1. Congress Theme From pioneering to modern possibilities The theme of the conference has been chosen to reflect the long history of tunnelling in the UK and the UK’s pioneering approach to tunnelling both at home and abroad.
tunnel in the world at 3.25km when opened in 1934 but at 13.4m diameter was designed to be double deck with trams running below the roadway. Spoil from the excavations was used to build a promenade along the river bank - an early pioneering example of sustainability. More recently road tunnels were built under the Clyde in Glasgow, the Tyne in Newcastle, and the Thames at Dartford. Other major road tunnels - both hard rock and immersed tube - include those on the A55 in North Wales and the A3 at Hindhead. All have subsequently proved so popular that second bores have had to be formed to cater for demand.
The channel tunnel which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2019 is still one of the longest undersea tunnels in the world continued the pioneering approach to tunnelling in the UK along with our colleagues in France. The UK has a long history of pioneering different transport modes and of building tunnels to facilitate them. First came the canal tunnels of the 18th century as the burgeoning canal network opened up the transportation of goods in bulk. This was soon to be followed throughout the 19th century by the development of a network of railways from across the country necessitating numerous tunnels. The first successful tunnelling shield in the UK was developed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, and patented by him in 1818. Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel used it to excavate the Thames Tunnel beginning in 1825 though not opened until 1843 and still in use today as part of the Transport for London rail network. Brunel’s original design was substantially improved by Barlow in the course of the construction of the Tower Subway under the River Thames in central London in 1870. Probably the most crucial innovation of Barlow’s design was that it had a circular crosssection. The Barlow design was enlarged and further improved by Greathead for the construction of the City and South London Railway (today part of London Underground’s Northern line) in 1884. To this day, most tunnelling shields are still loosely based on the Greathead shield. UK has long pioneered the use of the underground space for urban railways. London Underground was the first being opened in 1863 and followed by the Glasgow Subway in 1896. In recent years London Underground has completed the Jubilee Line Extension and now Crossrail along with major redevelopment of a number of central London underground stations. Major pioneering road tunnels followed. The Queensway tunnel under the River Mersey in Liverpool was not only the longest road
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It is intended that 2019 will culminate in a celebration of this and should the bid be successful we would host this around the WTC in association with AFTES. Since the 1950s UK has developed a number of hydroelectric power stations many of which have involved extensive tunnelling including the formation of underground caverns. It is now pioneering the use of pumped storage as a means of storing energy from offshore windfarms. UK has not only a long history of tunnel building but also has a reputation for undertaking pioneering research into tunnelling matters. Cambridge University and Imperial College, London are world class institutions with reputations for geotechnical research relating to tunnelling.