Invitation to tender, deadline 13.09.2012, to rehabilitate internally the Main Western Carrier (MWC) along selected sections including three special structures referred to as Milestone 1, and internally rehabilitate the Eastern Branch Submain (EBS) along selected sections referred to as Milestone 2 in Sydney. Contract period 80 weeks for Milestone 1 and 25 weeks for Milestone 2. Tender meeting at Sydney Water, Potts Hill, 09.00h on 29.08.2012. Contact Glen Nelson, Sydney Water Corporation, tel +9644 0261, e-mail glen.nelson@sydneywater.com.au.  Visit https://tenders.nsw.gov.au/sydneywater/?event=public.rft.show&RFTUUID=3254DA04-A434-83EB-B81B485C1C700546. 34/12.

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Preconstruction works, including geotechnical drilling programme, completed for Melbourne Metro rail tunnel to run between Dynon in the west and St Kilda Road near Domain to serve central business district. Planned construction period 2012-2018. Project review of station locations at Arden, Parkville, CBD North, CBD South and Domain to be conducted after Victorian State election 27.11.2010. Visit www.transport.vic.gov.au. 47/10.

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The government of New South Wales has invited expressions of interest to find a shadow operator for Australasia's first metro line in Sydney. The primary purpose of the shadow operator is to ensure that a central focus on delivering a safe, attractive and efficient end-product for passengers is maintained, particularly prior to the appointment of the actual operator. The shadow operator will have the capability and expertise to assist throughout the project in providing executive advice up to the commencement of construction in 2010 and providing technical support required by management and other working groups. Visit www.sydlink.com.au/site/page.cfmThe proposed 38 km northwest metro line will run underground from the city beneath Victoria Road towards Top Ryde, Epping, Castle Hill, and Rouse Hill in the city's northwest. Thirty-two kilometres of the line would be underground. The AUD12 billion line will have 17 stations with the city centre terminus expected to utilise disused CityRail platforms at St James station. No detailed technical specifications for the metro have yet been released, although the line will use automatic operation with trains running at five-minute headways.The state government says it will fund the metro but has left the door open for a public-private partnership (PPP), or government funding with private operation. Construction will start simultaneously from both the city and the Hills Centre by 2010 with the first section opening between Epping and Rouse Hill by 2015. This section will operate as an isolated shuttle until the remainder of the metro is completed by 2017. 24/08.

Three consortia have been short listed for Sydney metro's major construction and tunnelling contract: Line 1 (McConnell Dowell Corporation/Abigroup/Obayashi Corporation); Metro Primo (Leighton Contractors/SELI); and Thiess/John Holland JV. They will now compete for the contract to construct the first stage comprising 7 km-long twin tunnels of 5.7 m internal diameter from Central to Rozelle, including drainage, cross passages, underground stations and passenger entrances. Click here for the alignment. The contract will be awarded in the second quarter of 2010 and the line should start operating by 2015. Visit www.sydneymetro.nsw.gov.au. 33/09.

Two consortia have been shortlisted to bid for the Integrated Metro Operations IMO contract for phase 1 of Sydney Metro between Central and Rozelle as follows: Kujika consortium, comprising Bovis Lend Lease, Downer EDI, Keolis, McConnell Dowell, Thales and financial advisor Plenary Group; and Met One, comprising Serco, Bombardier Transportation, Laing O'Rourke and Hastings Management.The IMO contract includes supply of trains, track and E&M systems and fitting out the six stations, as well as operation and maintenance of the 7 km line. The contract is due to be awarded in late 2010. Visit www.sydneymetro.nsw.gov.au. 42/09.

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Queensland - au/30MotorwayThe Brisbane city council has appointed a Sinclair Knight Merz and Connell Wagner joint venture to plan the 5.5 km northern link road, which includes a 4.7 km tunnel under the inner-western suburbs of Brisbane, between the western freeway and the inner city bypass. The route will start at the Toowong roundabout and head northeast towards the city, running under suburbs such as Red Hill, Auchenflower, Rosalie, Paddington and Kelvin Grove. The detailed plan will be drawn up this year and pending approval, the project will go to tender in 2009. It is not expected to open until 2014. Click here to download the map. Visit www.skmconsulting.com and www.conwag.comThe northern link will be the fourth project in the TransApex ring road vision. Work has already started on the North-South Bypass Tunnel and the Hale Street Link, while the preferred tenderer for the Airport Link has just been named. 22/08.Expressions of interest are invited until 10th October, 2008 for the financing, design, construction, operation, maintenance of the Northern Link in Brisbane, consisting of parallel 5 km hard rock tunnels, safety and ventilation systems, fire protection and monitoring systems, and electronic tolling system. The purpose of the tunnel is to link the western freeway in Toowong to the Inner City bypass at Kelvin Grove under the TransApex plan inner-city motorway ring. The project is to be undertaken as public-private partnership. The Northern Link tunnel will enable motorists to drive from Brisbane's Centenary suburbs to the airport without stopping at a single traffic light. Planners need to go forward with the environmental impact statement. The objective is to take the process forward so that by Christmas 2009, a contract can be awarded before moving to financial close and seeing the commencement of tunnelling work and the ultimate completion in 2014. To register interest, visit www.evalua.com.au/etb/bcc/ExternalTenderDetails.htm?id=15892484#bottom or contact Queensland government, tel. +61 734037686 or e-mail judy.gold@brisbane.qld.gov.au 41/08.

The round of expressions of interest for the 4.7 km-long Northern Link tunnel, now a Brisbane City Council project, has closed after registration of seven consortia. Australian-led consortia are LBRJV (Baulderstone/Leighton), Transfield with Laing O'Rourke, and TunneLink (Abigroup/Thiess John Holland). The remaining four are: KEJV/Daelim, Korea; Dragados Northern Link, Spain; TransCity, Italy/Spain/Australia; and Northern Direct, UK/France. The tender process will be completed by end-June, 2010 for award by end of year. Project history and map at tunnelbuilder archive au/30, and visit www.ats.org.au/index.php?option=com_content and www.brisbane.qld.gov.au. 47/09.

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Final bids for a AUD2.3 billion public-private partnership (PPP) toll road project to Brisbane airport in Queensland state were submitted on 14th December. The predominantly underground Airport Link is a 46-year concession contract to design, build, operate and maintain a 6.7 km motorway, 5.7 km of which in tunnel, to connect the North South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT) and Inner City Bypass at Bowen Hills with arterial roads at Kedron and Toombul. It is jointly procured by the Brisbane City Council and Queensland state government. Three teams have been chosen to submit final bids: BrisConnections, comprising Macquarie Bank, Thiess and John Holland (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, BBVA, BOS International Australia, Depfa Bank, KBC Bank, SG and Suncorp-Metway are competing to fund this bid); NorthConnect Motorway consortium, consisting of Baulderstone Hornibrook, Abi Group, Bilfinger Berger BOT, Portuguese toll road operator Brisa Auto-Estradas de Portugal and Babcock & Brown (Bayerische Landesbank, Fortis Bank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Canada and Westpac Banking Corp are backing this bid); and Northern Motorway consortium, made up of Leighton Contractors and ABN AMRO with debt provided by ABN AMRO, Calyon, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, nabCapital and WestLB. 04/08.The Queensland government announced BrisConnections as the preferred bidder for the 6.7 km Brisbane airport link, the 3 km Windsor to Kedron section of the northern busway and a new 750 m fly-over road above the airport roundabout. BrisConnections is a fully integrated consortium of Macquarie Capital Group, Leighton subsidiaries Thiess and John Holland, Arup and Parsons Brinckerhoff. BrisConnections will design, construct, finance, own and operate the airport link project, design and construct the Windsor to Kedron section of the northern busway and design and construct a direct link between the east-west arterial and airport drive known as the airport drive connection. Visit www.leighton.com.au, www.thiess.com.au, www.johnholland.com.au, www.arup.com and www.pbworld.comThe airport link will be a fully electronic toll road stretching some 6.7 kilometres with 5.25 kilometres underground, and will have one of the lowest per kilometre tunnel tolls in Australia. It will avoid 17 sets of traffic lights and cut travel times between the city and the airport by up to 17 minutes in 2012. By 2022, the travel time savings are estimated to be up to 47 minutes. Design and construction work will be undertaken by the Thiess-John Holland joint venture under a fixed-price, fixed term contract.The northern busway is a 3 km two-lane, two way busway, including 1.5 km underground.In total the three projects will cost AUD4.8 billion, including land costs, of which the state of Queensland will only contribute AUD1.5 billion. The airport link - which is the most complex road and tunnel engineering feat in Queensland’s history - will cost over AUD3.4 billion to build. There will be partial burying of two of the airport link’s three ventilation stations, including at Clayfield, to dramatically reduce noise and visual impacts.Construction is scheduled to begin later this year, following consultation with the public and detailed design. All construction work on the three projects is due to be completed by the middle of 2012. 22/08.BrisConnections, the consortium of Thiess and John Holland, has signed a AUD90 million contract with Herrenknecht on 17th August, 2008 for two tunnel boring machines for the Airport Link road and tunnel project. They will be the two largest tunnel boring machines, at 12.48 m in diameter, to ever operate in Australia. Each cutting head features 80 off, 42.5 cm disc cutters. Each disc cutter features 80, 42.5 cm cutters. Both machines will travel 55 m below the surface at the deepest section. Each machine will install a full circle concrete lining continuously as part of the excavation process. The first TBM is expected to arrive from Germany by the end of next year and begin tunnelling around mid 2010. The second is expected to arrive in early 2010. When complete, the 6.7 km Airport Link, of which 5.25 km underground, will allow motorists to bypass 18 sets of traffic lights between Bowen hills and the Brisbane airport, cutting the trip to as little as nine minutes. Visit www.herrenknecht.com 36/08.

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Contractor Thiess has recently signed a contract with Lovat for the supply of a refurbished RME147SE series 22000 single shield rock TBM to be used in the construction of the City West Cable Tunnel (CWCT) in Sydney. The 3.72 m-diameter TBM will bore the 1,560 m-long tunnel from the Marry Ann Street shaft to the City North substation, along a maximum slope of 3.05%. The entire tunnel alignment is below the groundwater level, with groundwater heights above the tunnel invert varying from 5 to 24 metres. Depth of cover above the tunnel crown will vary from 19 to 37 metres. The tunnel will be located within the Triassic Hawkesbury sandstone, which consists of sandstone beds interbedded with siltstone, mudstone and shale. Other geological conditions expected are near vertical dolerite intrusions, typically weathered to residual clays at the rock surface with the sandstone on either side of a dyke baked and fractured by the intrusion. A number of near vertical zones of faulting, or closely spaced joints, have been identified in the project area. One of them, the GPO fault zone, is expected to intersect the proposed tunnel alignment. After undergoing a complete refurbishment at Lovat's facilities in Europe, the TBM will be shipped to Australia for assembly prior to year's end. The tunnel will predominantly be constructed using the TBM, with a small 100 metre section to be excavated by roadheader. Construction of the tunnel itself is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. This will be followed by the tunnel fit out and the installation of electrical cables. The new tunnel is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2009. Visit www.lovat.com, www.thiess.com.au and www.energy.com.au/energy/ea.nsf/Content/Network+Sydney+CBD+Eastern+Suburbs 22/07.

Australia’s largest electricity distributor Ausgrid has signed a EUR110.4 million contract with Thiess for the 132kV City East Cable Tunnel (CECT). The contract involves the construction of a 3.2 km-long segmentally lined 3.5 m-diameter tunnel under Sydney from the existing City North substation in Sussex Street to a new substation in Riley Street, Surrey Hills. The CECT project also includes the construction of two concrete lined connectors, an extension to the City South Cable Tunnel and installation and commissioning of all tunnel mechanical and electrical services. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015 (Ref 4373). Visit www.thiess.com.au. 03/12.

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  McConnell Dowell Constructors have been awarded a design and construction contract for the Bogong hydro power project by Australian Gas Light (AGL) Southern Hydro in Victoria. It is expected to be the largest hydropower project to be constructed in Australia in 25 years. The scope of work consists of approximately 6 km 5m-diameter headrace tunnel between McKay Creek and Bogong, two vertical shafts, a 1 km steel-lined high pressure tunnel, a power station to house twin 70 MW generators, and a tailrace outfall into neighbouring Lake Guy. The Bogong power station would be built adjacent to Bogong Village at the base of Lake Guy, augmenting the existing Kiewa hydro electric scheme. Bogong is scheduled to be fully commissioned by October 2009. Visit www.macdow.com.au and www.agl.com.au 42/06.

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Request for expressions of interest, deadline 4th August, 2005 for reverse osmosis desalination plant and ancillary work consisting of tunnels, ocean intakes and outlets, pumping stations and distribution infrastructure. The underground works involve tunnels of between 3 m and 4 m diameter with a total length of 10 km to 20 km, and which may need to be constructed in up to four concurrent sections to meet the construction time frame; smaller tunnels that may require microtunnelling and directional drilling; and ocean inlet and outlet works and associated tunnels of between 3 m and 4 m diameter with lengths of 1 km to 2 km. Visit www.sydneywater.com.au or https://tenders.nsw.gov.au/sydneywater or contact Sydney Water, Sydney, fax +61 293504321. E-mail mike.watts@sydneywater.com.au 29/05.The Blue Water joint venture, consisting of John Holland and Veolia Water, will design, construct, operate and maintain the Sydney desalination plant for 20 years. John Holland's interest in the project is valued at approximately AUD600 million out of a AUD960 million contract. The project includes microtunnelling in residential areas, an intake tunnel between the sea and the screening facility, and an outlet tunnel between the filtration and reverse osmosis facilities and the sea. The intake tunnel is 2,579 m long, 4,150 mm bored diameter and 3,400 mm finished internal diameter. The outlet tunnel is 2,579 m long, 4,100 mm bored diameter and 3,400 mm finished internal diameter. A 14 m TBM burial chamber will be constructed for each tunnel. Two double shield hard rock Herrenknecht TBMs will be used. Launch tunnels for the TBMs will be excavated using a Mitsui S200 roadheader. Click here. Visit www.johnholland.com.au and www.herrenknecht.com 12/08.

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  Melbourne Water has awarded to John Holland, a member of the Leighton Holdings Group, a 6-year contract to assist in the delivery of a number of major sewer tunnelling projects. The projects involved are potentially worth AUD160 million. John Holland will provide pre-construction and construction services. Visit www.jhg.com.au and www.melbournewater.com 23/04.John Holland, a 99% owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings, who is itself 54% owned by Germany's Hochtief, has won a AUD301 million contract to build Melbourne Water's first stage of the northern sewerage project, which includes eight kilometres of sewerage tunnels in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to meet growing commercial and residential capacity demands. The sewers will range in size from 1.6 to 2.5 metres in diameter. Additionally, five major access shafts of up to 65 metres in depth and 13 metres in diameter will also be constructed, enabling two specially designed TBMs to be utilised. Project managers Connell Wagner and design joint venture SKM-Jacobs will be working alongside John Holland to deliver this project. Construction work is expected to commence shortly and this first stage of the two-stage project is due for completion by 2012. Visit www.nsp.net.au, www.leighton.com.au, www.johnholland.com.au, www.hochtief.com, www.conwag.com, www.skmconsulting.com and www.jacobs.com 33/07.Lovat signed a contract to supply a new RME115SE earth pressure balance TBM to John Holland for the construction of the Melbourne main sewer replacement. The 4-spoke chromium carbide plated mixed ground cutting head is equipped with back loading rippers (interchangeable with 394 mm disc cutters). The cutting head is powered by a 450 kW hydraulic drive system. Speeds range between 0-8.2 rpm with maximum torque of 1,040 kN. Located in the stationary shell is a two stage, two chamber integral airlock which is outfitted with an oxygen breathing system, pressure regulation system for maintaining a fixed set point of pressure to a maximum operating pressure of 4 bar. The 2.92 m-diameter mixed face TBM will bore a total of 2,088 metres with a maximum slope of 0.12%. The entire tunnel alignment is below the groundwater level where heights above the invert vary from 9 m to 11 m. Geology along the tunnel alignment consists of formations of Quaternary age collectively known as the Yarra delta group underlain by sequence of Tertiary formations. The basement geology of the site comprises folded Silurian sedimentary rock. These rocks generally occur well below the proposed tunnel alignment depth. The depth of cover above the tunnel crown level varies from 8 m to 12 m. The TBM is scheduled for delivery during the first part of 2009. Visit www.lovat.com and www.johnholland.com.au 28/08.

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Three east options have been investigated for an extension of the M4 motorway to the City West Link and Parramatta Road. The first option, or short tunnel option, is for 3.6 km of twin tunnels connecting to both the City West Link and Parramatta Road at Haberfield. The second option (or long tunnel option) is for 6.6 km of twin tunnels connecting to the City West Link at Lilyfield and to Parramatta Road at Haberfield. The third option (or slot option) is a surface scheme, involving a lowered motorway in a 'slot' generally beside Parramatta Road and extending to Haberfield. All three options involve widening the M4 from four to six lanes between Concord Road and Homebush Bay Drive until the tunnel starts at North Strathfield. The New South Wales government's preferred option is the short tunnel model. The public exhibition process is open until 1st March. The short tunnel option would cost about A$1.4 billion, compared with A$2 billion for a 6.6 km tunnel surfacing near Anzac Bridge. The short tunnel would require two ventilation stacks and the long tunnel four, all within 500 m of entry and exit points. The tunnel will be privately funded, built and operated for about 30 years. Call for expressions of interest expected in mid-2004. Construction is expected to begin within two years and take three years. Read E-News Weekly 32/2003 & 29/2002. Visit www.rta.nsw.gov.au 03/04.

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