The international conferences on shaft design and construction were held three times by the British. The 1st conference was held in London in 1959. There were 25 reports on construction technology, scientific achievements and technology development from more than ten counties, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Australis, the United Kingdom and the United States. These papers not only shared the construction experience of the deepest shaft, metal mine reverse shaft, underground structure of hydro-power stations, long tunnel and big caverns, but also some improvements of the special construction methods. Then the 2nd conference was held in England in 1989.

The 3rd international conference on shaft design and construction was held in London from April 22 to 28, 2012. It was organized by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), and more than 170 delegates from 18 countries attended the conference, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, China, France, South Africa, Australia, Poland, Italy, Israel, etc. China was the only country from Asia with 7 delegates (3 from the University of Science & Technology Beijing, 2 from China Coal Research Institute and 2 from JCHX Mining Management Co., Ltd.). A total 40 delegates made presentations mainly in the aspects of rock mechanics, shaft lining design, construction technology, new equipment and materials, etc. In addition to the mining shaft, this conference also involved the shaft projects in municipal engineering and in offshore oil platform. There were some special reports on freezing, grouting, drilling, open caisson and other special construction method.

The 4th international conference on shaft design and construction was held in Toronto, Canada from November 17 to 22, 2019. A total of 43 delegates delivered speeches and 15 Chinese delegates attended this conference (2 from University of Science & Technology Beijing, 5 from China Coal Research Institute, 2 from China University of Mining and Technology, and 3 from China railway system). In order to promote the further development of shaft design and construction in China, The 1st Chinese International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction & The 5th International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction is planed to be held in Beijing in September 2021（Due to the unforeseeable situation due to COVID-19 pandemic，shaft2021 has been postponed to 2022, detailed date will be announced later）. At that time, leaders of academic groups, experts in shaft design and construction, government officials, business elites and social media representatives will be invited to attend this conference. The policies and regulations of engineering, research on design theory, technology development and practice experience of shaft construction will be discussed and exchanged.

Theme of the conference

Session 1  ：Theory and equipment of shaft mechanical rock breaking

Session 2  ：Theory and technology application of shaft drilling and blasting

Session 3  ：Underground engineering of hydropower station

Session 4  ：Policies, regulations and standards for shaft design and construction

Session 5  ：Theory, technology and application of deep shaft support

Session 6  ：Development technology of urban underground space

Session 7  ：Information technology and safety technology for mining construction

Session 8  ：Technology, process and equipment of soil modification: freezing and grouting

Session 9  ：Municipal engineering shaft

Session 10 ：Offshore oil platform shaft

Session 11 ：Case study on design and construction of mine shaft

Session 12 ：Cooling and thermal energy utilization in deep shafts

Session 13 ：Study on the feasibility of drilling in the western shaft projects

Session 14 ：New materials for shaft construction

Session 15 ：Industrialization of shaft design and construction

Session 16 ：Integrated technology and application of mine construction automation