§01 / ABOUT
In association with
Rigorous, practice-led tunnelling education
The Online Training Program on Tunnels & Tunnelling is a practice-led course in tunnel engineering, covering the full lifecycle from site investigation and geological appraisal through design, construction, instrumentation and contracts.
It is co-branded by AF Academy (Aqua Foundation Academy) and the Dr. Dhawan Academy of Geologists (DDAG) - pairing decades of subsurface engineering practice with the rock-mass classification expertise behind the I-System.
§02 / MISSION
Mission
Bringing field-proven tunnelling knowledge to engineers everywhere
Our mission is to bring rigorous, practice-led tunnelling education to engineers worldwide - across government departments, public-sector undertakings and the private sector.
Tunnelling knowledge has long lived in the field, passed between practitioners on site rather than set down in a structured curriculum. We bring that working knowledge into an organised, lifecycle-wide programme: every stage taught by engineers who have built tunnels, with the methods, judgement and vocabulary that projects actually rely on.
The result is a common technical reference that engineers in any sector can use - whether they plan, procure, design, supervise or construct underground works.
§03 / THE I-SYSTEM
The I-System
A rock-mass classification approach built for Himalayan ground
The topical anchor of this programme - taught alongside the Q-system and RMR so engineers can classify, compare and design support with confidence.
The I-System is a rock-mass classification approach for tunnel support design, developed in the Indian and Himalayan tunnelling context. Like other classification systems, it characterises the quality of a rock mass and translates that assessment into practical decisions about excavation and support.
It complements the two most widely used systems - Barton’s Q-system and Bieniawski’s Rock Mass Rating (RMR). Where the Q-system and RMR were calibrated largely on rock conditions outside the Himalaya, the I-System is grounded in the squeezing, sheared and tectonically stressed ground that Himalayan tunnels routinely encounter. Used alongside Q and RMR, it gives engineers a cross-check and a more reliable basis for support design in difficult ground.
That matters because the Himalaya is now one of the most active tunnelling regions in the world - driving hydropower headrace and transport tunnels through young, deformable and highly variable rock. In these conditions, a classification system that reflects local ground behaviour is not academic: it is the difference between support that holds and support that does not. The I-System is the topical anchor of this programme, taught alongside Q and RMR so engineers can classify, compare and design with confidence.
§04 / PARTNERS
Partners
Two academies, one programme
The course is co-branded by AF Academy and the Dr. Dhawan Academy of Geologists.
AF Academy is the education arm of Aqua Foundation, delivering professional training in water, environment and subsurface engineering to practitioners across government, PSU and private sectors. It brings the programme’s curriculum design, faculty network and decades of applied engineering practice.
The Dr. Dhawan Academy of Geologists specialises in geophysics and rock-mass characterisation for underground works, and is the home of the I-System approach to tunnel support design. It brings deep expertise in classifying difficult ground and turning it into sound support decisions.