The EUR6.58 billion New Suez Canal Project features a new 72 km-length parallel branch of the 190 km-long Suez Canal from Deversoir to al-Balah which will cost EUR3.22 billion and six new tunnels to connect the Sinai peninsula to the Egyptian homeland which will cost EUR3.36 billion.

The three tunnels (two for cars and one for trains) under Port Said and the three tunnels (two for cars and one for trains) in Ismailia, an industrial zone west of the Gulf of Suez, are under construction simultaneously with the excavation of the new canal. The road tunnels will reach 48 m depth, with 3,187 m length and 10.8 m-diameter, each with two 3.75 m-wide lanes. The railway tunnels will reach a 48 m depth, with 6,705 m length and five ventilation shafts.

The state-owned Arab Contractors Company (AC) and the private Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), under the supervision of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, will construct the six tunnels using TBMs.

Soil surveys and design studies are underway and, last month, Herrenknecht was awarded the TBM contract for four of the tunnels. Visit http://www.arabcont.com and http://www.nat.org.eg/english/portsaad.html. 49/14.