In 2017 and 2018 work on several new metro line and extension projects will either be started or are currently underway in Bangkok. Services of these new lines and extensions will commence between 2017 and 2023. The additional network will be constructed underground as well as on elevated tracks.

Assembled in Schwanau, with a diameter of 15.87 m the tunnel boring machine for the Santa Lucia road tunnel is an impressive sight. In the next three years the 4800 tonne drilling giant will build a 7528 meter tunnel in the Apennines near Florence. It takes over from the existing record holder for size, which was also used in Italy – an EPB shield for the Galleria Sparvo with a diameter of 15.62 m.

Executing a tunnel drive beneath an existing railway line allows the tracks very little room for settling. The excavation must be devised in keeping with these marginal conditions. Furthermore, continuous checking of the track settlement must be assured for control purposes. By installing a corresponding monitoring system, it is possible for the driving operations to be monitored permanently by all those involved and adapted to the given situation.

High mountains, long fjords and steep valleys. A demanding landscape and tough climate with abundant precipitation meaning infrastructure construction is a severe challenge in Norway, host of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 from June 9 to June 15 in Bergen. The especially demanding circumstances became all the more obvious as roads and railways started to replace the sea routes as the standard means of travel in Norway. The first Norwegian road tunnel was built in 1884. The great breakthrough for traffic tunnelling came with the construction of the Bergen Railway in 1909: 182 tunnels were constructed as part of this first rail connection between east and west of Norway. Today Norway has more than 1800 road and rail tunnels, whose total length is well over 1000 km.

From May 30 to June 1, 2017, the Swiss Tunnelling Society (STS) is staging the 16^th Swiss Tunnel Congress. As in previous years the first two days will take place in the Concert Hall at the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre (KKL). The annual Tunnel Colloquium will be held there on Day 1. Day 2 is the main Congress-day which will be devoted to papers on national Swiss tunnelling and underground construction projects as well as international construction projects – many of which involve Swiss participation. The final day is reserved for an extensive excursion programme, which offers participants the choice of visiting no less than five different construction sites.

The STUVA will invite experts from the fields of construction and operation  of underground structures for the industry’s most important get-together to be held in Stuttgart from December 6 to 8, 2017. More than 2400 experts from over 20 countries turned up for the last STUVA Conference in Dortmund in 2015. Around 70 papers (with simultaneous German/English and English/German translation) will be presented over two days in Stuttgart. They will deal with tunnelling and tunnel operation. The separate block of lectures on the afternoon of Day 2 and the excursions on Day 3 will provide a greater insight into the Stuttgart–Ulm mega project.