Tunnel Design, Construction and Troubleshooting

This 3-day workshop is specifically designed to provide delegates an in-depth knowledge on the design, construction and troubleshooting of tunnelling. Delegates will first look at the relationship between design and construction based on selected case studies.  They will also look at the various aspects of the tunnel design and construction including ground mass classification methods, tunnel support design methods, excavation methods, drainage and waterproofing and interaction with existing infrastructure. Lastly, delegates discuss the merits or otherwise of the innovative use of shotcrete as an initial and final tunnel support medium.

This workshop is qualified for 12 PDU points by PEB (Professional Engineers Board).

Key Takeaways from Attending This Workshop:

• In-depth knowledge on design, construction and troubleshooting of tunnelling
• Understand overall project including construction methodologies and hence contribute more to the project.
• Master various aspects of tunnel design and construction
• Utilise the innovative use of shotcrete as an initial and final tunnel support medium
• Identify as to why things can go wrong.
• Improves communication between designers and contractors.

• Project Managers
• Construction Managers
• Planners
• Design Managers
• Road designers
• Rail designers
• Tunnel Designers
• Geotechnical Engineers
• Developers                              

Masterclass Facilitator has over 35 years in the design and construction of a wide range of underground and related projects.  He has had various roles including delivery manager, design team leader and tunnel engineer and is experienced in design management, planning, concept and detailed design, detailed construction method development and supervision for tunnels, caverns, shafts, and heavy civil foundations in both soft ground and hard rock.

He has worked on projects in Australia (all states), China, Chile, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.  The work in China was for the Asian Development Bank and was an assessment of a major highway connection with numerous tunnels.

For the Sydney Harbour Tunnel he worked with the immersed tube tunnel designers developing the land based connection to the immersed tube tunnel at the Sydney Opera House forecourt and was the Design Team Leader for the land based tunnels.

Other major road tunnels include the detailed feasibility study for a 9km long tunnel in Sydney which is now under construction as the Northconnex road tunnel.

For the Airport Line in Sydney, he was the client’s technical representative for all of the underground works on this multi-million dollar project.  This projects included 6km of 11m diameter slurry TBM tunnelling together with deep diaphragm walled stations.

Expert witness work includes assessing the contractors risk assessment and construction methodology following a fatal roof collapse on a major road tunnel project.

On the recently completed North Strathfield Rail Underpass tunnel he introduced to Australia the first use of a one pass shotcrete lining with synthetic fibres as tunnel support and to reduced surface settlement to a minimum under the three live railway tracks.  This tunnel was short listed for an award at the ITA 2015 tunnelling awards for projects under $50million.

Recently he has been the technical lead on aspects of the North West Rail Link project on the OTS contract in Sydney including two significant fully tanked shafts.  This project includes over 12 km of twin bored tunnel and deep open cut station excavations.

He has given presentations in 2015 at the RETC, New Orleans, to the Singapore Tunnelling Society as the invited TRUSS annual speaker, at the ITA awards in Hagerbach, Switzerland and in Shanghai as an invited speaker for the second time at the International Tunnel and Bridge Conference. 

He was also the chairman of the 2014 Australasian Tunnelling Society Conference held in Sydney.  In 2015 he also visited the Herrenknecht TBM factory in Germany and in 2016 the CRCE TBM factory in northern China.

A selection of published papers is listed below:

• "The Soft Ground Bored Tunnel Under Sydney Airport". Nye, E. J. 10th Australian Tunnelling Conference, Melbourne, March 1999.
• "Chongqing to Guiyang Expressway, China". Nye, E. J. and McNamara, J. ITA World Tunnel Congress, March 2002, Sydney.
• “Buildings Around Tunnels – Case Histories”, Nye, E. J.  Published at the AGS AUCTA Mini-Symposium: Geotechnical Aspects of Tunnelling for Infrastructure Projects, October 2005.
• “Shotcrete Application on the Boggo Road Busway driven tunnel”, Nye, E. J. and Alt, D. 3^rd International Conference on Engineering Developments in Shotcrete, Queenstown, New Zealand, March 2010.
• “A one-pass synthetic fibre-reinforced shotcrete lining for a very shallow cover tunnel, North Strathfield Rail Underpass”. Ted Nye RETC New Orleans, June 2015.
• “Construction above, adjacent to and under future and existing rail infrastructure”.  Core2016  Conference, Melbourne, May 2016.

Workshop attendees are to participate in a general discussion about innovation and why it is sometimes difficult to get acceptance from clients, designers or contractors.  What are these barriers and how can they be overcome?   The discussion led in will include innovative the use of alternative materials; however, any other topics can be introduced during the discussion.

Sessions will include things that can go wrong and we will look at three project examples that either went through a legal process or were negotiated by voluntary arbitration after adverse on site events.

Two of the case studies involve tunnel collapses while the third involves a building development adjacent to an existing railway tunnel and in part relates to confusion around property boundaries.

Topics that will be touched on include:

• Risk assessment – the designer and contractors’ perspective
• The role of the geotechnical engineer, designer and constructor in mitigating risk during construction.
• The consequences of project delays
• Could tunnel designers and constructors communicate better?

Workshop to include general discussion around risk and risk mitigation.

This workshop is qualified for 12 PDU points by PEB (Professional Engineers Board).

To be advised.

“Trainer brings to tunnel related engineering projects a depth of technical knowledge and relevant practical experience unmatched by others in the industry.”

Head of Advisory and Senior Shareholder,  Sinclair Knight Merz (now Jacobs)

“Trainer is a rare breed of designer who has a strong background in construction as well as design, and works with the construction team to deliver designs that not only stands up to technical scrutiny, but can be built practically as well.”

Thiess Contractors

“Trainer's technical knowledge, practical experience and professional approach allowed for a complex project (the North Strathfield Rail Underpass (NSRU) project in Sydney)  to be delivered without incident and on time.”

NSRU Alliance Manager

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