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

TERRATEC delivers another EPBM for Bangkok Metro Purple Line

TERRATEC delivers another EPBM for Bangkok Metro Purple Line

TERRATEC is pleased to announce the delivery of another new 6.39m diameter Earth Pressure Balance Tunnel Boring Machine (EPBM) for the construction of the Bangkok Metro Purple Line (C3). The event ... More Information

The North East Link TBMs to be named after ground breaking women

Help name - by nominating a local legend - the two massive TBMs (length 90 m, diameter 15.6 m and weight 4000t) that will start in 2024 building 6.5km twin tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen for the ... More Information

Sydney Metro West - TBMs Beatrice and Daphne reach Burwood North

Sydney Metro West - TBMs Beatrice and Daphne reach Burwood North

On the 30th April two TBMs Beatrice and Daphne arrived at Burwood North station site as the 24-km Sydney Metro West twin tunnels connecting Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD continue to take ... More Information

Canada - TBM Elsie completed the Broadway subway project

Canada - TBM Elsie completed the Broadway subway project

On April 26, TBM Elsie arrived at Arbutus Station and completed her journey from the future station Great Northern Way-Emily Carr for the Broadway subway project in Vancouver. Click here and ca/38 ... More Information

New FAT tests completed for TBMs that will excavate the Lot 3 and Lot 4 of the Palermo-Catania link

New FAT tests completed for TBMs that will excavate the Lot 3 and Lot 4 of the Palermo-Catania link

On April 19,  another two TBMs - TBM#4 code DZ1379 and TBM#5 code DZ1380 - that will excavate Lot 3 Lercara - Caltanissetta Xirbi, in Sicily, successfully completed the FAT test in ... More Information

Eglinton Crosstown West Extension tunnel boring machine reaches finish line

Eglinton Crosstown West Extension tunnel boring machine reaches finish line

Press release - One of two twin tunnel boring machines digging the western underground segment of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension has broken through the final ... More Information

Brazil - New milestone reached in the metro Line 2 expansion of the Sao Paulo

Brazil - New milestone reached in the metro Line 2 expansion of the Sao Paulo

On 20/04/2024 the TBM Cora Coralina which is building the 7.3 km tunnels for the metro Line 2-Green extension in Sao Paulo has reached the VSE Coxim shaft. The shaft is an intermediate shaft for ... More Information

USA - Milestone in the construction of the HRBT extension project

USA - Milestone in the construction of the HRBT extension project

On 17th April 2024 TBM Mary broke through the headwall on the North Island at Hampton, completing the first of the two road tunnels for the USD 4bn HRBT expansion project in Virginia. ... More Information

Nepal - Breakthrough in the Nagdhunga tunnel

On 15 April the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal switched on the electric control for the breakthrough of the 2,688 m Nagdhunga tunnel connecting Sisnekhola of Dhading to Totipakha of ... More Information

The final Sydney Metro West TBMs have arrived

The final Sydney Metro West TBMs have arrived

Sydney Metro West is gearing up to build Sydney’s second under-harbour railway crossing with the final TBMs arriving on site. The two TBMs will carve out the 2.3-km twin tunnels from The Bays, ... More Information

HS2 launches fourth TBM under London building the Northolt Tunnel

HS2 launches fourth TBM under London building the Northolt Tunnel

On April 8th, 2024 construction of the new HS2 line has hit another major milestone with the launch of the fourth – and final – machine being used to build the Northolt tunnel, length ... More Information

Milestones for Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project

The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project at Toronto has hit two major milestones - Rexy, one of the TBMs has completed 6 kms of tunnelling so far. The other TBM, Renny, has completed just over ... More Information

Central Interceptor TBM reaches 10-km milestone

Central Interceptor TBM reaches 10-km milestone

Hiwa-i-te Rangi TBM has reached the 10-km mark after leaving a site next to Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant in August 2021, as she heads to Pt Erin, Herne Bay to build the 16.2-km Central ... More Information

TERRATEC delivers a new Rock EBP TBM for Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project

TERRATEC delivers a new Rock EBP TBM for Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project

TERRATEC has delivered a 3.14m Rock EPB TBM for the Mumbai Sewer Disposal Project (MSDP) Stage-II – PST2 in Mumbai, India by J Kumar and Michigan Engineers Private Ltd. (MEPL) Joint Venture ... More Information

Spain - Monte Plano tunnel excavation completed

Spain - Monte Plano tunnel excavation completed

On 27 March 2024, Adif AV completed excavation of the Monte Plano tunnel (1.9 km) on the Olite-Tafalla South section (7.6 km) of the high-speed rail corridor in Navarra. The tunnel - built using the ... More Information

Thames Tideway Tunnel now fully built after final lid lifted into place

Work to build the Thames Tideway Tunnel - the London’s super sewer - including its tunnels and shafts, is now fully complete following the lifting of a giant, 24m-wide circular concrete ... More Information

Canada - TBM Phyllis Crosses the Finish Line for the Broadway subway project

Canada - TBM Phyllis Crosses the Finish Line for the Broadway subway project

TBM Phyllis arrived at Cypress Street near the future Arbutus Station on March 20, completing her journey from the tunnel portal at the future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. TBM Elsie is ... More Information

VTA’s Official TBM Naming Contest for the BART Silicon Valley Phase II Project is Live!

VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project is excited to announce the launch of its Official TBM Naming Contest for the machine that will bore the 8.05 km (5-mile tunnel) portion of ... More Information

Final breakthrough for the Chiltern tunnel, HS2’s longest tunnel

Final breakthrough for the Chiltern tunnel,  HS2’s longest tunnel

Cecilia, the second 2000 t TBM, reached northern portal of 16.09 km (10 mile) high-speed rail tunnel under Chiltern Hills completing a journey that began in June 2021: click here for the ... More Information

First tunnel started for Coffs Harbour bypass, Australia

First tunnel started for Coffs Harbour bypass, Australia

The Australian and NSW Governments are funding the EUR1.4 bn (AUD2.2 bn), 14-km Coffs Harbour bypass project in New South Wales (Australia). The Coffs Harbour bypass project includes the following ... More Information

Completed the EIA for Port expansion and port tunnel in Helsinki, Finland

Completed the EIA for Port expansion and port tunnel in Helsinki, Finland

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the expansion of the Länsisatama Oy harbour in Helsinki and the harbour tunnel has been completed.  The expansion of the western harbour and ... More Information

Italy/Sicily - FAT passed for the TBM on Palermo-Catania Railway Lot 4A

Italy/Sicily - FAT passed for the TBM on Palermo-Catania Railway Lot 4A

The TBM EPB - 9.28 m diameter – which will be involved in the excavation of the new Palermo-Catania railway Lot 4A (Caltanissetta Xirbi - Enna section) passed its FAT at the Changsha ... More Information

Toulouse metro updates

Press Release - Catellan's Marguerite TBM delivered - On 29 February, Catellan's Marguerite, the third TBM of Line C of the Toulouse metro, was delivered. The first parts will reach the construction ... More Information

Cabinet approves two corridors of Delhi Metro Phase-IV

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved two new corridors - 20.762 km totally - of Delhi Metro's Phase-IV project which are expected to further improve the Metro ... More Information

CRCHI uses innovative Underground Pipeline Network Equipment on Construction Sites

On February 7, a significant breakthrough was achieved at the construction site of the Bang Pakong-south Bangkok power plant gas transmission pipeline project in Thailand. The first section of the ... More Information

Final leg for two TBMs on the Broadway subway project

Final leg for two TBMs on the Broadway subway project

The Broadway Subway Project Corporation (BSPC) is extending the Millennium Line from VCC Clark Station to Arbutus Street. The Project scope includes 700m of elevated guideway extending west from the ... More Information

Australia - Halfway mark reached on Western Sydney Airport project

Australia - Halfway mark reached on Western Sydney Airport project

TBMs Catherine and Marlene are halfway to St Marys after each building 2.4 km of tunnel for the Sydney Metro - Western Sydney Airport project. They broke through at the Claremont Meadows ... More Information

Australia - News on Sydney Metro West project

Australia - News on  Sydney Metro West project

Press release - The first service tunnel to connect the 24-km Metro West line to a new stabling and maintenance facility at Clyde has been completed, ticking off another significant milestone for ... More Information

Start of the Rekalde Bypass project in Bilbao, Spain

Start of the Rekalde Bypass project in Bilbao, Spain

The Department of Infrastructures and Territorial Development has awarded to the joint venture comprising Typsa, Fulcrum and Tekia the EUR 5,805,580.06 (VAT included) the contract for the design of ... More Information

TBM Wilma is ready for the Brenner Base Tunnel

TBM Wilma is ready for the Brenner Base Tunnel

On 8 march 2024 BBT SE and H53 Consortium consisting of Porr Bau GmbH, Marti GmbH Austria and Marti Tunnel AG Switzerland completed the factory acceptance of Wilma. This will be the first of the two ... More Information

Grand Paris Express – Excavation of Line 16 completed

Grand Paris Express – Excavation of Line 16 completed

After more than four years of work and the use of seven TBMs, the tunnel of Grand Paris Express Line 16 is now fully excavated.  On Monday, 26 February 2024, the TBM Houda reached the Mare au ... More Information

The last HS2 TBM in the West Midlands starts digging towards Birmingham

The last HS2 TBM in the West Midlands starts digging towards Birmingham

On 05 March 2024 HS2 launched the last TBM to dig tunnels for the new high speed railway in the West Midlands. The 1,600 t weight and 125 m long TBM has started on its journey to dig the second bore ... More Information

Excavation of tunnel for Mularroya dam in Spain complete

On March 1, the joint venture Mularroya, composed of Acciona and Sacyr, celebrated the final breakthrough for the 12.6km-long water transport tunnel in the Mularroya dam project in the province of ... More Information

Excavation completed of Oural railway tunnel

Excavation completed of Oural railway tunnel

On 28 February 2024, Ferrovial on behalf of Adif completed the excavation using the drill&blast method of the new 1.9 km Oural tunnel (average advance was 5 m/day). The tunnel was built parallel ... More Information

CRCHI Slurry Pipe Jacking Machine Sets Sail for Colombia

CRCHI Slurry Pipe Jacking Machine Sets Sail for Colombia

In February, CRCHI (China Railway Construction Heavy Industry) completed assembly of its slurry pipe jacking machine in Changsha, China, successfully passing the acceptance inspection. This ... More Information

Call for Papers: World Tunnel Congress 2025 Focuses on Sustainable Future in Tunnelling

The World Tunnel Congress 2025 is excited to announce the Call for Papers for its upcoming congress to be held in Stockholm. Themed 'Tunnelling into a Sustainable Future,' the congress will ... More Information

Tunnelling News

LA Metro approves route of K Line northern extension project to Hollywood

The analysis found that modern tunneling techniques are safe with pre-construction studies, use of advanced tunnel-boring machines, mitigations and ... More Information

Here's when first massive boring machine will start carving tunnel between New York, New Jersey

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A massive tunnel boring machine is preparing to carve a tunnel between New York and New Jersey after President Donald Trump ... More Information

Beyond the horizontal: how a next-generation TBM conquered Pingjiang's inclined shaft

A variable diameter inclined shaft tunnel boring machine has completed a landmark breakthrough on China's Pingjiang pumped storage hydropower ... More Information

CMRL begins tunnelling for Thiruvanmiyur-Indira Nagar section in phase-II metro rail project

Tunnelling through hard rocks in the 650-metre stretch may take nearly six months, officials say ... More Information

AKTOR’s Tunnels on Brașov–Sighișoara Line, among the most complex in Europe

A railway infrastructure project unfolding in the heart of Transylvania has been ranked, according to an independent comparative analysis, among the most complex and ambitious railway ... More Information

Tunnel-boring machines “Victoria” and “Natali”

The tunnel-boring complexes worked in tandem on the Rublyovo-Arkhangelskaya Line. The tunnel-boring machine complexes (TBMs) “Natali” and “Victoria,” ... More Information

Elon Musk's Boring Company plans mile-long tunnel in Dallas connecting to DART station

The Boring Company is developing a proposed mile-long tunnel in Dallas' University Hills that would link a town center to a nearby DART station, ... More Information

Hudson Tunnel Project marks major 2026 construction progress on both sides of the river

Work on the Hudson Tunnel Project in North Bergen is continuing to advance through several major construction steps reached so far this year... More Information

HS2 Ordered to Slash Costs and Construction Time in Major Government Reset

The Transport Secretary has instructed HS2 Ltd to identify options that could cut billions from the project’s cost and bring trains into service sooner, as the government pushes for a ... More Information

SRL East TBMs arrive in Burwood

Two more tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have arrived in Melbourne ready for tunnelling of Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East to start this year. The TBMs ... More Information

$100 Million Allocated for Ft. Laramie Canal Tunnel Project

Laramie Canal Tunnel Project. The Department of the Interior announced the funding Tuesday as part of the $889 million for water infrastructure ... More Information

What are the benefits of using tunnel boring machines in infrastructure projects?

Ask NCE has been updated to Answers 3.0, allowing you to ask civil engineering-focused questions and receive clear, practical responses such as ... More Information

Minsk Metro, together with "Alesya," will start digging with "Mariya."

It was noted on a transport forum that parts of a second tunnel boring machine (TBM) for laying tunnels began to be brought to one of the construction sites of the third metro line... More Information

TBM for Lyon-Turin project unveiled

The first of two tunnel boring machines for the Italian section of the 57.5km Mont Cenis Base Tunnel has been unveiled... More Information

NFR achieves breakthrough in Tunnel No 8 of Sivok–Rangpo railway project

Tunnel No. 8 is one of the major tunnels of the project with a total length of 4.148 km and an additional adit measuring 1.010 km. The excavation and ... More Information

Suburban Rail Loop hits tunnelling milestone as eight TBMs arrive on site

The Suburban Rail Loop has reached a major construction milestone, with eight tunnel boring machines now on site ahead of tunnelling later this year... More Information

$16bn Hudson Tunnel project could pause again 'in two to three months'

Components of the first tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will be used for the Palisades Tunnel Project arrived at ... More Information

Hinkley Point C | TBM readied for 620m long fish return tunnel

The tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will excavate the fish return tunnel has been christened Sarah Guppy by local schoolchildren, in tribute to ... More Information

Bhopal Metro's Orange Line Tunnelling Begins

The Bhopal Metro project has recently reached an important milestone as tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been positioned to begin digging work on ... More Information

A Chinese team rescued a $50M tunnel machine stuck 177 feet underground

Chinese engineers have pulled off a stunning rescue, saving a tunnel boring machine (TBM) stuck 177 feet underground beneath the Yangtze River. More Information

Fort Smith named finalist in Elon Musk's Boring Company tunnel challenge

The company selected Fort Smith's proposal from 487 applicants. The company says the winning project will receive construction of a one-mile tunnel ... More Information

Bengaluru: Four infrastructure firms bid for Hebbal short tunnel

Bengaluru infrastructure: Four firms, including Dilip Buildcon and Max Infra, bid for BDA's Rs 1086 crore Hebbal short tunnel project... More Information

TBM readied for Montreal's Blue Line extension

A custom-made 9.7m-diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM) has been assembled and lowered ready to excavate the tube from the future Vertières stop to ... More Information

$11.5B Brenner Base Tunnel Nears End of TBM Excavation

With TBMs Olga and Wilma closing in, the 55-km rail project shifts from excavation to systems integration ahead of its planned 2028 opening beneath ... More Information

$6.75 Billion Unlocked for Turkey's Bosphorus Rail Project

Multiple Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will need to be mobilized to carve out the subterranean corridors leading up to ... More Information

Tunneling for Nashville's underground Tesla project has begun

The Boring Company said that the first three weeks of the project will consist of the Prufrock-MB1, a machine that will help carve out the tunnel, ... More Information

Hudson Tunnel Project construction resumes

I look forward to celebrating the launch of our tunnel boring machines through the Palisades once GDC has assurance it will receive the steady flow ... More Information

Lower Thames Crossing

British suppliers could meet 90% of low carbon steel requirements. The proposed machine would be 16.4m in diameter, large enough to create a three‑lane tunnel bore, and is intended to dig ... More Information

Inside the Tunnel Boring Machine, Southampton Link Main project

A six-tonne tunnel boring machine is digging deep below the ground in Hampshire to help keep the county's taps and rivers flowing... More Information

TBM maestro inspects sites ahead of massive tunnel drive

The first machine components have arrived for the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) to be deployed on the Suburban Connect sites in Melbourne. More Information

Metrolinx provides major updates on subway and LRT projects across the GTA

Tunnel boring is advancing on multiple projects, with Scarborough's TBM ... Metrolinx says “Diggy Scardust,” the project's tunnel boring machine, is now ... More Information

Work in Progress: High-tech TBMs ready to carve underground corridor

The Bhopal Metro Rail Project is transitioning into its most challenging and sophisticated phase as two state-of-the-art Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) ... More Information

Sarens helps extract TBM at BC water supply project

The Annacis Water Supply Tunnel Project aims to increase the reliability and capacity of the water supply system in New Westminster, British Columbia. When complete, the tunnel will ... More Information

Judge rules in favor of New York and New Jersey for now in $16B tunnel fight with Trump

A federal judge ruled Friday to temporarily block the Trump administration from suspending federal disbursements for the Gateway Tunnel Project... More Information

Webuild: award for Sustainability Report for commitment to decarbonise through innovation

This includes the large tunnel-boring machines deployed on some of Europe's most complex projects: from the Salerno-Reggio Calabria ... More Information

Clearwater update reports initial entry area is 'stable and intact'

The tunnel boring machine being used in the project remains trapped underground just ahead of where the breach occurred. The ambitious, $630 ... More Information

Tunnel Boring Machine Market Size estimated at USD 7.08 Billion

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) market is experiencing significant growth, driven by increasing urbanization, infrastructure development, ... More Information

Completing the First Section of Line 3: Tunnel Boring Machine Roars as it Emerges at Balboa

The Panama tunnel boring machine emerged and completed its first major task: the first section of the Line 3 Metro tunnel. More Information

Twin tunnel-boring titans prepare to dig new road under Sydney Harbour

Twin tunnel-boring titans are preparing to launch under Sydney Harbour to dig out a new road crossing from Birchgrove to Waverton... More Information