Last month the ITA launched a new initiative to help tackle resource shortages in tunnelling by offer its endorsed Masters courses in Asia and elsewhere in Europe.
The new ITA committee driving the initiative is based at Turin University, where courses are already offered alongside training also made available in Madrid and Lausanne.
Former ITA president André Assis is leading the initiative, which is being directed through the newly formed Committee on Education and Training (ITA-CET). The initiative will establish the ITA University Network.
In a statement, the ITA said the move was its response ‘to resource shortage and allowing younger engineers to refocus their talents on the opportunities’ in the sector.
In separate training developments, at the World Tunnel Congress (WTC) in India, in September, sessions will be offered covering a number of aspects of tunnelling.
The specific courses are: geotechnical and geological investigations under high overburden; design of underground support system for deep tunnels; mechanised tunnelling technologies; control of seepage under high hydrostatic pressure; urban tunnelling and associated problems; ventilation systems in long tunnels, and, fire safety.
In the UK, the BTS will later this month run a five-day course on tunnel design and construction. It will be held at Brunel University, outside London.