About 2200 professionals expected at the AFTES Congress
1 September 2021Despite the pandemic and health constraints, 2200 tunnel professionals are expected to converge on Porte Maillot for the 16th AFTES Triennial Congress on September 6.
A growing sector
Shifted following the health crisis, the Congress should welcome about 2200 professionals, almost as many as in 2017. It must be said that the sector is doing rather well. At the global level, the AITES (International Tunnel and Underground Space Association) confirms the upturn: the international turnover has risen from 86 (in 2016) to 125 billion euros (in 2019).
The Grand Paris as a common thread
In France, major operations are underway, such as the Lyon-Turin project, a large-scale construction site that includes an exceptional tunnel in terms of its length and coverage.
But it is the Greater Paris operations (GPE, Eole, RER E) that have caught the attention of the AFTES for its Congress. The Special Congress magazine is completely dedicated to them with interviews of well-known personalities and technical articles presenting the stakes of these extraordinary worksites.
Approximately 2,200 industry professionals expected
The Congress: it is 200 stands reserved from 2020, 150 exhibiting companies that have maintained their presence despite the health uncertainties, dozens of presentations by international experts, hundreds of visitors already registered!
The Congress is a place for exchange, sharing and conviviality, for meetings and reunions, in compliance with health regulations of course!
Attractive events
Several events will be held during the Congress, including:
- Sunday, September 5, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.: a special “training session” for the young people of the profession on the theme of “Excavation control and instability in the conventional method”, a true intergenerational link and transmission of knowledge and experience.
- Wednesday, September 8 at 2 p.m.: The “Underground Space” event. For many years, at the initiative of Pierre DUFFAUT, the AFTES has integrated the approach aiming at questioning the use of the underground as a place of development of underground urban cities. This is not without raising the problem of surface and subsurface land rights. Study projects by think tanks have been carried out (notably Ville 10D with Monique LABBE). The “Underground Space” event will be an opportunity to take stock of the practical development and current exploitation of the underground. On this subject, an excellent article by Myriam Chauvot has been published in Les Echos.
- Wednesday, September 8 at 7:30 pm: traditional gala evening … We expect many of you to attend this event … Do not forget to register and your health pass!
The companies are also preparing some innovative surprises for you… A vertical tunneling machine, a very special robot, etc. But let’s not get too carried away with the novelties proposed, because this is the central theme of the Congress… and the subject of all our presentations.
There is still time to register for the Congress and its events … Come and join us!
