Sustainable development of urban underground space for utilities

The authors examine the uses of multi-purpose utility tunnel systems in urban areas as a technique for solving problems of congestion in the shallow underground. Several underground developments in Europe are mentioned. The Utility Tunnels European Research Group (U.T.E.R.G.), founded by the National Institute for Unrban Engineering of France and the Polytechnic University of Valencie in Span, was established to serve as a focal point for research on utility tunnels in Europe. This group's mission and potential research topics are elaborated. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.