Annual Tunnel Short Course Attracts Full House at Colorado School of Mines

The Tunnel Short Course “Breakthroughs in Tunneling” attracted a full house of students from across the United States, Canada and internationally Sept. 19-21 at the Colorado School of Mines’ campus in Golden, Colo. The course, the fourth annual event, is organized by Levent Ozdemir, consultant and professor emeritus at the school, and Tim Coss, president of Microtunneling Inc., and is sponsored by TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine, a sister publication of Trenchless Technology.

The course covers all aspects of tunnel construction from planning to implementation — all presented from recognized international aspects in the field of tunneling and heavy civil construction. Because tunnel and underground construction is so radically different from conventional construction, this course is particularly valuable to owners, engineers or contractors who may be uninitiated in tunnel construction.

The purpose of the course is to keep attendees up-to-date on the developments in the evolving field of tunneling. Since the course was first offered in 2008, there has been an increased interest in soft-ground tunneling. One of the topics on the agenda was interventions for soft-ground tunneling, presented by Jerry East of Global Diving.

In addition to the in-depth classroom presentations, the Tunnel Short Course provides a unique networking opportunity in which students and presenters can discuss all aspects of the market. The course also features a Banquet Dinner held at the nearby Golden Hotel featuring a keynote presentation by leading experts in the field. This year the keynote speaker was Randy Essex, Hatch Mott MacDonald, who gave a first-hand account of the Lake Thistle Emergency Drainage Project. The project involved a fast-track tunnel to relieve flooding caused by a massive earth slide, and reducing the risk of further damage.

Sponsors for the course included: Brierley Associates, Ruen Drilling, Arup, Shotcrete Technologies, Caterpillar, Herrenknecht, MWH, Hayward Baker, Kiewit, Derrick Equipment, Moretrench, Atlas Copco, Hatch Mott MacDonald, TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine, and Microtunneling Inc.

The next Tunnel Short Course will be held September 2012 in Golden.  The dates will be finalized soon. For information visit: www.tunneling.com.
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