The French Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (AFTES) was established in 1972. Its aim is to unite and mobilise all players in the profession: investors, project owners, project managers, design firms and inspection bodies, research and training institutes, contractors, consultants, architects, town planners, equipment manufacturers, academics and others, to focus on a number of key objectives:
• Advancing knowledge in its specialist fields.
• Exchanging information between members and disseminating, as widely as possible, the recommendations of its Working Groups and more generally, information at its disposal relating to contracts, techniques, social matters, the environment, and so on.
• Promoting Underground Space and supporting initiatives to make it better known.
• Assisting with the development and dissemination of the expertise of French engineers, contractors and construction firms
• Supporting technical contributions and the establishment of professional doctrine.
• Encouraging young engineers and technicians with qualification in civil engineering to take an interest in the specific field of underground works.
The French Tunnelling and Underground Space Association is Member of the ITA (International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association).