Tell us about your work when you are not acting as president of the Brazilian Tunnelling Committee
I have worked for Sao Paulo Subway Company for the past 25 years. I am a technical advisor on project management and right now am advising on four metro prject: Line 5 (lilac) between stations Adolfo Pinheiro and Chácara Klabin, with 11km of extension; Part two of Line 4 (yellow) with 1.5km of tunnelling and four new stations; Line 6 (green) with 15.5km of tunnelling; and Line 15 (white) with 13.3km of tunnelling. In total it amounts to 62km of underground works.
On top of this the company is working on Line 20, between Lapa and Moema, adding another 12.3km. In addition there will be 31km of monorail lines, giving a total of some 100km of tunnelling on the metro.
Where are tunnellers finding work in Latin America?
Venezuela has an ambitious plan to install metro in Caracas and Los Teques. Santiago, in Chile, and Buenos Aires in Argentina are also building metro lines. Then there are the ‘Transandinos’ [trans-Andean] base tunnels. Besides this, many other works in Colombia, Equador and Peru are underway.
In Brazil, we have projects in Sao Paulo, Salvador, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, the TAV-high-speed rail project between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and particularly a lot of work related to the World Cup in the main cities, and also the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Many other underground projects are being carried out to install major mining and power generation infrastructure. For example, the Anglo Gold Mining Company works on about 20km of tunnel every year to explore mineral deposits.
It is difficult to measure where you can find the most tunnelling work, but I believe that in Brazil it would be the urban areas between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Is the political climate favourable to tunnelling?
Yes, the current situation is favourable to tunnelling. The Sao Paulo Metro, for instance, has had an investment of around USD 10bn dollars up to 2014 and a further USD 15bn post-2014.
This is an important time for infrastructure and, considering the huge urban concentration of population, people tend to choose underground solutions. In infrastructure the investments come mostly from the government, but in areas such as mining and power generation, there is more private investment.
What are the biggest achievements in recent years?
It is something that is very difficult to measure, but we can highlight a section of the Imigrantes highway, connecting the city of Sao Paulo and its coast, crossing the Serra do Mar mountain ranges.
This project overcame a 700m stretch of complex geology using three long NATM tunnels of about 3km each and reducing the impact on the state park and world heritage site of Serra do Mar.
Two other great achievements were the success in using the first large diameter EPB TBM to build Line Four – Yellow, of the Sao Paulo Metro, and the first Rock TBM in Brazil, which built the 5km Gastau Tunnel from Petrobras, again crossing Serra do Mar with low environmental impact.
What have been the greatest dissapointments for the industry in the past year?
I believe the biggest disappointments have been related to budget. Where projects have run into unforeseen costs and gone over budget.
Besides this, accidents, such as the one at Pinheiros Station on Line Four of Sao Paulo Metro, causing seven deaths, make managers of these projects insecure.
What is the geology like in the region and which construction methods are generally preferred?
For all types of geology, the most used method is conventional tunnelling or NATM, but in the last few years there has been a great increase in the use of TBMs. The trend is to use TBMs in urban areas and long tunnels.
In short tunnels of variable section through rock, NATM will still be used for the next few years. The use of TBMs is growing especially fast in Venezuela, where mechanised equipment is now in widespread operation.
What are the main challenges to the industry in Latin America
The main difficulty is the lack of state of the art equipment available and also the lack of specialised engineers.
In Brazil, taxation is responsible for many difficulties relating to modern equipment. Regardless, some important companies are coming to Brazil. One example is Herrenknecht, which has announced a new factory will be built in the country.
Another difficulty is the lack of knowledge, internationally speaking, of the behaviour of the kinds of soils in tropical regions, where there are many rock changes. This kind of soil is almost non-existant in the northern hemisphere and because of this there is a lack of research about its behaviour and facing the demands of underground excavation.
How does the future look for the tunnelling industry?
There are many problems with infrastructure in South America. If the economy maintains the current rhythm of growth, led by China and the BRICs, there will be much employment and many opportunities for specialised people, equipment and input suppliers.
The tunnelling industry is buying modern equipment such as hidromills, boomers and TBMs, because, as I mentioned, Brazil is starting to attract factories.
It is argued by some in the region that Latin America is one of the most promising markets for future work. How do you think the region compares with the rest of the world?
China is the market of the moment, above both Africa and Latin America, and also the Middle East. Africa still needs a lot of development before it reaches the maturity of Latin America. The Middle East markets have reached a plateau of reliable workflow. Leaving Latin America at the next frontier with a rapidly developing market a sustained drivers of demand.
Are there any parts of Latin America that are not enjoying the boom in tunnelling work?
I believe Paraguay is the country where there is the lowest potential for tunnelling, both because of its economy and its topographical conditions.
What are your greatest concerns for the future of tunnelling in Latin America?
Probably, the block on the growth of the industry here is the lack of professionals specialised in all engineering areas: geological engineering and specialised technical disciplines. After many years of stagnation in civil engineering, many professionals have left the area, and the graduation of the next generation of engineers takes at least four years. Another concern is the European financial crisis, which causes recession and reduction in investments.
Any other thoughts?
I would like to be starting my career today, so that I could have the opportunities that are approaching for geological engineering applied to underground works. When I finished my graduation course some 30 years ago the market was stagnant. Opportunities were very few and there was no hope for the future. Today, it is totally the opposite. I believe we will have at least five or 10 years of high growth
