Tunneling Short Course Held in Colorado

Tunneling Short Course

The sold-out Tunnel Short Course gathered a cross-section of the industry.

Golden, Colo., played host to tunneling professionals Sept. 18-20 for the sixth annual Tunneling Short Course. The course, titled “Breakthroughs in Tunneling,” is hosted by the Colorado School of Mines’ Office of Special Programs and Continuing Education in conjunction with TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine, Ozdemir Engineering and Microtunneling Inc.

This year marked the second annual awards program as part of the banquet dinner on Sept. 19. The Tunnel Achievement Award for Project Excellence was given to Kiewit for the East Side CSO project, which was completed by a joint venture of Kiewit-Bilfinger Berger for the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) as part of its program to reduce sewer overflows into the Willamette River and Columbia Slough.

More than 125 participants gathered at Green Center on the School of Mines campus to learn about building tunnels from planning and design to bidding and construction. Presenters included world-renowned professionals representing consulting firms, contractors, equipment suppliers and academia. Course directors are Levent Ozdemir, consultant and professor emeritus at the school, and Tim Coss, president of Microtunneling Inc.

The format allows for open discussion for participants to discuss the major issues affecting the planning, design and construction of tunnels. In addition to the in-depth classroom presentations, the Short Course provides a unique networking opportunity in which students and presenters can discuss all aspects of the market.

Tunneling Short Course

Course organizers and planners included (from left) Bernie Krzys, Benjamin Media; Levent Ozdemir, Ozdemir Engineering; and Tim Coss, Microtunneling Inc.

Sponsors for the course included: Brierley Associates LLC (Main Event Sponsor); Kiewit Infrastructure Co.; Hatch Mott MacDonald; Bradshaw Construction Corp.; Ruen Drilling Inc.; Moretrench; Hayward Baker Inc.; Atlas Copco CMT-USA; MWH; Parsons; Jacobs Associates; Sandvik Construction; ARUP; VMT (USA) Technical Measurement Solutions Inc.; Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP; Peregoy Construction Services Inc.; Doctor Mole Inc.; Herrenknecht; Bouygues Civil Works Florida; Stantec Consulting Services; AECOM; CDM Smith; Gall Zeidler Consultants; and Shotcrete Technologies Inc.

Planning for the seventh annual Tunneling Short Course is under way. Meanwhile, the 20th annual Microtunneling Short Course will be held in Golden from Feb. 11-13, 2014, with a one-day Pilot Tube Microtunneling course on Feb. 10. The second annual Ground Improvement Short Course is set for May 19-21. For information or to register for upcoming courses, visit www.csmspace.com.

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