120 km of rail tunnels are currently under construction on the Stuttgart–Ulm rail project. Many of these tunnels are being mined according to the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM). But also...

The base tunnels on the new rail links passing through the Alps (NRLA) are planned to last for more than one hundred years. High requirements were posed regarding permissible risks and fault frequency so that the railway engineering equipment functions as safely and reliably as possible. The fulfilment of these requirements must be documented by the contractor by means of secured predictions. RAMS technology forms the basis for this in keeping with CENELEC Standard 50126, which has been applied in its entirety for the first time for infrastructure projects of this magnitude.

Southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep province is characterized by complex fractured rock within the Eastern Anatolian Fault, and it is now the location of an important railway tunnel project. With a population of nearly 1.7 million, the province is overhauling its public transportation with a rail line between the towns of Bahçe and Nurdağı. The Bahce–Nurdag Railway Tunnel consists of two parallel 9.75 km tunnels being excavated by both the New Austrian Tunnelling Method/NATM (850 m) and tunnel boring machine/TBM (8.9 km).

Around 1500 tunnellers from 68 countries met from 21 to 25 April, 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The occasion was the 44th Annual Meeting of the ITA (International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association) in conjunction with the World Tunnel Congress (WTC) 2018.

From June 13 to 15, 2018, the Swiss Tunnelling Society (STS) staged the 17th Swiss Tunnel Congress in the concert hall at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre. Around 700 visitors took part in the lecture programme of the STC. The Swiss Tunnel Colloquium for students, young engineers and technicians on the first congress day attracted 380 participants.

On June 7, 2018, the 4th Conference on Rock Mechanics and Tunnelling took place at the WBI Center in Weinheim/Bergstr. The day-long event was staged jointly by the WBI GmbH in conjunction with the DB Projekt Stuttgart–Ulm GmbH, the DB Netze and the civil engineering section of the Württemberg Engineering Association. There was a keen response with around 300 experts taking part in the event thus contributing to its success. For the first time, all lectures were also available in English with simultaneous translation.

The STUVA regularly promotes tunnel forums at the InnoTrans Convention involving high-grade podium discussions and rounds of experts. Here at international level the emphasis is on what will keep us mobile in future. The article presents the programme of this year’s Tunnel Forum.