Beijing Hosts ICPTT 2011
February 27, 2012
From Oct. 26-29, 2011, the second International Conference of Pipelines and Trenchless Technology (ICPTT 2011) was held at the National Convention Center in Beijing. It was organized by the Center for Trenchless Research and Development at the China University of Geosciences (CTRD-CUG) and the Center for Underground Infrastructure Research and Education (CURIE) at the University of Texas-Arlington, and sponsored by the ASCE Pipeline Division.
The conference provided a world forum for 80 technical presentations, with 253 papers published in the ICPTT 2011 Proceedings, and 19 papers will be published in the Division’s Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice. The conference theme was “Sustainable Solutions for Water, Sewer, Gas and Oil Pipelines.”
ICPTT 2011 was a resounding success with more than 540 participants from various countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Korea, India, Iran, Japan, Egypt, New Zealand and China. The exposition held 33 exhibitors of heavy construction equipment, services and other media including an ASCE Pipeline Division booth. There were three major industry sponsors of ICPTT 2011: Beijing Longkexing Trenchless Engineering Co. Ltd, Balama Prima Equipment Co. Ltd, and Xiamen Xinyongtong Trenchless Technology Co. Ltd.
Dr. Tom Iseley, PE, M.ASCE of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Purdue School of Engineering & Technology; Michael T. Stift, PE, M.ASCE, ASCE TAC Member; and Dr. Mohammed Najafi, PE, M.ASCE, Director of CUIRE, and all former Pipeline Division EXCOM chairs, volunteered efforts to support this event with their Chinese counterpart Dr. Baosong Ma, Director CTRD and Vice Chair Department of Drilling & Foundation Engineering, College of Engineering, China University of Geosciences – Wuhan (CUG). John Galleher, PE, M.ASCE, Pipeline Division EXCOM Vice Chair, Dr. Ray Sterling, professor emeritus at Louisiana Tech University, International Society for Trenchless Technology (ISTT) past chairman and former director of Trenchless Technology Center (TTC), and Dr. Samuel Ariaratnam, professor at Arizona State University and chairman of ISTT, also attended the conference. Ma and Najafi organized the conference and were ICPTT technical program coordinators. Stift hosted and Galleher spoke on the mission and organization of ASCE and the Pipeline Division at the ICPTT opening ceremony.
The Plenary Session was highlighted by presentations by Professor Li Zhendong, the chairman of China Urban Water Association and former vice minister of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China, and by Dr. Iseley.
The conference technical program was Oct. 27-28. Three education workshops were held on Oct. 29: “Pipeline and Trenchless Technology Advances,” “Pipeline Rehabilitation” and “Large Diameter Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe.” Approximately 120 pipeline professionals from all over the world attended these educational workshops to hear a number of instructors present on these three important topics.
The ICPTT 2012 will be held on October 19-21 in Wuhan, China.
