Virtual ITA Tunnelling Awards 2020 – List of Finalists

The five previous editions of the event in Switzerland, Singapore, France, China and the USA gathered more than 1200 attendees and 403 entries. In 2020 the award ceremony is for the first time organised as a web-based virtual event, due to Covid19 restrictions. It will take place online on awards.ita-aites.org from December 3rd to 4th, and the presentations and virtual exhibition will remain available for several weeks.

A number of novelties must be highlighted for this year: despite this unprecedented context, the ITA Tunnelling Awards is still evolving and tends to fully assert global trends of the underground industry. New categories have been implemented, notably “Overcoming the Challenges” and “Oddities of the Underground”, while the specification of the category “Innovative and Contributing Underground Spaces” has been modified.

Finalists for the 8 Categories

Major Project of the Year (over 500 Million euros)

John Holland CPB Ghella Joint Venture Tunnelling and Station Excavation Works for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest Project; Australia

Ryfast – Construction of the world's longest sub-sea road tunnel; Norway

Jinjiazhuang Spiral tunnel project of Yanqing to Chongli expressway; China

Project of the Year (50 Million–500 Million euros)

Chinatown Station of the Central Subway Program; USA

Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project; Sri Lanka

Large scale underpass using multiple construction methods at Banxuegang hightech-city; Shenzhen, China

Micangshan Tunnel on G85 Expressway; China

Project of the Year incl. Renovation (up to 50 Million euros)

Lower Otta Hydropower Project; Norway

FEDRO's Tunnel Renovation Method – renovation of a non-reinforced primary lining using night shifts while keeping all traffic lanes open during the day; Switzerland

Züblin – Nord Stream 2 Trenchless Shore Crossing (Micro Tunnel); Germany

The Integration of Subway Station Construction and Ecological Environment Protection in Complex Environment; China

Technical Innovation of the Year

An Innovative Automated Geological Forward-prospecting Technique Mounted on Hard-rock TBM; China

Innovative digital condition assessment of Brunel brick tunnels; United Kingdom

An Innovative GB-InSAR System for Real-time Tunnel Face Safety Monitoring; Italy

Laser-guided system for conventional tunnelling; Spain

Overcoming the Challenge

Chengdu–Guiyang High-speed Railway, Yujingshan Mountain Tunnel Crossing, giant karst cave and underground river; China

89.3°C Ultra-high Ground Temperature Treatment for Sangzhuling Tunnel in Nyingchi–Lhasa Section of Sichuan–Tibet Railway; China

High performance EPB excavation in mixed face and variable ground with up to 7 bar groundwater pressure; Mexico

Oddities of the Underground

The Spiral Tunnel (Drammen); Norway

Tunnelling in the service of archaeology; Israel

Innovative and Contributing Underground Spaces

Union Square/Market Street Station – Battered Drilled Shafts as Permanent Ground Support; USA

Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Padur; India

Shenzhen Chegongmiao Integrated Traffic Hub Project; China

Young Tunneller of the Year

Josh Barry; Australia

Laurence Delplace; Belgium

Dimitrios Litsas; Greece

Sandeep Singh Nirmal; India

Qingfang Liu; China