At the recent ITA Training Course in Bergen, Norway, which preceded WTC, l gave a talk about the development of soft ground tunnelling from Victorian times until now. During preparations for the talk l looked at some tunnel project specifications for big projects and, up until 10 years ago, there had been a tendency for overspecification that had restricted contractors and equipment suppliers to past tried-and-tested practices. Where had been the opportunity to innovate and trial ideas by those best suited to introduce best and new practices?
The situation has improved in recent years as contemporary front end procurement has increasingly included ideas from the contractors, manufacturers, etc., during the preparation of contract documentation.
That reminded me of a challenge given to me in November 2009 at the Stuva Exhibition. ITA colleagues and leaders from the tunnelling world, took part in an industry round table talk. I was President of ITA then and the afternoon discussion concluded with industry leaders asking me, “So, Martin, what can we and the industry do for ITA? We provide sponsorship, like other leading tunnelling companies; we fill the exhibition halls; we host social gatherings during ITA conferences; we give lectures promoting new products. But we as equipment manufacturers and suppliers want to play a bigger technical role.”
Stung by the perception that ITA was perceived to be undervaluing the talent that provided innovation in tunnelling, ITA set about forming Itatech, and prepared the ground to launch it as the premier promoter within ITA of technology and innovation. Our purpose was to prepare independent and commonly-agreed technical guidelines and evidence that had been jointly agreed by the whole ITA tunnelling industry, which is what Itatech continues to do. It provides manufacturing, installation, equipment and materials guidelines for contractors and designers and seeks to create confidence for tunnel owners that the ‘brand’ of the ITA is overseeing this important knowledge transfer.
WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
Soft ground urban tunnelling owes a debt to the development of TBMs over the past 40 years, and particularly the past 10. We can now do things that were too difficult to do in the past. It’s no coincidence that the innovations in the last 50 years were led by TBM companies like Robbins, Lovat, Seli, Herrenknecht, etc. The leadership and pioneering spirit could have only been driven by the individual passion that comes from a ‘family run’ business. With time, growth and ownership has been passed on; the spirit of innovation in tunnelling needs to continue. Itatech has tried to capture that spirit and the steering board and activity groups include industry leaders who reflect the desire of industry to educate, improve and share. A recent president of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers compared our fragmented industry processes with the manufacturing, aircraft and car industry. In effect he said “Why – unlike those industries – do we separate inception, planning, and design from assembly, installation and construction?” The infrastructure and mining industries rely on many different processes, procurement and partnerships to deliver projects precisely because they are so fragmented and siloed.
Contemporary procurement encourages more partnerships, but this doesn’t make it less convoluted. We see the rise of the dreaded words “industry supply chain” and “second and third tier partners”, where it strikes me that we`re inadvertently airbrushing out the unique identity of those in the `lower tiers` who innovate and provide the substance that nourishes the technical solutions that feature in new developments. Sadly, l have seen technical solutions get misinterpreted as ideas and solutions move up and down the so-called supply chain, begging for recognition, understanding and realisation of value.
I`m sure that this is not intended, but it happens. By validating and bringing innovations to the forefront through organisations such as ITA and BTS, we can improve some of the convoluted procurement and technical approval process. However, if we want to continue to see advancements like we’ve seen in urban soft ground tunnelling in recent years, we should seek to work closely with all ‘tiers’ involved.
