The workshop is planned for those involved globally in the construction of tunnels in rock, underground caverns, and underground space technology using the drilling and blasting method. Tunnel construction project managers and operators, mining and geotechnical engineers, underground space operators, government and regulatory authorities and end users and owners of the infrastructure created will have the chance to hear about current and future technologies and share their experience with other delegates and presenters. Tunnels include those for transport (rail and road), service tunnels for water and sewerage, hydroelectric power tunnels and tunnels for the development of underground mining operations, and storage.

The topics to be covered in the Workshop will cover drilling equipment, explosives and delivery systems used in tunneling, and initiation systems including those based on electronic delay detonators. Modern methods of blast design will be presented and considerations such as the importance of burden relief and void creation from the cut region through to the production holes and onto the perimeter region of the excavation will be discussed. Software is used in various parts of a tunnel construction and the Workshop will give an opportunity for participants to learn about the current state of the art in this important and growing area. Finally methods of assessing a tunnel blast outcome will be canvassed with case studies that consider excavation and geotechnical issues based on experience from the delegates and presenters. The effect of the geology on tunnel construction will be examined. The Workshop will cover the application of NATM for tunnelling and tools designed to aid the assessment of rock mass conditions ahead and around the tunnel heading.

The Workshop will be lead by experienced researchers, academicians, and practitioners from across the world. It is intended for the Workshop to have a mix of lectures and interactive sessions to create a learning environment for all. The Workshop will provide a forum for interaction and sharing of decades of experience with the key speakers and provide information useful for the construction of future projects in India and elsewhere. The intended audience will range from those with little or no knowledge of tunneling in rocks through to practitioners involved in day to day construction of such tunnels. The Workshop materials will be distributed to the participants in the form of proceedings published by Tailor & Francis, The Netherlands for future reference and application.

Dr. Alex Spathis is based at the Orica Mining Services Technical Centre in Australia and works in the areas of rock mechanics and rock dynamics. He has measured the stresses in the Earth’s crust at shallow depths of tens of metres down to moderate depths of over 1000 metres. This data has been used to assist in earthquake prediction and also in safe mine design. He has formal qualifications in applied mathematics, electrical engineering, rock mechanics and geophysics, Dr Spathis is responsible for R&D projects in the Mining Applications and Emergent Technology teams of Orica Mining Services and most of his research involves the measurement, modelling and prediction of rock behaviour subjected to dynamic loads. He leads the R&D on tunnelling technology for Orica. He spent 2008 in Germany with Orica’s EMEA business supporting the introduction of Blast-Based Services into their diverse markets and more recently spent several months working on underground tunnel blasting in Sweden. Before joining ICI/Orica, Dr Spathis worked for the CSIRO Division of Geomechanics (now Earth Science and Resource Engineering), and spent four years at Mount Isa Mines and a year in the Eastern Goldfields in Kalgoorlie. Dr Spathis is the author of over 50 publications and is co-editor of two books related to blasting.

Prof. R.N. Gupta did his Bachelors degree in Mining Engineering. from Government College of Engineering and Technology, Raipur; M.Tech from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad and Ph. D from University of New Castle-upon-Tyne U.K. He joined Central Mining Research Institute at Dhanbad as a Scientist and was head of the Rock Excavation and Blasting Division until 1988. He served as Professor of Rock Excavation Engineering at Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad from 1988 to 1998. He joined National Institute of Rock Mechanics under Ministry of Mines as its Director in October 1998. He retired from NIRM in May, 2006. He has published over 250 papers in National and International journals/conferences and seminars. He has executed over 300 Industry Sponsored Research Projects. He is a recipient of National Invention Promotion Board Award on Independence Day, 1967from Government of India. He is also a recipient of National mineral Award of Government of India in 1999. He is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE). He is a recipient of Lap/Cap Assistance from ISRM, Portugal and also a US National Science Foundation Scholar. His main area of specialization is geotechnical engineering; rock excavation technology including controlled blasting; river diversion; tunneling; rock reinforcement system; geotechnical instrumentation and data analysis for mine design, hydropower projects and underground very large excavation for storage, rock blasting, support/reinforcement design, rock mass classification etc. Presently he is an independent consultant. He can be contacted by email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call +91-9448048686.