WTC2013 was a successful congress, with more than 1,800 participants, some 110 exhibitors and several very well attended social events.

Among the gold sponsors Mapei, with the Underground Technology Team UTT, the answer to the growing demand from the construction market for products dedicated to underground construction work. Mapei developed a complete product range thanks its capacity and investments in R&D laboratories and its technical know-how. During the exhibition, Mapei related two projects:

• the STEP project in United Arab Emirates, a 40 km-long wastewater tunnel composed of three contracts: T-01, T-02 and T-03. The contracts T-02 and T-03 were assigned to Impregilo, excavating with Herrenknecht EPBs. The three TBMs working for the T-02, a 14.5 km-long tunnel from west/southwest of the Khor al Maqta to the Mafraq Pump Station, excavated in a ground consisted mainly of mudstone and gypsum, where presence of underground water was expected. Prior to the EPB launches, Mapei UTT carried out a series of laboratory tests with samples of soil from the jobsite to characterize the soil and estimate required products and parameters for ground conditioning. These laboratory tests were later controlled directly on site during the TBM advance and optimized according to the local conditions. In particular, optimization of the ground conditioning parameters helped the T-02 contract to a successful conclusion in around one year. Click here for the presentation and ae/16 for tunnelbuilder archive.
• Tunnel Emisor Oriente TEO in Mexico City was awarded to the JV Comissa, consisting of the Mexican contractors ICA, Carso, Cotrisa, Lombardo and Estrella. For the tunnel section between Shafts 5 and 6, before the TBM launch some samples of soil were collected and sent to the Mapei laboratory located at the Technical University of Turin. The samples showed quite high characteristics of stickiness that can be problematic during the TBM advance. For this reason it is necessary to add a rather high amount of liquid foam. The tests proved that a foaming agent in combination with a lubricating polymer, Polyfoamer FP/CC, gives better results than the use of a foaming agent combined with a dispersing agent, sometimes defined as “anti-clay” agent. This because the lubricating polymer is able to encapsulate the clay particles and stop their water absorption. Click here for the presentation and here for tunnelbuilder archive.

 The World Tunnel Congress 2014 will be held in Brazil. Visit http://www.utt-mapei.com/. 24/13.