After a year of rationalization and regrouping, the North American tunneling industry is preparing for a catch-up and debrief at the RETC session that starts next week in San Francisco. As one of the prime events in the international conference calendar and despite reports of tight economic conditions, organizers of this RETC are anticipating a larger event than the last in 2009 RETC in Las Vegas. TunnelTalk takes a look at the program highlights and includes a list of the exhibitors with an interactive locator that will find their stands on the floorplan.

With its particular focus on the practical side of tunneling, RETC every two years is an opportunity for the tunneling industry of North America to discuss the issues that are exercising current interest, set an agenda of projects for the coming two years, and explore new innovations and developments in best practice. As with previous events, the SME sponsors and organizers indicate that this year’s event in San Francisco will again top expectations. The exhibition hall of 152 booths sold out in record time and the early registration numbers predict more than the 1,373 delegates that attended the 2009 session in Las Vegas.

SPONSOR:
SME - Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration

CO-SPONSORED BY:
Construction Institute of ASCE

FUTURE RETC AND NAT DIARY DATES

NAT 2012 – June 24 -27
Indianapolis, Indiana
RETC 2013 - June 23 - 26
Washington, DC
NAT 2014 – June 8 - 11
Los Angeles, California
RETC 2015 – June 7 - 10
New Orleans, Louisiana

If you are heading to the City by the Bay, there is a program of events and technical sessions to keep you busy for the full four days starting on Sunday 19 with a wide choice of alternatives. At the venue there are two full day short courses – one organized by Levent Ozdemir on the operation of large diameter TBMs and the other convened by Ray Henn on the use of grouting to control ground water and improve ground condition. In the lecture halls, two technical sessions, one following the other, will discuss contracting practices and costs in the morning, with references in papers to Seattle's mega Alaskan Way replacement TBM bored tunnel and design-build estimating from the bottom up, and a forum in the afternoon dedicated to the concerns of owners on topics that include scheduling, risk management, different procurement models, and a set of case histories to explain lessons learned.

Also on Sunday is the first of two organized field trips to the roadheader excavation of the New Irvington water supply tunnel by the Southland/Tutor Perini JV for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

The second field trip on Wednesday afternoon is to the Sunnydale auxiliary sewer project where an EPBM is working through a variety of ground types to build CSO tunnel under rail tracks, buried utilities, and the ten-lane Highway 101.

The technical program of presentations when it starts on Monday morning at 8.30am sharp, comprises four simultaneous session, each of five or six papers. Over the course of two and half days to Wednesday noon, 20 sessions will discuss various themes including SEM/NATM excavation; coping with difficult ground conditions; design and planning; water and gas control; ground support and final linings; shaft sinking; microtunneling; and a full session dedicated to Environmental, Health and Safety. Another full session focuses on tunneling projects in Bay Area specifically and includes presentations on shaft design and construction considerations for the first ever bored tunnel under the Bay for then Hetch Hetchy water supply network upgrade for the SFPUC and specific concerns for progress of the new Central Subway light rail extension under San Francisco’s downtown area.

References

1. Alaskan Way bored tunnel contract award - TunnelTalk, Jan 2011
2. New Irvington Tunnel award - TunnelTalk, July 2010
3. New Sunnydale sewer to avert floods - TunnelTalk, Feb 2010
4. Bay Tunnel mobilization (video report) - TunnelCast, Sept 2010
5. Central Subway bid result - TunnelTalk, June 2011
6. Tutor Perini buys Frontier Kemper - TunnelTalk, June 2011

As well as the major equipment suppliers, among them Atlas Copco, Robbins, Herrenknecht, Sandvik, and Caterpillar, amid the filled exhibition hall are booths for the leading consulting engineering practices, including Jacobs Associates, Arup, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Halcrow, and URS and the full range of industry suppliers are represented including the not so familiar Cambria Association for Blind & Handicapped and Ballard Diving & Salvage Hyperbaric. Our list of exhibitors below includes an interactive location facility. To avoid the long searches for the company you are looking for, click on the stand number in the list to find exactly where it is on the floorplan.

TunnelTalk looks forward to meeting old friends and new during the course of another busy RETC. See you there!

RETC 2011 List of Exhibitors - click on the booth number to find their location on the floorplan

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