PROF EIVIND GRØV | INTERVIEW
scale two thousand years ago; and now we have the advantage of pumps, which they did not have, so our tunnels do not have to be all downhill.” There are, of course, technical issues to
solve in such schemes. Grøv has played his part in resolving some of those. One of those activities was helping with developing the SINTEF TriPOD. “TriPOD is a monitoring and follow-up
system,” he says. “The concept is something that was first developed when we were working with mines; we needed to demonstrate that we could safely accept the size and shape of the underground caverns without reinforcing the walls. “Then we brought it into civil purpose
activities, such as water and road tunnels. A new tunnel that was being built as part of the Follo rail line, outside Oslo, came within a very small vertical distance of an existing road tunnel. The road tunnel owner said, ‘We will allow you to go ahead with this alignment that you have, but you have to ensure that there no damage will take place on our tunnel.’ “So we developed a concept whereby
we could follow-up, very closely, what is actually going on in every metre of tunnel excavated. We were monitoring the deformations, the stress situation in the area. We had a traffic light system, of green, orange and red. We decided levels for each of these colours so when the deformations or the stresses reached something which was within the green it meant ‘just go ahead, there nothing particular to do’; orange meant ‘stop a bit, see what is happening’; and, when it was red it was full stop. We used this during the excavation stage of the Follobanen tunnel and it worked very well. “We also used the system for a water
supply project. There were of course long tunnels to conduct the water but there were also some parallel large rock caverns used for cleaning the water to make it drinkable. “The rock reinforcement systems that
were designed for these caverns were quite significant, so the owner wanted us to put together a monitoring system that would record their stability with the different types of reinforcement systems that were engaged. We could document the way these caverns responded with the respective reinforcements, and the end result was that we could use much less reinforcement. We could document that these caverns are stable with these lesser amounts of reinforcements, and the net result was that
Above: Prof Eivind Grøv was President of the Norwegian Tunnelling Society (NFF), held leadership roles in the ITA, taught and led research at NTNU in Trondheim (where he first studied engineering geology), and is Chief Scientist at SINTEF PHOTO COURTESY OF: SVEIN TØNSETH
the owner had a saving of NOK 100 million (£7.3 million) or something along those lines. They had a significant saving; that was a result of TriPOD.” With much engagement with so many
people, across so many countries and different types of underground projects, and their geologies and possibilities, and challenges, he has worked in multiple settings – with various consulting companies until 2005, and then research body SINTEF, as Chief Scientist. That position saw him based in Trondheim and with the opportunity to teach at NTNU, lecturing and supervising students, giving back to the place where he started his own academic journey. But engaging with tunnelling colleagues
in the national society, NFF, was also important from early on. From the mid- 90s he represented NFF internationally to the nation gatherings at the General Assembly of the International Tunnelling and
Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES). He would eventually lead NFF, as President, over 2009-2011. Following on, he led the Norwegian Tunnelling Network (part of NFF) for several years. Those formal international contacts
with ITA also saw much work in support of its activities for the tunnelling industry, accelerating from the late 90s when its World Tunnel Congress (WTC) was hosted by Norway, in Oslo. Starting as a Vice Animateur to Working Group 4, in 2000, he eventually joined the Executive Council in 2004, became Vice President in 2007 and a Presidential candidate in 2010 – while leading NFF. He maintained his active engagement in ITA, as an Animateur of a Working Group until 2019. At that point he became a key member of the newly established, two-person Governance Council, giving to the role for three years and through the Covid period. With much focus on underground space
through his life, his love of sport on the surface has not faded. “The interest in cross-country skiing has followed me throughout my life, my wife is a former cross-country skier, our four children have all been cross-countries skiers and engaged in the sport in various ways.” Helping to organise and share is never far away and, previously, he led a skiing club in Trondheim and is currently president of an annual skiing day – ‘Barnas Skidag’ – for children and young people, held every March. Around 2500 participants gather. “Skiing, working and family don’t allow
space or time for much more,” he says. From an initial love of rock and wanting
to be outdoors and travel, he has come far, following his passion and working with many in the tunnelling industry in Norway, Scandinavia and internationally, and he has the vision to help to more. “There is one big family which is the
international tunnel engineering family. I enjoy that. I enjoy going abroad, I enjoy working with different people and learning how they see things and how we should be careful not to impose. The way that we do things in Norway doesn’t necessarily fit 100 percent somewhere else; but if 90 percent of it fits then you adapt the last ten percent to the local circumstances and you get something that works. “After all, learning about other cultures
and adapting your view to them is part of the human experience. That way it appears that tunnelling is a universal language; or perhaps it is a universal skill.”
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