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Abu Dhabi by 2030

Abu Dhabi by 2030The Capital City District, currently under planning for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, will house 350,000 people and provide 150,000 jobs. An integrated, high capacity transit ... More Information

Italian tunnel upgrades announced

Italian tunnel upgrades announced Autostrade per l'Italia Spa has announced the awards of contracts to upgrade installations in 50 tunnels on the A1 and A7 motorways out of Milano. Click here. 09/09. More Information

Excavation of Stafelter tunnel starts in Luxembourg

Excavation of Stafelter tunnel starts in Luxembourg Excavation of the 1.85 km-long twin tube Stafelter tunnel on the A7 Route du Nord began at the south portal on 18.02.2009. The tunnel, 200 m of ... More Information

Recession lessons (10)

Recession lessons (10)"Longterm, American business is a very good place to be, but sometimes the machine gets gummed up, and people get afraid. Fear is contagious: it takes five minutes to become ... More Information

Work starts in Laives tunnel

Work starts in Laives tunnelWork started on 10.02.2009 at the northern portal of the new 2,882 m-long, Laives tunnel in Trentino Alto Adige, Italy, which is part of the ring road between Bronzolo ... More Information

Robbins TBM designed to reduce diameter

Robbins TBM designed to reduce diameterThe Robbins main beam TBM employed at Akkoy II hydro project in northeast Turkey will bore a 6.7 km-long headrace at 4.8 m-diameter before downsizing to 4.0 ... More Information

New BASF excluder grease for TBMs

New BASF excluder grease for TBMsBASF Construction Chemicals has set up a dedicated production plant for main bearing sealing greases for the current generation of large, fast TBMs. Read the full ... More Information

Herrenknecht threesome for Mexico City

Herrenknecht threesome for Mexico CityHerrenknecht is providing three EPBs for the Mexico City Eastern Wastewater Tunnel, which will have a total length of 60 km at depths of up to 200 m. The first ... More Information

North American update

North American updateThe proposed replacement of the Alaskan Way viaduct in downtown Seattle with a 3.2 km-long bored double-deck road tunnel is symptomatic of the current trend in North America to ... More Information

North American update

North American updateThe proposed replacement of the Alaskan Way viaduct in downtown Seattle with a 3.2 km-long bored double-deck road tunnel is symptomatic of the current trend in North America to ... More Information

Almaty metro line 1 to open in 2009

Almaty metro line 1 to open in 2009Line 1 of Almaty metro in Kazakhstan has been a long time coming. Started in 1988, some 7 km of tunnel were bored, only to be abandoned when cash ran out. A new ... More Information

Martin Herrenknecht becomes first European Mole

Martin Herrenknecht becomes first European MoleThe Moles Award 2009 has gone to Dr Martin Herrenknecht for his extraordinary service to the heavy construction industry, and in particular for his ... More Information

Update your shows diary with tunnelbuilder!

Update your shows diary with tunnelbuilder!Our Professional Tunnellers Diary, accessed through the front page button above, is continuously updated. Right now you will find contact details for 28 ... More Information

SELI success in southeast Europe

SELI success in southeast EuropeItalian contractor SELI has been active in Turkey and Greece, with TBMs in the ground in both countries.In December 2008, SELI commissioned to ILCI the new 4.88 ... More Information

Thermal Ceramics wins Bjorvika fireproofing contract

Thermal Ceramics wins Bjorvika fireproof lining contractSome 675 m of the centre section of Bjorvika tunnel comprises six immersed tube elements containing three traffic lanes in each direction. ... More Information

Recession lessons (9)

Recession lessons (9)"After 21 years of experience in the design, production and commissioning of high-tech equipment, the expertise and know-how of our teams is recognized both on the national and ... More Information

Update on Australia and New Zealand

Update on Australia and New ZealandThe Brisbane Airport Link feasibility study has been completed, and a jv of Thiess, John Holland, Macquarie has been selected as preferred contractor. And the ... More Information

Shenzhen metro line 3 progress

Shenzhen metro line 3 progressA trio of NFM Technologies 6.28 m-diameter EPBs has begun excavation of metro line 3 tunnels in Shenzhen, China. The first machine got underway on 14.10.2008 driving ... More Information

Robit Rocktools lead the way!

Robit Rocktools lead the way!We are particularly pleased to announce that Robit Rocktools of Finland is our first new client for 2009. For around 25 years, Robit has been providing high quality rock ... More Information

Recession lessons (8)

Recession lessons (8)"Despondency and constant negativism, attitudes which unfortunately abound today, are not recipes which are of much use to us in the future. Providing young and ambitious junior ... More Information

Marioff milestones

Marioff milestonesFrom its base in Vantaa, Finland Marioff produces its innovative HI-FOG® water mist fire protection systems for use in every corner of the Earth. Each system is tailored to the ... More Information

Update on Australia and New Zealand

Update on Australia and New ZealandAmongst major projects completed by end-2008 in Australia are the Gold Coast desalination plant with 2 x 3.4 m x 1.5 km outfalls bored by 2 off Herrenknecht TBMs ... More Information

Thermal Ceramics wins Bjorvika fireproof lining contract

Thermal Ceramics wins Bjorvika fireproof lining contractThe tender for fire protection at Bjorvika road tunnel in Oslo, see tunnelbuilder archive no/56, has been awarded to IFS, the official ... More Information

Poyry awarded Polish railway engineering contracts

Poyry awarded Polish railway engineering contractsPöyry has been awarded a EUR8.9 million engineering contract by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA for detail design and tender documentation for the ... More Information

Recession lessons (7)

Recession lessons (7)Don't be fooled by imitators! There is only one tunnelbuilder, and the only way to benefit from our 2,000+ readers/day is to promote your company at our websites. That way, ... More Information

Recession lessons (6)

Recession lessons (6)"We need to remake the banking system to better reflect the needs of business. They cannot simply go back to a reliance on mortgage lending." Edmund Phelps, Columbia University, ... More Information

STEC launches its own large-diameter slurry shield

STEC launches its own large-diameter slurry shieldShanghai Tunnel Engineering Company (STEC) has announced the launch on 26.12.2008 of its in-house designed and built 11.22 m-diameter slurry shield. ... More Information

Ganzstein closes Semmering gap

Ganzstein closes Semmering gapCompletion of the second 2.1 km-long tube at Ganzstein on the S6 Semmering Expressway will provide the final link on the motorway route between Lower Austria and ... More Information

Happy New Year for 2009!

Happy New Year for 2009!When we look back on 2008, we can be thankful that we work in the tunnelling industry, possibly the only part of the construction sector that is still largely intact. The ... More Information

Mont Sion tunnel opens to traffic

Mont Sion tunnel opens to trafficThe north stretch of the A41 highway between Villy-le-Pelloux/Saint-Martin-Bellevue and Saint-Julien-en-Genevois in the Upper Savoy region of the French Alps, ... More Information

VMT consolidates success in China

VMT consolidates success in ChinaHaving operated in China since 2006 as a service company supporting its TBM guidance systems, VMT has now achieved the official status of a Trading Company. So, ... More Information

California high speed rail programme management

California high speed rail programme managementThe proposed USD40 billion (US$1 = EUR0.72), 1,290 km-long California high speed rail system will serve San Franciso, Los Angeles and San Diego, with ... More Information

Recession lessons (5)

Recession lessons (5)"Just because we have a US$15 billion (US$1 = EUR0.72) budget deficit does not mean we should not have a high speed rail system. California should show leadership, and show the ... More Information

Halfway to Pinglu

Halfway to PingluAlpine Bau, a subsidiary of Spanish construction giant FCC, has reported that its Robbins hard rock double shield TBM excavating a EUR47 million section of the north main line of ... More Information

Palazzoli seeks commercial partner for Norway

Palazzoli seeks commercial partner for NorwayPalazzoli, a leading European industrial electrical equipment manufacturer with increasing activity in road and railway tunnels, is seeking a ... More Information

Engineering firms wanted

Engineering firms wantedArup, a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants is looking to source small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and black and minority ethnic ... More Information

Tunnelling News

Spain Confirms Feasibility of €8.5 Billion Morocco-Europe Tunnel

The study was conducted by German company Herrenknecht, the world leader in tunnel boring machines, at the request of the Spanish government's ... More Information

TxDOT spends $748M to burrow bus-size tunnels under Central Austin

The first tunnel boring machine will be deployed near ... Industry experts say tunnel boring machines typically advance about 50 feet per day. More Information

6 TBMs on Duty on the 27-Kilometer Line in Körfezray

Two of the six Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that will serve in the first 27-kilometer phase are actively excavating tunnels, while the ... More Information

Construction on HS2's Euston tunnel will start 'fairly soon', says rail minister

Construction on the HS2 tunnel from Old Oak Common station to Euston station will start “fairly soon”, the rail minister has said... More Information

Blue Line Extension TBM Arrives at Port of Montreal

Railway Track and Structures Construction site of the future Vertières station (Pie-IX) in June 2025. Caption and photo courtesy of STM. MONTREAL - The tunnel boring machine (TBM) ... More Information

Tunnel break through milestone for Mt Messenger Bypass project

A 110 tonne excavating machine, called Hinetūparimaunga, has broken through at the northern end of the project's 235 metre-long tunnel ... More Information

$3.9 billion tunnel and bridge link for VA

Costing around $3.9 billion, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) upgrade Expansion project for Virginia will improve traffic flow for a key ... More Information

Extended North Tunnel Flood Mitigation Project Receives $18.2 Million in State Funding

The funding advanced by the board includes a $17.2 million loan and $1 million grant for the construction of the mile-long tunnel, which will divert ... More Information

Gateway Project faces new uncertainty amid government shutdown

Federal funding for the $16B Hudson Tunnel Project, aka Gateway, has been paused during the government shutdown, sparking political backlash. More Information

Tunnel Boring Machine Emily Passes Key Factory Test for DC Water Potomac River Tunnel Project

Tunnel boring machine (TBM), Emily. This test confirms that Emily is ready to begin excavating the southern leg of the Potomac River Tunnel — a ... More Information

Sydney Metro West achieves world-first in tunnelling technology

Sydney Metro West has achieved a world-first in tunnel construction with a Lining Erector Machine (LEM) successfully being used to line the mined ... More Information

Gateway construction continues despite Trump's claim of termination

Tutor Perini, the general contractor on the Manhattan Tunnel Project, confirmed construction activity is currently continuing as planned... More Information

Tunnelling complete for Annacis water supply project

Metro Vancouver has completed the tunnelling phase of the $450 million Annacis Water Supply Tunnel, which will complete in 2028... More Information

Santa Clara VTA confirms single tunnel plan for BART extension

With VTA now owning the tunnel boring machine, the agency assumes full responsibility for its performance, agency officials said. To manage the risk, ... More Information

Chennai: Tunnel Boring Machine Vaigai achieves breakthrough at Mandaveli Metro Station

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on Saturday achieved a major milestone in Phase II tunnelling works, as Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) ... More Information

Trump 'terminates' $16 billion Hudson River tunnel project linking N.J. and N.Y.C.

President Trump said funding for the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel project is "terminated" at a press conference. New Jersey officials said they will ... More Information

$676 million underwater tunnel for India

The project is expected to cost around $676 million, with a Detailed Project Report (DPR) having now been completed. India's road transport network is ... More Information

€1.4 billion Belgian tunnel project approved

The first phase of the €1.4 billion project for Belgium’s new Limburg Noord-Zuid link has been approved. Construction should commence in 2027 on the project, which will form a section of ... More Information

Tunnel boring machine S-639B achieves breakthrough under Kanpur Metro Phase I Project

The package KNPCC-06 involves design and construction of a tunnel through TBM, cut and cover tunnel, underground ramp from Kanpur Central end of ... More Information

Lawmakers propose construction of undersea tunnel to link Luzon and Visayas

Several lawmakers from the Visayas region are proposing the construction of an underground tunnel that will serve as a permanent land connection ... More Information

Oman-UAE rail project hits major milestone with start of tunnel excavation

Tunnel excavation has begun in Oman's Al Hajar Mountains, marking a major milestone for the cross-border Oman-UAE Railway... More Information

Engineering the depths: innovative tunnelling for hydropower projects

Major schemes in Austria, China, and Germany are applying advanced underground construction techniques for hydropower projects. More Information

New tunnel, new standard: Silvertown project showcases innovation in surface protection

Originally approved in 2018, construction of the tunnel began in March 2021. In September 2023, following the completion of tunnelling works, ... More Information

Metro Manila Subway Project: DOTr launches third tunnel boring machine

Dubai: The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has launched a third tunnel boring machine (TBM) for the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP), ... More Information

Skanska JV wraps up $450M Baltimore tunnel nearly 2 years early

A joint venture has reached substantial completion on the $450 million Howard Street Tunnel Project in Baltimore nearly two years ahead of the original completion date, according to a ... More Information

Work continues on NYC megaprojects, despite $18B federal funding pause

Contractors on two of New York City’s largest infrastructure projects will keep digging, but they might glance over their shoulders toward Washington... More Information

HS2 Chipping Warden tunnel project moves step forward

HS2 Ltd An aerial view of the HS2 tunnel construction at Chipping Warden. A road HS2 Ltd. The 1.55 mile (2.5km) Chipping Warden tunnel will be ... More Information

First of three Tunnel boring machines on way to SA as beams go up for tram overpass

The first of three tunnel boring machines that will be used to complete the northern and southern tunnels project is on its way to SA as part of a ... More Information

Chennai Metro Rail's TBMs to begin tunneling between Thiruvanmiyur and Indira Nagar

Chennai Metro Rail begins tunnelling work in challenging stretch for phase II project, facing obstacles due to hard rock... More Information

Custom lifting gantry aids TBM removal - Construction Briefing

The four TBMs excavated the 8.4 mile (14 km) Northolt Tunnel section. Two went in each way, digging a pair of tunnels from both ends towards each ... More Information

Tunnel construction begins on Barskoon — Bedel road in Issyk-Kul region

According to the project, two tunnels, 5,340 and 3,840 meters long, respectively, will be built at Sook and Ashuu-Suu passes. They will be among the ... More Information

China debuts world's mightiest centrifuge, unleashing ultra-intense gravity

China leads the way in shield tunnelling machine development · Shield machine of south line of Yellow River tunnel starts boring in Jinan · A close ... More Information

Boring Company Launches Global Operations Control Center in Bastrop, Texas

The Boring Company has officially opened its new Global Operations Control Centre in Bastrop, Texas, the tunnelling start-up announced on X... More Information

Port of Longview Lands $35.9MM Federal Loan for Rail Expansion

Active Construction on New Hudson Tunnel Project Supporting Domestic Jobs and Economic Output ... Bridges/Tunnels, Class 1, Freight, Ports, Track ... More Information

TBM Parvati Achieves Breakthrough At Kakadeo Station Of Kanpur Metro Line 2

Brief Scope: Design and Construction of TBM Tunnel, Cut and Cover Tunnel, ramp after Double Pullia, ramps in Agriculture Depot for main line and ... More Information

Howard Street tunnel reopens ahead of schedule, boosting Baltimore's freight capacity

The Howard Street Tunnel has been reopened after being out of service since February 2025.The nearly 130-year-old tunnel extends north from Camden Yards to the Mount Royal Station and is ... More Information

Progress update on the Tunnel Boring Machine for National Grid

Following its launch in May this year, Buddug, the Eryri VIP tunnel boring machine (TBM) is making good progress digging the tunnel which will ... More Information

Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project Clears Major Hurdle

After months of delay, the tunnel-boring machine stuck in China is being shipped to India, clearing the path for underground construction of the ... More Information

Bright lights: This Las Vegas tunnel is getting a major upgrade

Construction is underway on Desert Inn Road between Paradise Road and Joe W Brown Drive as part of a $9.2 million improvement project on Friday, ... More Information