Springtime gatherings in North America that include trenchless tunnelling once more give way to more of the region’s tunnelling sector gatherings, which alternate between RETC and NAT, each summer. We preview RETC 2025, being held in Dallas, TX, in June.
Before then, this month the World Tunnel Congress is held in Sweden. Next year it will be a further event in North America – where it is to be hosted in Montreal, Canada.
We previewed the technical programme for WTC 2025 in the last issue, and in this issue the spotlight is on RETC. Incredibly interesting presentations are lined up for both.
Also coming up for knowledge sharing is the renowned BTS Design & Construction course, over a full week, in late June. The highly respected week at Warwick university offers not only a set-up in knowledge but is seen as a milestone in industry education, for its speakers are leaders who come in from the field. The BTS course is previewed in this issue.
Another annual opportunity for knowledge sharing presented by the BTS is the Harding Prize Competition, a platform where younger tunnellers present papers, and speak, about selected experiences. One such paper from this year’s Competition offered a most interesting look at water treatment in TBM slurry tunnelling. It is presented in this issue.
Also in this issue we have articles that consider new technologies, such as AI and BIM and how they are making themselves heard even more in tunnelling industry events, though case studies and research; and, quite opposite futures for two old tunnels, at opposite ends of the world. In trenchless, we learn how the interest of a US contractor was caught and held on particular pipes; an overview of projects in Latin America; and, details of a field testing for a Fixed Fire Fighting System.
