AROUND 90 attendees signed up to the BTS Design and Construction Course in 2015. The weeklong programme aims to provide its students with "a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of tunnelling", and judging from feedback in the Warwick University campus bars, it did not disappoint.

A surprising range of people attended the course. You could be forgiven for expecting it to appeal purely to students and young engineers, and while they certainly made up the bulk of attendees, there were more senior faces. When asked, these attendees usually said their reason for attending was to broaden their knowledge into areas related to their day jobs, but in which they had limited experience. companies looking to upskill their staff, and students generally seemed to be seeking a route into the industry, or just looking to see if tunnelling was for them.

Additionally the BTS offered sponsored places available to the individuals who offered the best 500-word response to the question: "what do you hope to gain from the BTS Design and Construction Course?"

Lecture programme

The lectures covered an extensive range of topics (see box for complete list) and the complexity of the subject matter varied, so that there was something for everyone. It was comforting to not be the only person who could not keep up with some of the worked lining design examples.

Highlights definitely included Ian Morrison’s vigorous lecture on the basics soil conditioning; a look back at the hand tunnelling techniques of previous generations with Duncan Summers; and Roy Slocombe’s introduction to TBMs and associated plant.

Slocombe had the graveyard shift – the last presentation of the last day of a busy week – but with the help of Herrenknecht’s computer animation department, he was able to liven the room up.

Workshops were also a high point, with one memorable activity seeing representatives of the client, contractor, local residents, and eco-warriors arguing over the merits of a new tunnel project. Or in the case of the eco-warriors, the intrinsic worth of the greater crested newt.

The contractors won the day.

Graduation

At the end of the week all attendees left with a pack of presentation slides and notes, as well as a selection of BTS publications: the ‘Tunnel Lining Design Guide’; the ‘Monitoring Underground Construction’ best practice guide; and the ‘Specification for Tunnelling: third edition’; together worth just under GBP 200 (USD 300).