Modelling Soil Structural Interaction during Tunnel Excavation - This seminar focused on numerical modelling of the complex interaction between soil and structure during tunnel excavation. This is a major talking point currently, with over 26 miles of tunnels being built under the UK'€™s capital city as part of Crossrail and numerous London Underground Station Upgrade projects. Ensuring that the tunnels are correctly designed is essential to ensure the safety of those involved in the tunnelling operation as well as ensuring that life above ground carries on without interruption. The event focused on modelling of the soil-structure interaction behaviour in tunnel construction, with an emphasis on sprayed concrete lining. This seminar provided guidance on the following topics.

- Time dependent nature of sprayed concrete material properties
-Variability in material properties
- How to reduce unnecessary conservatism when designing a sprayed concrete tunnel lining
- How to ensure your design is code compliant.

Other modelling issues associated with tunnel construction such as compensation grouting and building damage were also discussed and there were presentations from leading experts from Mott MacDonald, UnPS, Keller Holding GmbH, Oxford University, etc.