Keynote Presenter in Upcoming conference on Underground Space Engineering, Singapore

Trueventus is organizing the 3rd Annual conference on Underground Space Engineering in Singapore and I am invited as one of the Keynote presenters to present a talk on "Existing tunnel movements due to close proximity". Details of the conference are enclosed below. This post will be updated soon to include the summary of my presentation.

  

Underground Space Utilization in Singapore - Part 1

Most of the cities exploit the underground space for dirty and noisy uses like sewer system, transport systems etc. But a few cities have gone a step further and started extensive use of underground space for pedestrian passages, underground storage facilities, shopping mall, office spaces etc. Singapore is one of such cities which is constantly pushing for new innovative use of underground space and already boasts an extensive of use of underground space (see picture below).

Underground space utilization in Singapore

And is further looking for possibilities of creating underground transport hubs, pedestrian links, cycling lanes, utility plants, storage and research facilities, industrial uses, shopping areas and other public spaces. In order to facilitate such projects, Singapore parliament recently amended laws to say that by definition, the state owns underground space more than 30 meters below the surface and the law enabled the state to buy out plots of surface land  so that the ground underneath it can be accessed. These law changes indicate Singapore government's serious foresight about future underground usage plan.

Another school of thought is that it is not just because they need space for people, but it is also because it generates revenue for the economy. Income from land sales alone account to more than US$10 billion for the past few years.

Either way, Singapore is geared to make maximum utilization of its underground space. Now the question is how are the policies developed for such growth? What are the cities that we could look upon for "template"? How Singapore's needs differ from them? I will cover in the next post. 

New Blog from Politecnico di Torino about Tunnelling Course

I am happy to share that current master student (Mr. Rodrigo Winderholler) of the Tunnelling and TBM master course (10th edition) has started a blog explaining the course details and giving weekly update of the course progress.

It serves as a valuable information to the people who are interested in similar course and gives a basis to someone who wants to assess the course before joining it. I thank Rodrigo in taking the initiative and following the practice that I set during my course period.

I recommend my readers to visit his blog at: http://tunnelling-tbmmaster.blogspot.sg/

New blog on Tunnelling & TBM Master Course - 10th Edition