A busy week at the World Tunnel Congress in Montreal!
The 2026 World Tunnel Congress took place in Montreal, Canada, from 15th to 21st May. The CETU was, of course, in attendance at this unmissable event for the international tunnelling and underground community.
Following participation in the traditional ITACET training session, the General Assembly and the coordination meetings of the committees and working groups, ahead of the official opening of the congress, it was time for the technical sessions.
Four CETU presentations were on the programme:
➡️ the results of the BPro3C project (fibre-reinforced sprayed concrete),
➡️the use of AI for tunnel boring machine excavation,
➡️the project to deploy a digital twin for the Fréjus Tunnel,
➡️the new AITES recommendation on the assessment of working face stability.
The World Congress also hosts the plenary meetings of the ITA’s committees and working groups (WGs). As a reminder, the CETU chairs the ITA COSUF Committee (operational safety of underground facilities), acts as secretariat for the ITA-CET Committee (training), and leads WG 22 on digitalisation and automation. It is also a member of WG2 (design), WG6 (maintenance and repair), WG 12 (shotcrete), WG15 (environment), WG19 (conventional tunnelling) and the ITASUSTAIN Committee.
Finally, a French booth within the exhibition area, organised by AFTES, enabled French companies present at the event to promote French expertise.
Bringing together more than 80 countries, the week was highly rewarding, both in terms of technical content and exchanges between industry professionals.
See you next year in Antwerp, Belgium!