08.30 Conference Day One Registration Begins

09.00 Welcome Address by Chairman

09.10 Keynote Presentation : Cost efficient design and construction of underground infrastructure: emphasising the need for regional coordination

• Outlining the opportunities in the regional underground and tunnelling industry
• Addressing the challenges for tunnelling industry stakeholders
• Benchmarking geotechnical design and construction processes for growing the tunnelling industry

Martin C Knights
Global Director – Tunnelling, HALCROW & Immediate Past President
ITA

Martin has over 40 years of broad experience in managing all aspect of civil engineering and infrastructure business and projects, with particular technical emphasis on urban tunnelling and underground projects. He is currently Halcrow’s Global Tunnel and Geotechnical Practice Leader with tunnelling operations in UK, Brazil, USA, Hong Kong, Middle East, Australia, India, and Argentina. He is also the immediate past president of ITA.

09.50 CASE STUDY: Upcoming tunnelling projects in Thailand: participating in Bangkok Metro and Phuket High Speed Rail

• Tendering phases in Bangkok metro rail tunnel
• Feasibility Report status and DPR in Thailand’s tunnelling projects
• Update on Phuket High Speed Rail tunnel
• How to synergise Thailand’s EPC capabilities with regional skills to execute civil projects on schedule

Dr Suchatvee Suwansawat
Chairman
THAILAND UNDERGROUND TUNNELLING GROUP

Chairman of TUTG, Suchatvee Suwansawat has close to two decades of experience in major underground projects in Thailand. He is actively involved in the ongoing tunnel projects for Bangkok Metro and Phuket High Speed Rail and was the Chairman of the organising committee of WTC 2012. Siripong Nakthong, Geotechnical Engineer, D2 CONSULT ASIA

11.00 CASE STUDY: Constructing cost efficient water tunnels and overcoming engineering challenges in tough terrains: Kishan Ganga Water Tunnel, India

• Best practices used in designing 21 km long hydro tunnel
• Handling difficult geotechnical conditions at the tunnelling site
• Calculating static and transient hydraulic loading on tunnels to avoid structural weaknesses
• How to ensure optimal contract management in long hydro tunnel construction

Ashok S. Walvekar
Executive Director - Geotechnics (Projects & Investigation)
NATIONAL HYDROPOWER CORPORATION OF INDIA

Ashok Walvekar has about 33 years’ experience with NHPC, which develops hydroelectric tunnel and underground construction projects in India and in the region. He is actively associated with conceptual planning, investigation, design & construction stage activities of various hydro power projects of NHPC.

11.40 POWER PANEL: Exploring the trends in efficient geotechnical investigation for large underground constructions

The power panel consists of experts from multiple stakeholders with varied experience in geotechnical investigation and underground construction. The panellists will be discussing the futuristic trends in achieving cost efficiency while large underground excavations are designed and constructed. Look for the specific focus on cost efficient methods currently employed in the tunnelling industry and come prepared with you queries to the experts on future trends in encountering heavy ingress of water and ground squeezing conditions

Power Panel Experts:

13.20 Realising the world’s longest rail and road integrated sea crossing immersed tube tunnel: Fehmarn Belt, Denmark – Germany

Designing and constructing tunnel elements for the world’s longest immersed tube tunnel will be an engineering achievement of mega proportions. With the humongous quantity of dredging and tunnel trenching expected at the project, how will the stakeholders ensure environment-friendly construction?

The expert from Ramboll whose team secured the contract in a Tunnel or Bridges competition.

Axel E. Christensen is currently Director in Ramboll Denmark and is overall responsible for the Infrastructure & Transport sector. He has 35 years of experience within planning, engineering and management of large infrastructure Projects, including bridges, tunnels and offshore platforms. He was part of the project management of the large suspension bridge of the Great Belt Connection in Denmark and he was project director for the design of the large bridge/tunnel connection between Denmark and Sweden.

14.00 CASE STUDY: Designing safe underground projects with cost efficient design and construction in high density urban centres

• Tunnelling in urban centres under heavy over-burden
• Project update on tunnels and underground stations
• Overcoming engineering challenges in the design of large scale deep excavation
• Integrating new civil infrastructure with the existing tunnels

Jim Benson
Group Manager – Tunnelling
SINCLAIR KNIGHT MERZ

With over 20 years’ experience in various tunnel and underground construction projects in Europe, Africa and Asia, Jim is currently the Group Manager for all tunnelling contracts with Sinclair Knight Merz. Currently stationed in Hong Kong, Jim manages SKM’s major metro rail projects in the region.

15:10CASE STUDY: Cost efficient underground construction methods in hydro power projects: case study - The Ambuklao Rehabilitation Project, The Philippines

Russell Rooney
GM & Director - Tunnels & Underground
McCONNELL DOWELL CONSTRUCTORS

15.50 CASE STUDY: Recent developments in improving geotechnical investigation and construction in high altitude mountain tunnels: USB Rail Tunnel, India

• Project update in Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link’s tunnelling section
• Handling challenges in the construction of escape tunnels in difficult geological conditions
• Improvements in tunnel lining and use of new materials

Dr Manoj Verman
Technical Director – Geotechnics
GEODATA

Manoj is a specialist in tunnelling, rock mechanics, field instrumentation and non-destructive testing. He has a career spanning more than 29 years. After a short stint with a geotechnical services group in New Delhi, in 1984 Manoj moved to Central Mining Research Institute, a premier research and development institute in mining in India, and helped set up and grow its regional centre at Nagpur. In early 1997, he moved to New Delhi to join Advanced Technology & Engineering Services (ATES) and helped strengthen its operations in providing engineering services in niche areas of civil engineering. He is currently working on one of the world’s most challenging mountain tunnelling projects, the USB Rail Tunnel in Himalayas.

16.30 Engineering very deep stations in urban conditions: Sai Ying Pun and University Station, MTR, Hong Kong

• Benefits of route alignment through rocky formation in urban conditions;
• Drained and undrained rock caverns – what are their pros and cons;
• Implementing advanced geological design techniques for large scale rocky cavern excavation;
• Hydrogeological study for drained caverns – what are the concerns and how to address them

Eric Chui
Head of Tunnels & Ground Engineering
ATKINS

Eric has over 19 years’ experience in the study, design and construction management of large infrastructure projects in different parts of the world including several major tunnelling projects and has managed major multidisciplinary projects in Hong Kong. He has particular expertise in design of soft ground and rock tunnels constructed by various methods including TBM (Compressed air, EPBM, slurry and double-shield hard rock machine), cut and cover, pipe-jacking, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) and drill and blast methods. He has experience in underpinning works for buildings, cavern design (large span rock tunnels), deep shafts design and damage risk assessment of tunnel works adjacent to structures.

17.10 Closing Remarks from the Chairperson

17.20 Close of Conference Day One