Seminar on tunnelling, deep excavations held

Speakers at the "International Seminar on Tunnelling, Deep Excavations and Substructures" on Thursday discussed various aspects of Tunneling, Deep Excavations and Substructures. They stressed the need for building up tunnels especially in the hilly regions where rock slides and avalanches are in abundance.
The seminar was organised by Pakistan Geotechnical Engineering Society (PGES) in association with International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore.
Furthermore, they said that the high rise buildings and deep excavations are becoming very common in urban areas. Deep excavations when planned in urban areas need to be almost vertical due to limited available space and of course these should not cause any safety risk to the near by structures.
Member (Water) Wapda, Syed Raghib Abbas Shah, said that limited work has been done in this field and Pakistani engineers were not interested in designing projects with long tunnels because their experience of Lowari Top tunnel was not so encouraging.
How ever Pakistan is presently considering some mega hydro electric power projects one is Neelam-Jehlum project which has a 38km long tunnel which would be the longest tunnel in the country followed by Bhasha Dam. These projects are also in the earthquake zones. Therefore, their designs should be prepared in a very carefull manner.
He also said, 'we are also working on the Kohala hydropower project which has also long tunnels" and stressed that Pakistani engineers will successfully complete these projects. In his presentation on the Lahore Metro Project Engineer, Alexander Jonard told that 97 km Metro will be completed at the cost of $2.4 billion and it has 82 stations.
He said that underground construction cost high therefore, underground part of the metro will be completed at the cost of $570 million, adding that it would help solve the transportation problems of the Lahore city to a greater extend.
Earlier, in his welcome address President of the ISSMGE Professor P S Pinto and President of PGES Amjad Agha said that the seminar would be beneficial for the geotechnical community as well as planners of such projects.
They also said that there is a great deal of room for development, innovation and improvement in almost every aspect of the field. Vice Chancellor, UET General Muhammad Akram (retd) said that University would support the students of civil and mining engineering for visiting the sites where deep excavations and Tunnelling have been carried out.
An exhibition to display the recent developments in geotechnical engineering was organised in the vicinity of the seminar hall. Various contractors, consultants and manufacturers had displayed their expertise and equipment.