TSO activities and also
for the great success of the TSO forums. Consequently
John Aldridge (London Bridge Associates Ltd, UK) took
over the AG4 leadership, with Bianca Janssen
(Rijkswaterstaat, NL). Last but not least 3 new Steering
Board members will be made official during next GA :
John Aldridge, Severin Wälchli (Nagra, CH) and Frank
Embert Kreiser (Krebs & Kiefer, D). The SB welcomes its
new members and is very happy with this renewal.

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 17


● Membership
The current membership of ITAtech consists of the 14
Prime Sponsors and 41 Supporters of the ITA with the
Steering Board made up of representatives from
Bekeart, Herrenknecht, Implenia, MBCC, Normet, Rob-
bins, Sandvik, Sika and Swiss Tunnelling Consultants.
With the acquisition of MBCC Group by Sika AG the Chair
and Vice Chair would then be from the same organisa-
tion. Alberto Rey, the current Vice Chair has offered to
stand down so that Nick Chittenden can continue as the
Chair.
Since the last WTC in September four meetings of the
Steering Board have been held on-line with numerous
smaller meetings of the activity groups, in particular the
activity group on Low Carbon Concrete for Tunnel
Linings.
● Activity Groups
During the 2022-2023 period, the ITAtech committee
engaged in several activities that aimed to advance
technology and promote collaboration among industry
stakeholders. The committee worked on several
publications:
 Rock Support for Mechan-
ically Bored Tunnels (to be
published for WTC 2023);
 Guideline for Radially
Installed Bolts in Tunnelling;
 TBM Material Consumable
Foam Polymer Combine
document.
● LCC report’s: Low Carbon Concrete AG
This recent activity group that has created a significant
amount of interest from many of the Supporters as well
as the Prime Sponsors. To maintain momentum for this
involvement it has been agreed that all supporters and
invited guests can contribute to the documents but only
the supporters and prime sponsors can be credited
with authorship. A core group is led by Dr Benoit Jones,
an invited expert from the industry in the topic of low
carbon concrete and made up of the leaders for each
identified chapter.
● Update on the relation ITAtech / CEN
It has been confirmed that Lars Babendererde is willing
to serve as the ITAtech representative for CEN.
● Lunchtime Lecture Series 2023
The Lunchtime Lecture Series’ planning is underway for
18 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023
2024. ITAtech has been invited to suggest topics for the
upcoming program, and it was proposed that
publications-related topics could be chosen to promote
ITAtech’ s work. To enhance promotion, a representa-
tive is needed for the collaboration between "ITA CET &
ITAtech," and a Young Member was suggested for the
role.
●ITAtech Members General Meeting WTC 2023
Although the goal of ITAtech has been to promote new
technologies, there is a feeling that the committee has
lost its focus. In order to rectify this, it was suggested
to organise an open meeting of the ITAtech steering
Committee, inviting both the main sponsors and the sup-
porters to share their views and to be informed about
ITA tech activities.
#2 Working Groups
● WG3—Contractual practices in underground
construction
The following reports an work products are still in
progress: Guideline on use of NEC Contracts in Under-
ground Works; Checklist on prescriptions for TBM in
Tender documents; Joint publication with WG2 on Risk
Management;Contribution to BREEAM sustainability
index project .
A joint WGs meeting held at Copenhagen during the last
WTC with WG2, 14, 19. During the year all subgroups
held at least 2 online meetings since WTC 2022. The Sub-
group 1 held one in-presence meeting with NEC in
London.
● WG5—Health and safety in works
During the year, the WG worked on several including 3
revisions : Reports 10 and 20 which are joint projects
with BTS CAWG and report 14, currently behind
schedule. Lastly, a report on Human Factors is also under
preparation.
● WG6—
Since WTC 2022, some reports have progressed:
 The sub-report on Managing groundwater
infiltration into operating tunnels including pre-
sentations on injection techniques;
 A report on Refurbishment of existing / operating
submerged tube tunnels, inspection criteria and
failure mode diagnosis (in conjunction with Eutf);
 Joint review (with PIARC) on existing document gui-
delines for fire protective linings.
● WG9— Seismic effects
The technical WG consisting of 7 members has been
meeting monthly to develop an international synthesis
document identifying gaps and needs in current design
and construction guidelines for tunnels and under-
ground structures and seismically affected regions. A
database of document reporting in seismic design and
design criteria for underground structures is almost
completed. This is not the case for the synthesis docu-
ment consolidating international guidelines and design
criteria which is halfway through its production.
● WG14— Mechanized Tunnelling
The WG14 worked parallelly on four major subjects:
 TG2 on specifications guidelines (in collaboration
with WG3 and 19). The goal is to establish industry
recognized guidelines for TBM specifications.
 TG6 on thrust force assessment in TBM Tunnelling.
The goal is to enclose in an easy-to-consult docu-
ment the most important elements on which to
base the assessment of the thrust force require-
ments for a TBM.
 TG7 on chemicals used in mechanized tunnelling.
The goal is to elaborate a recommendation on addi-
tives for creating suitable and sustainable media for
face support incorporating. Publication goal: ongo-
ing discussion.
 TG8 on sustainability in mechanized tunnelling. The
goal is to create a website where all our sustainabil-
ity-focused ideas and inspiration from previous and
ongoing projects could be collected and updated
regularly.
● WG15— Underground and the environment
WG 15 collaborated to the ITACET Lunchtime Lecture
Series #21 on the theme "Carbon-neutral underground".
Several literature project are underway: 1. Environmen-
tal risk assessment of soil excavated by EBP TBM; 2.
Carbon-neutral underground; 3. Environmental sustain-
ability professional networks an normative frameworks
related to underground space use.
● WG17— Long Tunnels at great depth
Report on Logistics Aspects for Long and Deep Tunnels
to be published for the WTC 2023.
● WG19— Conventional Tunnelling
WG19 participated jointly with WG3, and 14 with the
development of “guideline specifications for equipment
specifications for owners”. The report titled „Guideline
for the Design and Implementation of Conventional
Tunnelling in Urban Setting“ will be distributed prior to
the WG meeting in Athens.
● WG20— Urban problems—Underground solutions
Report on Role of Underground Space in Urban
Resilience will be published at WTC 2023.
ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023
In December 2022 online Town Hall held with the
entire WG, three bi-monthly follow up meetings with
sub teams as per focus groups below:
 Guidelines on urban tunnel configuration - Single vs
Twin Bore;
 Sustainability WG inter-committee support (urban
value proposition);
 Guidelines on induced settlement and building risk
assessment.
Bi-weekly progress meetings with core-WG steering
committee (Incuding Tutor and Past Animat.) were held.
● WG21— Life city Asset management
In its work production, the WG integrated sustainability
aspect. The WG created and delegated concise work
packages:
 Obtain documents of international organisations
and asset owners;
 Conclude industry survey by life cycle and
maintenance experts;
 Write up basic generic methodology for life cycle
assessments and use of the data included in the WG
report, escorted by realistic examples & case
studies. The data include exemplary service lives
and maintenance intervals but also EPD/CO2
emissions.
● WG22— Information modelling in tunnelling
The guideline for bored tunnels Doc ument N°27
« Work in progress for the extension to conventional
tunnelling » is on progress. The WG worked also on a
document N°3 titled « Guideline for a sustainable BIM
approach ». Finally a MOU was signed with
buildingSmart International.
● WG23— Design and construction of shafts
2 documents are on progress. First one is entitled
« Selection of shafts Construction Methods ». This
document aims to review different shaft construction
methods and provide a tool (decision-making chart/
tree) to help in selection of suitable construction
method for projects.
Second one entitled “Site Investigation for Shaft
Construction” aims to specify site investigation require-
ments for a shaft design and construction project.
WG23 held a webinar on 23rd of November 2022 entitled
“Using Ground Freezing for Shaft Construction”
presented by Dr. Alan Auld and Dr. Joseph Sopko.
In March 2022, the animateur of WG23 agreed to coop-
erate in organizing the "11th International Symposium
on Ground Freezing (ISGF23)" with the Institute of
Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3), which will take
place in London in October 2023.
19
 COMMUNICATION

Communication is more than ever a major issue for Global Perspective - WG 14

our Association. As we do each year, ITA produced ● An Owners Guide to immersed Tunnels and Annexes -
various communication materials and supported the WG 11
promotion of events. Several significant actions have ● Recommendations for the Application of ISO 19650 -
been carried out this year: Information Management Process and Responsability
Matrix - Vol 1 - WG22
● BIM in Tunnelling - Guideline for Bored Tunnels - Vol
#1 Print 1 - WG22
On the occasion of the 48th
General Assembly held in
Copenhagen, ITA has published
its Activity Report and also the
Member Nations Reports. Both
are available on the ITA
website.

#2 Publications and Reports

This section contains reports and publications containing ● The latest edition of the code of practice for risk
useful information for our management in tunnel works (3rd edition) jointly
industry. published by The International Tunnelling and
Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) and
The scientific journal Tunnelling
the IMIA - International Engineering Insurance
and Underground Space Techno-
Association is available on the website. This code aims
logy (TUST) is available in electro-
at reducing the frequency and severity of serious
nic version for all the members
incidents (resulting in insurance claims) to within
(Member Nations and Affiliate
sustainable boundaries.
Members). The access is through
the private area available from
ITA web portal.

ITA's Working groups have the task, in their specific field,

of reviewing the current situation, identifying good
practice and making recommendations which are
published and widely disseminated.
For this year, the following ITA reports have been
published:
● Tunnel Spoil handling, Treatment and Disposal from a

20 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

#3 Scoop-it—E-news strongest increase to reach 18 000 sessions (+ 30%
after a + 85% increase last year). With about 5,000
Since 2019, more than 7000 sessions, «Project database» showed some growing
people have been receiving the interest (+7%). Currently undergoing redesign, we hope
Scoop-it newsletter every 2 for more sessions next year. «ITA Awards» is stable with
weeks. This year again we have 13,700 sessions. Finally, the private area « My ITA » has
continued at this pace. reached over 3,000 sessions (+32%).
In addition, ITA has published 2
issues of the e-newsletter of
ita@news. 5 # Social media
Social networks increase awareness, visibility and trust in
a company. That's why we work on acquiring followers.
#4 ITA Website ITA is present on 3 major social networks: LinkedIn,
We constantly conduct audience analysis of our website Twitter and YouTube.
to allow us to regularly improve and optimize it. ● The number of followers on our LinkedIn
After very strong increases in traffic (due to new habits company page is booming with more than
following the pandemic), the 6,000 i.e. +34% in one year.
ITA websites still record a ● The Twitter account has significantly
solid 11% traffic increase this increased: more than 1400 i.e. + 12% in one year.
year.
● The ITA Youtube channel has been enhanced with the
recorded session of the Muir Wood lecture 2022
presented by Tom Melbye during the World Tunnel
Congress in Copenhagen.
150,100 sessions
TOTAL TRAFFIC OF (Vs 137,800) = + 11%
ALL ITA WEBSITES #6 Press
116,000 users
(Vs 107,850) per year = + 10.8% In 2022-2023, ITA directly or indirectly participated in
articles published in technical journals or current affairs
programmes. Some of them are available on ITA web
site in the sections ITA Press releases and ITA in the
Traffic via mobile considerably increased 42% Vs 31%
Press.
for «About Tunnelling», 25% Vs 20% for «ITA Activities».
During the year numerous press releases have been sent
According to our statistics, our audience came from
out all over the world (data base of 35 000 media).
about 150 countries. Among the top 6 countries are:
● For the WTC it has been over 31 positive media
1. China; 2 U.S.A.; 3. India; 4. UK; 5. Japan; 6. France &
impacts (article) in addition to social media impacts. 2
Italy;
press conferences (digital and in-person) were held and
4 journalists joined the press technical visit organised in
Copenhagen.
● Concerning the awards, 7 press releases have ben
sent to the media with an impact of 50 articles or posts
in magazines, journals and social media.

● «ITA Activities» was the most visited website with Press

technical
46,500 sessions followed by the site «About Tunnel-
visit
ling» with 43,700 sessions. «ITA Library» recorded the

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 21

 CONFERENCES
& EVENTS
Major events that marked the year:

#1. World Tunnel Congress

The 48th ITA-AITES General

Assembly and The World Tunnel
Congress was hosted by the
Danish Society for Tunnels and
Underground Works (DFTU) at WTC 2022 AT A GLANCE
Bella Center, Copenhagen from
2000 conference delegates and visitors
Friday 2 September through to
Thursday 8 September 2022. The 170 Exhibitors
The overall theme for the conference was More than 150 papers presented orally
« Underground Solutions for a World in Change » with
the following priority themes: Climate resilience; Innova- 82 Posters presentation
tive solutions for a sustainable society; Subsurface 70 Countries
p lanning; Sustainable underground structures.

This edition was the first hybrid WTC, which means we NEXT WTC
had participants both in person and online, thus making WTC PROCEEDINGS on
the WTC more accessible to tunnellers worldwide. 2023 Athens, Greece
the ITA online Library
Thanks to the WTC digital platform, more than 200 2024 Shenzhen, China
participants were able to participate in the congress. The https://library.ita-aites.org
2025 Stockholm, Sweden
digital platform remained accessible 30 days after the
WTC to allow participants to watch all the recorded
technical sessions or to visit the exhibitors' digital stands.
The first two days of the conference included ITA Com-
mittee and Working Group meetings as well as the ITA-
CET tunnelling training courses focusing on sustainability
in underground design and its practical implementa-
tions. A full 3-day technical programme kicked off on
Monday with an excellent Muir Wood lecture been
delivered by Tom Melbye on « Wet-Mix sprayed
concrete: A modern support method in tunnelling and
mining ». The technical sessions that followed covered a
broad spectrum of topics such as TBM case studies,
operational safety of underground structures, BIM,
Contractual practices, immersed tunnels, instrumenta-
tion and monitoring…

22 ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023

#2 ITA Tunnelling Awards
Once again, the 8th edition of the ITA Tunnelling and
Underground Space Awards took place digitally.
Organized every year by the International Tunnelling and
Underground Space Association, the event both show-
cases the most ambitious underground projects all over
the world as well as the latest innovations, techniques,
and methods in tunnelling.
Arnold Dix, President of the ITA, praised the quality of
the award-winning projects, underlining that “The
Tunnelling Awards is a celebration of the great
milestones and the great innovations achieved. It also
highlights the contributions made to our planet and
people. This year, 70 nominations from almost 20
countries have been considered by a panel of indepen-
dently select judges. The ceremony today rewards the
best in our industry, from the largest projects on earth
right through to the latest innovations and productions.
These amazing achievements can be enjoyed today”.
● Beyong Engineering:
Multi-pipe Jacking Method for the
Construction of City-core Metro
Station in Soft Soil Stratum, China
● Product/Equipment Innovation of
the Year:
Integration of Robotics into the
construction works of the Chuqui-
camata underground mining site,
Chile
● Innovative Underground Space
Use:
V-colum Space of Shenzhen Huang-
mugang Transportation Hub, China

The winners in the eight categories were announced

during the event are listed below: ● Young Tunneller of the Year:
Erica Frederickson, USA

● Major project of the Year over

€500M:
Purple Line Extension, Section 1 -Los
Angeles, U.S.A
The list of the winners and pre-recorded presenta-
tions are available on the ITA Awards website. The
● Projects of the Year between video of the Awards can be watched on our
€50M and €500M: Youtube channel
World’s Spiral Excavation using This year’s virtual edition allowed to gather
H&V Shield Tunneling Method, Ja- hundreds attendees during these 3 days and
pan revealed that even through digital, tunnelling
industry is still powerful. The event has been
extended until January 2023 to allow visitors to see
● Project of the Year including
and review the entire programme.
Renovation up to €50M:
Guanyinyan Tunnel: An Urban Tun-
nel Project of the Unequal Span
Four-arch Tunnel with Two-way NEXT ITA AWARDS
and Ten-lane, China
India
24 November 2023
● Technical Innovation of the
Year:
Unprecedented In-tunnel Diameter
Conversion of the Largest Hard
Rock TBM in the U.S.A

ITA ACTIVITY REPORT 2022-2023 23

STRATEGY

ITA-AITES
Maison Internationale de l’Environnement 2
9 Chemin de Balexert - CH-1219 Châtelaine (GE)
Switzerland
Tel + 41 (0) 22 547 74 41
E-mail: secretariat@ita-aites.org - www.ita-aites.org