Tunnelbuilder Promoting the world's tunnelling industry to a huge qualified audience

View the Spanish Tunnelbuilder website View the Italian Tunnelbuilder website

Archive - News

Featured News

SR99 - Final three pieces safely in the access pit

SR99 - Final three pieces safely in the access pit

Between the 28th  August  and  4th  September 2015 Seattle Tunnel Partners have lowered the final three pieces of the SR 99 TBMs front shield into the access pit in Seattle, ... More Information

Underground Construction Prague 2016 – Final Call for Abstracts

The final deadline for abstract submission is on 30.09.2015, using the on-line form which is available at http://www.ucprague.com/call-for-abstracts/ . 37/15. More Information

Robbins Crossover TBMs in New Territory

Robbins Crossover TBMs in New Territory

First Rock/EPB TBM in North America represents an Evolution in Design On August 10, 2015, North America’s first Robbins Crossover TBM was launched for the Túnel Emisor Poniente ... More Information

Ritchie Bros. auction Spain features tunneling equipment

Ritchie Bros. auction Spain features tunneling equipment

Tunnelbuilders that are in need of heavy equipment for their upcoming projects may be able to grab a good deal at Ritchie Bros. upcoming auction in Ocaña (Central Spain). The unreserved ... More Information

‘Full Crew’ change name to iPS – Powerful People Mexico

‘Full Crew’ change name to iPS – Powerful People Mexico

iPS’ Mexican entity has changed its commercial name from ‘Full Crew’ to iPS – Powerful People. Full Crew has been active in Mexico since 2007 and has established a well ... More Information

VMT developments

VMT developments

HADES from VMT networks all areas of a construction site above and below ground. Development of the HADES control centre is underway. Read the press release and visit www.vmt-gmbh.de. 36/15. More Information

Sandvik for service

Sandvik for service

Sandvik supports clients with in-depth product and application expertise, rapid response, local presence and worldwide network. Read the August, 2015 edition of Sandvik E-newsletter and visit ... More Information

TBM tunnel enlargement

TBM tunnel enlargement

At the beginning of August Fillie, a 9 m-diameter TBM, started work near Bolton, UK as part of a Network Rail project to electrify the Preston-Bolton-Manchester line, one of north-west ... More Information

Muhlhauser logistics solutions

Muhlhauser logistics solutions

The fourth generation of the Muhlhauser family continues in the company tradition of tailormade logistics solutions for tunnelling and mining, offering railbound and trackless vehicles and machines ... More Information

Robbins TBM in Tirol

Robbins TBM in Tirol

A 6.53 m-diameter, 200 m-long, 600 t Double Shield Robbins TBM named Magliadrun (meaning Glutton) is gearing up for the Gemeinschafts Kraftwerk Inn GmbH (GKI) project in Tirol, Austria. The name was ... More Information

Owning a TBM

Owning a TBM

Cost of ownership of a TBM is a complex subject, whether specifying a machine for a single job or to span a generation of projects. Experience will give the best insight, and a complimentary Robbins ... More Information

Putzmeister success story

Germany-based machine manufacturer Putzmeister has announced a 10 percent increase in business volume for 2014 with sales of EUR691.2 worldwide. Read the press release and visit www.putzmeister.com. ... More Information

Jacon at Waterview, NZ

Jacon at Waterview, NZ

The 2.4 km-long Waterview Connection in Auckland, New Zealand will connect two existing motorways. It is being driven by TBM, supplied around the clock by Jacon MSVs, each carrying a complete 90 t ... More Information

Normet beefs up in A-P

Normet beefs up in A-P

Normet has strengthened both its Australian and Asia-Pacific regional operations with the appointment of Neil Fitzmaurice as managing director and John Gelson as his manager of ground control and ... More Information

Blue Plains holing

In early July, 2015 Herrenknecht TBM Lady Bird completed the 7.24 km-long Blue Plains Tunnel that will be used to help improve the water quality in the Anacostia River in Washington DC, US. Blue ... More Information

EuroTAP 2015 reports

The results of EuroTAP tests overseen by the German Automobile Club, ADAC, together with its partner clubs: ACI in Italy, OEAMTC in Austria, and TCS in Switzerland have been published. The 2015 ... More Information

Jaime Ibarra joins Normet in North America

Jaime Ibarra joins Normet in North America

Jaime Ibarra is the new TBM Technical Manager – Americas in Normet. He’ll lead Normet’s North and Latin American teams into the fast growing market of TBM related construction ... More Information

Robbins at Moscow metro

Robbins at Moscow metro

On 15.07.2015 Robbins EPB Elena completed excavation of the 1,710 m-long left-hand tunnel for the Moscow Metro Second Circle line (Third Interchange Circuit) and arrived in the future 65 m-deep ... More Information

SR99 schedule revision

SR99 schedule revision

Seattle Tunnel Partners has begun installing a new main bearing on the SR 99 TBM with a view to restarting tunnelling next November. Tunnelling will take a year to complete, with the tunnel now ... More Information

Northgate Link TBMs advance

In Seattle, US, TBM Pamela has arrived at Roosevelt Station and TBM Brenda is expected at U District Station in early-Autumn. On 13.07.2015  the Robbins EPBM Pamela arrived at the ... More Information

Midtown tunnel connection

Midtown tunnel connection

On 14.07.2015 the last tunnel element of the new Midtown Tunnel connecting the shorelines of Portsmouth and Norfolk was immersed. The design-build contractor, SKW Constructors (a joint venture of ... More Information

Terratec raise borer for China

Terratec raise borer for China

Terratec has successfully completed the factory testing and delivery of a new TR3000 Raise Boring Machine. The destination of the machine is in the Chinese Province of Yunnan, where the main mineral ... More Information

Patnitop holes out

On 13.07.2015 the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) achieved an important milestone with the breakthrough of the 9 km-long Patnitop tunnel between Chenani and Nashri in the State of Jammu ... More Information

Bekaert Maccaferri now sponsors tunnelbuilder

Bekaert Maccaferri Underground Solutions, a newly created joint venture, has taken up sponsorship of tunnelbuilder.com to promote their smart reinforcement solutions for underground ... More Information

Riyadh metro start

Riyadh metro start

On 08.07.2015 the TBM Jazlah (diameter 10 m, weight 700 t) started driving the 5.8 km-long tunnel of the 41.2 km Orange Line of the Riyadh Metro. The contractor, ArRiyadh New Mobility Consortium ... More Information

Sandvik at NorthConnex

Sandvik is supplying thirteen roadheaders to the NorthConnex highway tunnel project in Sydney, Australia. Read the press release and visit www.construction.sandvik.com. 28/15. More Information

Robbins in Honolulu

Robbins in Honolulu

As of June, 2015 the Robbins 3.96 m-diameter Main Beam TBM has excavated more than 300 m for the 4.8 km new sewer tunnel in Kaneohe, Honolulu, Hawaii, US. The machine, nicknamed Pohakulani in ... More Information

Pink Line success

Last 11.06.2015 the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in India completed the 1,565 m-long TBM tunnel at Lajpat Nagar from South Extension, part of the Pink Line or Line 7 from Majlis Park to ... More Information

Mount Kop on schedule

At the end of June, 2015 the drill/blast construction of the 6.5 km-long twin-tube Mount Kop tunnel, between Maden, Bayburt in the northwest in Black Sea Region, and Aşkale, Erzurum, in the ... More Information

Robbins’ Webinar Recording

Robbins’ Webinar Recording

The Robbins Company invites you to watch a recording of their June, 2015 webinar titled "Fast Track Your Mine with Proven TBM Technology" led by Ryan Gratias, Project Engineer at Robbins and Adam ... More Information

Namma Metro progress

The Phase-1 network of Namma Metro in Bangalore, India consists of two corridors: East-West Purple Line, 18.1 km-long; and North-South Green Line, 24.2 km-long. The two corridors intersect at ... More Information

Slovakia’s Visnove underway

Slovakia’s Visnove underway

On 09.06.2015, excavation of the first 100 m (west and east portal) was reported of the 7.5 km-long Visnove twin-tube tunnel that will become the longest in Slovakia. The tunnel is part of the ... More Information

Underground Construction 2016

Conference to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, May 23-25th. Abstract submission deadline: September 30, 2015. Guidelines and on-line abstract submission form are available at ... More Information

World Mining Congress 2016

The 24th edition of the WMC (World Mining Congress) will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 18-21st October, 2016. The event will focus on Mining in a World of Innovation and it will bring ... More Information

Helsinki Metro extension

Helsinki Metro extension

The metro in the Helsinki metropolitan area is set to continue from Ruoholahti via Lauttasaari to Espoo. In the first phase, a 14 km-long rail line from Ruoholahti to Matinkyla will be ... More Information

Complimentary Robbins webinar

‘Fast track your mine with proven TBM technology’ is the title of the upcoming 60-minute Robbins webinar on Wednesday 24th June with recorded broadcast the following day More Information

Tunnelling News

IN MEMORIAM - OLIVIER VION (1962-2024)

Through the past decades, the energy and foresight to lead the management of the ITA International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association has been in the hands of Olivier Vion, a man ... More Information

Amtrak awards construction contract for East River Tunnel rehabilitation

The $1.6 billion project calls for demolishing all existing tunnel systems down to the liner, then restoring both tubes. During the project, one tube ... More Information

Strabag in €110 million deal to equip transalpine tunnel

Austrian contractor Strabag has won a €110 million (US$120 million) to equip a transalpine tunnel linking Austria and Slovenia... More Information

19 tunnel boring machines for Manila subway set

A close-up of the tunnel boring machine head, with a diameter of 6.9 meters. ... The first cutter head of the first tunnel boring machine (TBM), named ... More Information

$16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project gets federal funding boost after years of delays

The $16.1 billion project includes a new rail tunnel linking New York and New Jersey — and is set to be open by 2035 ... More Information

Preferred bidder announced for second tunnelling contract

The global consortium of WeBuild S.p.A, GS Engineering and Construction Australia and Bouygues Construction ... Tunnel Project, North East Link ... More Information

Bechtel Picked as CM for $12.7B Single-bore BART Extension

Officials with the VTA are aiming to begin major construction and tunnelling for the $12.7-billion BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project next ... More Information

Stonehenge could be put on world heritage danger list over tunnel plan

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recommended that Stonehenge be listed as ‘World Heritage in Danger’ due to the A303 upgrade scheme and is ... More Information

World’s longest railway tunnel to reopen after a year

The tunnel closed on 10th August last year following the derailment of a freight train, and SBB has since been pushing ahead with repair work... More Information

Afcons Infrastructure Wins Bid for Thane Tunnel Project

Afcons Infrastructure secures the L1 bid for a tunnel project in Thane, marking a significant milestone in infrastructure development. More Information

Kolkata Metro: D-Wall's Construction Work At Victoria Metro Station Is Advancing Swiftly

For the tunnelling work of the stretch from the Khidderpore to Park Street stretch of this Corridor, two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) will be deployed ... More Information

K2D Skøyen – Vækerø

Implenia has been awarded the contract for section K2D Skøyen - Vækerø, which is part of the entire Fornebu line that will be completed in 2030... More Information

Massey Tunnel replacement project hits design-build proposal stage

Tunnel replacement project has finally hit the design-and-build proposal stage. The Transportation Ministry announced Wednesday that three bid ... More Information

Barhale wins £36m East London sewer remediation

Thames Water has appointed Barhale to deliver essential remediation works on a Victorian gravity sewer as it passes above the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway in East London... More Information

Reaping Rewards From Continuous Innovation

In boring underground tunnels for Malaysia's MRTs, Gamuda developed the world's first autonomous tunnel boring machine (A-TBM), utilizing in-house ... More Information

5 of the longest tunnels in the world and how they were built

Since the invention of the tunnel boring machine in 1853, engineers have used advanced technology to drill, blast, and bore into the earth. From ... More Information

Femern - inauguration of the first tunnel element

We are pleased to announce that H.M. King Frederik X will take part in the inauguration of the first tunnel element on the construction site on 17 June. H.M. King Frederik X will arrive at ... More Information

HOCHTIEF-MURPHY Joint Venture (HMJV)

A busy first half of the year on the HOCHTIEF-MURPHY Joint Venture (HMJV) Package 5 Headhouses & M&E contract on National Grid’s LPT Phase 2... More Information

Tesla Cybertruck escorts Boring Co's Prufrock-3 tunnel boring machine

The Boring Company's Prufrock-3 tunnel boring machine (TBM) recently completed a tunnel to Giga Texas, and in true Elon Musk fashion, ... More Information

Kazakhstan’s First Automobile Tunnel and Largest Bridge to be Completed this Year

As reported by the Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, Kazakhstan’s first automobile tunnel through the Shakpak Baba Pass and the country’s largest bridge over the Bukhtarma Reservoir ... More Information

HRBT Expansion Project hits big milestone, could be on track for early completion

The tunnel boring machine, known as Mary ... construction of our two new bored tunnels,” said Project Director Ryan Banas... More Information

TBMs Pass Factory Test For Lesotho Highlands Water Project

A team of engineers and tunnel experts from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) together with consultants and contractors working on the Polihali transfer tunnel recently ... More Information

Royal Cargo opts for Goldhofer heavy transport equipment

It has also been in action moving tunnel boring machines (TBM) for the Metro Manila Subway project ... machine part posed a significant challenge due ... More Information

Tunnel breakthrough on NI Water's £7.8M Portadown wastewater project

The tunnel boring machine excavated roughly 1,000m3 of material, which would have risen to 8,000m3 of spoil with a more traditional open-cut method. More Information

The Boring Company announces Cybertunnel at Tesla Texas HQ

In January, the company's latest tunnel boring machine (TBM), Prufrock 3, was first spotted near Tesla's Giga Texas. Prufrock-3 has ... More Information

How do you build tunnels and bridges underwater?

Underground construction usually uses powerful tunnel-boring machines to excavate soil directly. This machine is often called a mole for a reason. More Information

Five Huge New Construction Projects Coming To The US

A spokesperson for the project told Newsweek: "The Hudson Tunnel Project is a generational investment that is expected to create 95,000 new jobs and ... More Information

Chennai Metro Corridor 3: Adyar River Tunnel Work Hampered By Geological Setbacks

For the stretch between Greenways Road and Adyar, CMRL engaged two TBMs, 'Kauvery' and 'Adyar.' These machines were launched from Greenways Road ... More Information

French and Danish firms to build Valby 'cloudburst tunnel'

The underground tunnel will be 2,380m long and will be constructed as a drilled tunnel with an internal diameter of 3.4m. The tunnel will have the ... More Information

Howard's approved budgets include $44.9M for Ellicott City tunnel

The Howard County Council has approved a $2.4 billion operating budget for fiscal 2025, along with a $413 million capital construction budget that ... More Information

DC Water Breaks Ground On Potomac River Tunnel Project

DC Water on May 21 hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to officially commence construction activities for the Potomac River Tunnel Project... More Information

Silvertown Tunnel portal connections completed

A complete transformation of the tunnel shape was needed to connect the circular tunnel boring machine (TBM) constructed ... More Information

The $4BN Tunnel to Save Stockholm - The B1M

Above: A tunnel entrance under construction. When it completes in 2030, the $4BN project will be one of the longest road tunnel systems in the world. More Information

OHLA awarded the Gjønnes tunnel in Norway for nearly 160 million euros

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens Vegvesen) has awarded the company the design and construction of the Gjønnes tunnel for 156 ... More Information

Utilities tunnel dug through 'challenging' ground conditions under River Tees

Main contractor Farrans Construction worked with specialist contractor Joseph Gallagher to construct the tunnel. During its five weeks of tunnelling ... More Information

China develops world's first boring and blasting machine

In a groundbreaking development, the world's first boring and blasting machine, jointly developed by Tsinghua University and China Railway Science and Industry Group, has successfully ... More Information

Tunnel boring machine wedged in hard rock, leaving Snowy 2.0 hydropower project with new issues

Tunnelling problems are plaguing the $12 billion Snowy 2.0 hydropower project, with a boring machine previously bogged in soft ground now wedged in ... More Information

Construction Complete On New High-Speed Rail Tunnel

Inside the completed Desheng Tunnel, and inset, a Chinese high-speed train. Work on the project is now complete. © China ... More Information

DC Water Breaks Ground on Potomac River Tunnel Project

The Project consists of a large-diameter deep sewer tunnel, diversion facilities, drop shafts, and support structures to capture flows from existing ... More Information