Welcome to the first FGN newsletter of 2013. The upcoming events this year are numerous and interesting. I am also sure that the list below will grow during the next couple of months. 

For the Norwegian tunnelling industry, and me personally, the next years are going to be extra interesting. The National Railway Administration in Norway has chosen to use 4 TBM´s for the excavation of the ca. 20km Follobanen tunnels between the capital Oslo and the city of Ski. For a hydropower project in northern Norway the contractor has chosen to use a TBM as well. After 20 years with only Drill & Blast in Norway, tunnel boring will again be used as the excavation method. High tunneling activity is generally the present situation in Norway, and a high demand for new infrastructure will result in many interesting projects in the future. 

I wish you all a good start in the New Year.

-Øyvind Dammyr, PhD student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-


Upcoming events:

7.3.2013 Norwegian ISRM national group "spring-event", Oslo: "TBM and rock mechanical challenges". More info will follow on www.bergmekanikk.no

11.3.2013 Bergmekanikdagen, Stockholm, Sweden, http://www.befoonline.org/web/Bergmekanikdagen_1.aspx

12.3.2013 BK-dagen, Swedish Rock Blasting Committee, Stockholm, Sweden, http://www.bergsprangningskommitten.se/

13.3-16.3.2013 19th German Engineering Geology Congress, Munich (http://www.geo.tum.de/inggeo/flyer_ingge_2013.pdf)

8.4-10.4.2013 3rd Aalto spring short course: The Q-system in rock engineering, https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15954177/Aalto%20short%20course%20invitation%202013%20draft.pdf
31.5.-7.6.2013 World Tunneling Congress (WTC) 2013, Geneva (http://wtc2013.ch/)
16.6-19.6.2013 6th Symposium on Strait Crossings, Bergen (http://www.tekna.no/event?p_kp_id=24859)
18.6.-20.6.2013 Sinorock 2013, Shangai, China, http://www.sinorock2013.org/
23.6-26.6.2013 47th US Rocks Mechanics Geomechanics Symposium, San Francisco (http://armasymposium.org/)
21.9-26.9.2013 Eurock 2013, Wroclaw (http://www.eurock2013.pwr.wroc.pl/)

13-14.11.2013 Nordic Rock Grouting Symposium & Nordic Rock Mechanics Symposium, Gothenburg, Sweden,http://www.befoonline.org/web/NordicSymposiums_1.aspx
ISRM events: http://www.isrm.net/conferencias/conf_dir.php?past=0&show=conf  


Contents:
1. Populating the list and sending items
2. 3rd Aalto spring short course: THE Q-SYSTEM IN ROCK ENGINEERING
3. Norwegian ISRM national group "spring-event", Oslo: "TBM and rock mechanical challenges"

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1. Populating the list and sending items

We have reached over 50 subscribers and are growing steadily. To join the list, simply send your email address to:

FI: lauri.uotinen@aalto.fi
SV: henrik.ittner@skb.se
NO: dammyr@me.com

When you have news or are arranging an event related to geotechnics please email us. We will edit the entry and it will be added to the next issue of FGN.

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2. 3rd Aalto spring short course: THE Q-SYSTEM IN ROCK ENGINEERING 8th to 10th of April 2013, two day short course for geologists and rock engineers

This is the third course in the Aalto spring short course series. We have invited Dr. Nick Barton to give a two day short course about the Q-system. Some topics to be covered are (subject to change): Q-system and its link to parameters, Joint properties, Pre-grouting and Water Control, Qslope, Tunnel support selection, TBM and Case examples. On the third day there will be a possibility to do tunnel mapping and core-logging (2 h exercise). The course will be held in Aalto campus in Espoo (in the proximity of Helsinki) in Finland. The enrollment for the course begins in January. For more info see: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15954177/Aalto%20short%20course%20invitation%202013%20draft.pdf

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3. Norwegian ISRM national group "spring-event", Oslo: "TBM and rock mechanical challenges"

Due to the increasing TBM activity in Norway the coming years the local ISRM group in Norway will take a closer look on TBM and rock mechanical challenges. The "spring-event" or "Vårsleppet" in norwegian is the national ISRM group´s yearly members meeting. It is always followed by a rock mechanical workshop on a specific theme. More information will follow on www.bergmekanikk.no.