Finalists announced for ITA Awards 2020 29 Oct 2020

The finalists for the ITA Awards 2020 have been selected by the 16 member panel of industry recognised judges. The award ceremony will be held as a virtual conference on December 3 and 4, with the winners being announced on December 4. The presentations of the finalists and the virtual exhibition will remain available during the two weeks.

For 2020 there are seven categories, two of which are new. Overcoming the challenge is for projects that have succeeded in the face of either foreseen or unforeseen extreme conditions while Oddities of the underground celebrate the creativity, ingenuity, and imagination of the human spirit in its endeavours underground.

Major Project of the Year of more than €500 million

• Sydney Metro City and Southwest Project by John Holland CPB Ghella Joint Venture – Australia
• Ryfast – construction of the longest sub-sea road tunnel in the world – Norway
• Yanqing to Chongli expressway Jinjiazhuang spiral tunnel project – China

Project of the Year of between €50 million and €500 million

• Chinatown Station of the Central Subway Program, San Francisco – USA
• Uma Oya multipurpose hydro development project – Sri Lanka
• Large scale underpass using multiple construction methods at Banxuegang hightech-city – China
• Micangshan Tunnel on G85 Expressway – China

Project of the Year including renovation of up to €50 million

• Lower Otta hydropower project – Norway
• FEDRO tunnel renovation method – renovation of a non-reinforced primary lining using night shifts while keeping all traffic lanes open during the day – Switzerland
• Nord Stream 2 trenchless microtunnelling shore crossing by Züblin – Germany
• The integration of subway station construction and ecological environment protection in a complex environment – China

Technical Innovation of the Year

• Innovative automated geological forward-prospecting technique mounted on hard rock TBM – China
• Innovative digital condition assessment of Brunel brick tunnels – United Kingdom
• Innovative GB-InSAR system for real-time face safety monitoring – Italy
• Laser-guided system for conventional tunnelling – Spain

Overcoming the challenge

• Chengdu-Guiyang high-speed railway—Yujingshan mountain crossing giant karst cave and underground river – China
• 89.3°C ultra-high ground temperature treatment for Sangzhuling tunnel in Nyingchi-Lhasa section of Sichuan-Tibet railway – China
• High performance EPB excavation in mixed face and variable ground with up to 7 bar groundwater pressure – Mexico

Oddities of the underground

• The Drammen spiral tunnel – Norway
• Tunnelling in the service of archaeology – Israël

Innovative and Contributing Underground Spaces

• Union Square/Market Street Station, San Francisco, battered drilled shafts as permanent ground support – USA
• Indian strategic petroleum reserves caverns, Padur – India
• Shenzhen Chegongmiao integrated traffic hub project – China

Young Tunneller of the year

• Josh Barry – Australia
• Laurence Delplace – Belgium
• Dimitrios Litsas – Greece
• Sandeep Singh Nirmal – India
• Qingfang Liu – China