PREVIEW | BTS & BTSYM CONFERENCES


CONFERENCES: BTS & BTSYM


Upcoming key UK industry events are the BTS Conference, on 6-7 October, and BTSYM Conference, on 23 October.


A great double-bill of major UK industry events awaits tunnellers from home and internationally this autumn with conferences and exhibitions lined up by the British Tunnelling Society (BTS), on 6-7 October, and BTS Young Members (BTSYM), on 23 October.


BTS CONFERENCE The 2026 BTS Conference and Exhibition offers two days of presentations and panel discussions covering major UK and international tunnelling projects, new lining technologies, TBM case studies, asset management, microtunnelling and the growing role of AI and automation in the industry; plus the opportunity to discuss technical and industry matters with exhibitors. Taking place at the QEII Conference Centre in London, on 6-7 October, the conference is to open with a Keynote Session on ‘Infrastructure Strategy, Asset Management and Investment’. Presentations on Day One are planned from: ● David Hobson, MetroLink Dublin’s Director of Engineering is to discuss engineering for the project under the capital;


● Joshua Thomas, i3P’s Head of Built Environment and Urbanism Technical, who will consider scaling innovation across UK infrastructure;


● Alan Morris, HS2 Construction Delivery Director, who is to look at the programme’s overall activity and how its focus has changed towards safety; and,


● a panel discussion hosted by Bill Grose, past BTS Chair and is an internationally renowned infrastructure specialist.


BTS Conference and Exhibition 2026 is on 6 October.


Following, the next session theme is ‘International


Innovations in Tunnel Delivery’, with presentations from: ● Patrick Lo of Bouygues Travaux Publics, discussing


new approaches to hyperbaric diving, marine concrete pours and dismantling a subsea TBM on Hong Kong’s Trunk Road T2 project;


● Augustin Morando, Project Director at Bessac, considering the use of decarbonised concrete for tunnel linings on Toulouse Metro;


● Madeleine Winkler and Christoph M. Monsberger of ACI Monitoring are to present on structural integrity monitoring, using distributed fibre optics, on the Brenner Base Tunnel; and,


● Charles Hunt of Delve Underground is to share lessons learned from the design and construction of large- span sequential excavation method (SEM) tunnels on Melbourne’s North East Link.


After lunch, the next session is ‘Lining Technology’.


Charles Allen of OTB Concrete and Mark Culbert of Murphy will the potential of EFC geopolymer concrete for segments.. Other presentations are to include: Rainer Antretter of Bemo on automated shotcrete application and the ‘Digital Nozzleman’; Anastasios Skitzis and Bethan Haig of Dragados on design-stage carbon optimisation; and, Neil Moss and Yuan Le of Gall Zeidler Consultants on prop-less openings in Silvertown tunnel. Day One will conclude with a panel hosted by sprayed


concrete lining (SCL) specialist Ross Dimmock, of Whyte Rock Consulting, in considering ‘The Future of SCL: Safer, Greener…or Simply More Conservative?’ To begin proceedings on Day Two, the first session –


‘Research, Standards and Infrastructure Futures’ – will commence with BTS Chair Alastair Smith delivering the David Wallis paper. He is to be followed by Faye Burnett of Mace and Neil Hancox of TunnelSkills, who will discuss industry competence and competence frameworks. Following on, there will be presentations on: asset


management; focus on HS2 Euston Tunnel, SCL at Old Oak Common and ring design; hard rock tunnelling; and, Lower Thames Crossing. After lunch, the afternoon moves into ‘Microtunnelling


and Trenchless Construction’, with Sean Martin, Head of Tunnelling at Murphy, presenting the new PJA Design Guide; and, Bryn Phillips of Ward and Burke is to present on pushing the boundaries of pipejacking through longer drives and larger diameters. The conference will then close with a panel discussing


‘The Digital Underground: AI, Automation and the Future of Tunnelling,’ chaired by Christoph Eberle, Mott MacDonald Digital & AI Lead.


14 | September 2026


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