Underground Construction - May 2020 - 39

CONVENTION REVIEW

CIGMAT 2020

Focuses on Infrastructure, Energy, Geotechnical,
Flooding, Sustainability

The University of Houston's Center
for Innovative Grouting Materials and
Technology (CIGMAT) and the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering
held their 25th annual one-day conference on March 6 at the University Hilton
Hotel on the campus of the University of
Houston. The conference focused on the
"Infrastructure, Energy, Geotechnical,
Flooding and Sustainable Issues Related
to Houston and Other Major Cities." More
than 280 attendees represented owners,
consulting engineers, material supplies,
contractors and academia.
Welcome remarks by Professor C.
Vipulanandan, Ph.D., P.E., director of
the Center for Innovative Grouting and
Materials Technology (CIGMAT) and the
Texas Hurricane Center for Innovative
Technology (THC-IT), explained the need
for highlighting the experiences in Houston
and other major cities with rapidly growing
population, new technologies and economic
activities, as well as changing conditions
and regulations.

projects from the city of Houston Public
Works department. This included updates
on construction management programs,
debris management and challenges after
ﬂooding from Hurricane Harvey, and new
plans for continuing various operations
with the growing population.
Cody Moﬃtt, marketing manager at
Subsea Design AS, presented data about the
history of outside inﬂuences on the oil and
gas industry, and recent inﬂuences, such as
the West Texas oil and gas production, on
the highly ﬂuctuating oil prices. Growth of
industries and of the middle-class population around the world, especially in Asia,

are increasing demand not only for oil and
gas, but also for solar energy and wind
energy production around the world.
Following the general session were four
technical sessions with panel discussions
on various topics highlighting the growth,
challenges and changes happening in and
around major cities.

Flooding and construction issues
Moderated by Rafael Ortega from Aurora
Technical Services, Houston, the ﬁrst
technical session and panel discussion
focused on "Flooding and Construction
Issues" and related challenges.

General session
Moderated by Dr. Vipulanandan, the
general session focused on expanding the
highway transportation infrastructures,
innovative solutions for public works and
energy needs around the world over the
next few decades.
Eliza Paul, district (Houston) engineer at
the Texas Department of Transportation
(TxDOT), discussed major completed, ongoing and new highway projects valued at over
several billion dollars in the greater Houston
area. These are intended to overcome traﬃc
problems at locations that are ranked among
the most highly congested, nationally.
In addition, TxDOT environmental
issues, maintenance and funding were discussed by Michael Ereti, director of capital

Daniel Wong was recognized by Dr. C. Vipulanandan for delivering the 15th Aannual
Mike O'Neill Lecture.
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39
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Underground Construction - May 2020

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