Featured in ITACET newsletter

June issue of ITACET newsletter has featured the abstract of my paper which was shortlisted by Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS) to be presented at the 8th Asian Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference in Kazakhstan (8AYGEC).

ITACET Newsletter - June edition

The title of the paper is "Mid-tunnel underground docking of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) in Singapore". The paper discusses a case study from Singapore in which, TBMs are docked midway in the tunnel to establish a safe working chamber for concluding construction works (including the TBM dismantling, internal concrete lining etc.) without the need for any intermediate TBM retrieval shaft. 

Picture illustrating docking without a retrieval shaft

Reference:
[1] Senthilnath, G.T., 2016. Mid-tunnel underground docking of tunnel boring machines in Singapore, In The 8th Asian Young Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Astana, Kazakhstan, CRC Press/ Balkema Publishers (accepted, in press)

World Tunnel Congress 2015

In the month of May (22nd to 28th), I had the opportunity to attend the World Tunnel Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This was my first World Tunnel Congress event and I had the opportunity to meet many friends from Italy, India, Germany and Singapore.

With my friend from Turin, Italy

ITA General Assembly

I had the opportunity to present my work titled "Probabilistic estimation of operating pressure for TBM Tunnelling". This paper basically presents probabilistic estimation of TBM operating pressure using Monte Carlo simulations as a part of design routine. This probabilistic approach would assist in risk assessment and will result in realistic face pressure values and thus avoid the operational disadvantages of over conservatively high face pressure values.

Face pressure estimation using Monte-Carlo Simulation

I also had the opportunity to get in touch with fellow ITA-YM members and was elected as the steering committee member of ITA-YM for a tenure of 2 years.

Special Mention In Media (ITACET Newsletter)

I am happy to share with my readers that, this blog was mentioned in the ITACET Foundation's newsletter as "A blog of interest". Thanks for your support and continuous encouragement. I will continue to write and share useful and original content.

The newsletter could be accessed at http://www.itacet.org/Newsletter/NL_detail.php?no_nl=19

PDF Link

Special Mention in ITACET Newsletter - July 2014 

"Tunnelling and TBM" Course at Politecnico di Torino, Italy: Summary

In this post, I intend to summarize about the 2nd Level Specializing Masters / Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) degree program on "Tunnelling and TBM", which I was following at Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Having completed the academic course work (46 out of 60 credits), I am about to begin my thesis work (based on job experience / stage / internship) to complete the remaining 14 credits.

MAS program on "Tunnelling and Tunnel Boring machines" at Politecnico di Torino, Italy is one of the four courses offered worldwide on Tunnelling which is endorsed by International Tunnelling Association (ITA/AITES) and ITACET committee. Three of them (including this) are MAS level / 2nd Master's level  course and one of them is MSc level course (details).

The program at Politecnico di Torino combines university lectures with expert lectures from construction companies, machines producers, design companies and industry professionals to provide the multidisciplinary knowledge. The program has been running for around 18 years, offered once in two years, and has now reached its 9th edition (more details).

In clockwise from top-left corner. Herrenknecht site visit, Prof. Kovari's lecture, Prof. Galler's Lecture, ITACET Board with program participants.

Course Structure

The course contained the following modules. Lectures for each of the modules were delivered by industrial experts along with the university professors.

• Contractual and legislative aspects, work sites management, quality 
• General aspects of mechanized tunneling and Hard Rock TBMs
• Plants and microtunneling
• Rock Mass Characterization, Geo investigations and risk assessment
• Safety and environmental issues of work sites
• Soil mechanized tunneling
• Tunnel design and construction method
• Tunnel supports

All my posts related to the course can be accessed here.

Details about the course content are summarized in the following info-graphics.

Time distribution in the program

Distribution of guest lectures

Background of lecturers during the program

Time allotted for different modules

I would like to thank ITACET Foundation for their financial support to follow this program and their constant encouragement during the course work.

My thanks are due to Prof. Peila, Director of the Master Course for his tireless effort and his constant willingness to receive feedback from the participants of the program for continuos improvement of the course.

Sponsors of this edition of Tunnelling and TBM Program

Sponsors of previous editions of Tunnelling and TBM Program

Meeting with ITACET Board Members

Today we had an opportunity to meet the Board members of ITACET Foundation (details about ITACET is in this link) as they were here for an ITACET Board meeting at Politecnico di Torino, Italy. His Excellency A. AL-Mogbel (ITACET President) wished all the participants for successful completion. 

Board members Mr. Piergiorgio Grasso, President of GEODATA S.p.A (first from left); Mr. Claude Berenguier Executive Director, ITA (third from left); Mr. Felix Amberg, President of the Amberg Group (fourth from left); Prof. Daniele Peila (third from right) and Mr. Søren Degn. Eskesen, ITA-AITES President (first from right) can be seen in the photo below.

ITACET Board Members at Politecnico di Torino

Today, we also had an invited guest from Ghella S.p.A construction company. Mr. Giovanni Giacomin (TBM & Tunnelling Department Director) presented us two case study projects. First case study was on Legacy Way motorway Tunnel being executed by Ghella S.p.A for Brisbane City council. This award winning Tunnelling project (ITA Tunnel Project of the Year - over $500 million category) executed by Ghella demonstrated the perfect combination of innovative solutions and perfect execution. Second case study was on Maldonado project in Bonous Aires, Argentina.

Mr. Giovanni Giacomin from Ghella S.p.A, Italy

Thank you ITACET Foundation

My thanks are due to ITACET Foundation and International Tunnelling Association for finding me suitable for the ITACET scholarship and supporting me to pursue 2nd Level Specializing Masters in Tunnelling and Tunnel Boring Machines for the session Jan '14 to Jan '15 in Politecnico di Torino. In the spirit of ITACET foundation's scholarship awarding criteria, I have decided to blog my experiences during my course work in Turin so as to create higher benefit/investment ratio for the ITACET foundation.

Following blogs will document my experiences, learning and details of the course. I hope this information will be useful for all the future aspiring students of this course and as well as the practicing Geotech/Tunnelling engineers.

For those who have landed here to seek details about the ITACET Scholarship, details can be found here.