UCA New Austrian Tunneling Method Committee  

The technical committee on New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), the Committee, was formed on June 2003 during the RETC Conference in New Orleans by the American Underground Association (AUA). Since then the Committee conducts two face-to-face meetings every year, one during the George Fox NYC conference and one either during the NAT or RETC conference.

Several questions have been raised in regarding to the NATM practice in the US. Is NATM a tunnel construction method or a design concept? What lessons have we learned from NATM since its introduction to the US in the 1970's? What are the unique design and construction issues for NATM in the US? What are the contractual concerns involved in putting NATM into practice in the US? Why the development and application of NATM is slow in the US? Is there a US NATM practice standard or guideline? With these questions in mind and the demand of this flexible construction method, the need of a technical committee to study and answer those and other questions is evolved.

UCA New Austrian Tunneling Method Committee Members

Back to the main Committees page.