2010 NAT Conference

Dean Marriott, Director of the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, delivered the welcome keynote.

The North American Tunneling Conference (NAT), held in Portland, Ore., held 20-23 at the Marriott Downtown Waterfront, attracted 773 underground space professionals from around the world.  The accompanying exhibit attracted 97 vendors, who displayed the latest in tunneling and underground space equipment and services.

The attendees spent the three days of technical sessions listening to international authors discuss the state of the industry, new technologies that have become available and updates on major tunneling projects throughout the world.

In addition to the technical sessions and the exhibit, the NAT featured two short courses — “Grouting in Underground Construction” and “Soft Ground Tunneling.”  And the post-meeting field trip to the East Side CSO Tunnel Project was sold out.

Pre-conference workshops were help covering “Better Specifications for Underground Projects” and “Professional Liability Issues for Consulting Engineers on Tunneling Projects.”

Dave Klug (left), chairman of the UCA executive committee, and Mark Ramsey, chairman of the NAT executive committee, welcomed attendees at the opening session.

Featured speakers included Dean Marriott, director of the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, who delivered the welcome keynote, and Rick Staples, president of the Tunnelling Association of Canada, who spoke at the opening luncheon.

At the awards banquet, UCA honored Refik Elibay, Levent Ozdemir and Ed Plotkin for their contributions to the underground industry.  The Metro Gold Line Eastside Expansion project was honored as the Project of the Year.

NAT 2012 is scheduled for June 9-13 in Indianapolis.