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

Historic Tunnel Breakthrough at Loetschberg

Historic Tunnel Breakthrough at LoetschbergWorkers have blasted their way through the final metres of rock on 28th April, 2005 to pierce the 34.6 km Loetschberg rail tunnel, a key component of ... More Information

Tunnelling Equipment for Sale

Tunnelling Equipment for SaleA JV of Razel, Bouygues and Spie Batignolles TPCI sells a CSM Bessac TBM and associated equipment fabricated in 2001, used on the Blagis-Cachan sewer tunnel built for ... More Information

Two Atlas Copco L2 C Drill Rigs at Arlaban Tunnel

Two Atlas Copco L2 C Drill Rigs at Arlaban TunnelHighway AP-1 Eibar-Vitoria in Spain's Basque region spans 46.2 km, whereof 31.9 km in Gipuzkoa province and 14.3 in Alava province. The highway has ... More Information

NFM Technologies Wins Contract for 2 TBMs for Road Tunnel in Wuhan, China

NFM Technologies Wins Contract for 2 TBMs for Road Tunnel in Wuhan, ChinaNFM Technologies, part of the Wirth group, has been awarded a contract by the China Railway Tunnel Group for the design, ... More Information

Herrenknecht Extends Market Range with New Company Herrenknecht Vertical

Herrenknecht Extends Market Range with New Company Herrenknecht VerticalTo make the company ready for the future, Herrenknecht extends its technological and market range. The newly founded ... More Information

IPS to Supply TBM Specialists to Skanska Vinci JV for Hallandsas Tunnel

IPS to Supply TBM Specialists to Skanska Vinci JV for Hallandsas TunnelOn Friday 8th April, 2005, a Letter of Intent for the supply of TBM specialists has been signed between IPS and Skanska Vinci ... More Information

Third International Conference on Traffic and Safety in Road Tunnels to be Held in May

Third International Conference on Traffic and Safety in Road Tunnels to be Held in MayThe 3rd International Conference on Traffic and Safety in Road Tunnels - Developments and Trends in Equipment ... More Information

Model of Wirth TBM for Castellanza Tunnel on Exhibit at Samoter

Model of Wirth TBM for Castellanza Tunnel on Exhibit at SamoterIn Lombardy, Italy the Malpensa airport is connected to Milan by the Malpensa Express, operated by the private railway company Ferrovie ... More Information

NFM Technologies TBM Completes Tunnelling on First Metro Line in Turin

NFM Technologies TBM Completes Tunnelling on First Metro Line in Turin'Valeria', a second hand NFM Technologies TBM, broke through into Porta Nuova station on 19th March, 2005. This completes ... More Information

At last, tunnelbuilder in Italian!

At last, tunnelbuilder in Italian!Another milestone along the information superhighway has been reached with the launch of tunnelbuilder in Italian. Apart from its stand-alone status, the new ... More Information

First Boart Longyear-AMV Mining and Tunnelling Jumbos Ready for Industrial Production

First Boart Longyear-AMV Mining and Tunnelling Jumbos Ready for Industrial ProductionBoart Longyear and the Norwegian tunnelling equipment manufacturer Andersens Mek. Verksted (AMV) entered a year ... More Information

Sicily's A20 - more tunnel than motorway

Hall of FameSicily's A20 - more tunnel than motorway On 21st December, 2004 the 41.2 km Furiano-Castelbuono section was opened to complete the A20 Messina-Palermo motorway in Sicily, Italy. On the ... More Information

Full Success for CSM Bessac First EPB TBM

Full Success for CSM Bessac First EPB TBMJust less than nine months have been required to complete the last downstream section of the VL10 sewer, which will bring wastewater into the Valenton ... More Information

Italian Renaissance

Italian RenaissanceThe revival in the fortunes of the Italian tunnelling industry over the last ten years is remarkable, with some 100 projects now listed in the tunnelbuilder.com Archive. The whole ... More Information

Tunnels are Safer than Roads

Tunnels are Safer than RoadsAltogether, there are more than 200 km of tunnels on the Spanish road network and there are 70 km under construction or study. Technicians involved in tunnel ... More Information

Atlas Copco Strengthens Presence in Asia

Atlas Copco Strengthens Presence in Asia Atlas Copco has received approval from the Chinese Authorities to convert its 92% equity joint venture, Nanjing Atlas Copco Construction Machinery Ltd, into ... More Information

Real-Scale Fire Demonstration in Italian Tunnel

Real-Scale Fire Demonstration in Italian TunnelSince September 2002, motorway company Autostrada del Brennero has been taking part in the UPTUN (UPgrading of existing TUNnels) project, started ... More Information

Smopyc Becomes a Key Event

Smopyc Becomes a Key EventThe 13th edition of Smopyc, the international show of public works, construction and mining machinery, was held in Saragossa, Spain from 1st to 5th March, 2005. The event ... More Information

Long Rail Tunnel Holes Through in Japan

Long Rail Tunnel Holes Through in JapanThe last metre of bedrock marking the breakthrough of the Hakkoda tunnel was blasted on Sunday 27th February, 2005 at an official ceremony, drawing cheers ... More Information

Juan Carlos I Tunnel Breaks Through in Vielha

Juan Carlos I Tunnel Breaks Through in VielhaThe junction between the two drives of the new Vielha tunnel in Aran valley in the Spanish Pyrenees was made at 12:57 pm on 2nd March, 2005. The new ... More Information

Odebrecht Readies Wirth Double Shield TBM in Ecuador - ec/18

Odebrecht Readies Wirth Double Shield TBM in Ecuador - ec/18The San Francisco hydroelectric power project is located 15 km east of the town of Banos on the Pastaza river in central Ecuador. When ... More Information

Longest Horizontal Water Abstraction Well

Hall of FameLongest Horizontal Water Abstraction WellIn 2004 the precision horizontal directional drilling contractor Longbore drilled a 600 m-long blind well in London, UK using a directional ... More Information

Two Herrenknecht TBMs for the Jucar-Vinalopo Water Scheme

Two Herrenknecht TBMs for the Jucar-Vinalopo Water SchemeThe Jucar-Vinalopo aqueduct will transfer 80 million cubic metres of water a year from the Jucar river to the Upper and Medium Vinalopo, ... More Information

Fast and Safe at Brixlegg

Fast and Safe at BrixleggThe client, Brenner Eisenbahn, awarded a contract in May 2004 for the construction of the 3.5 km Brixlegg tunnel, which is part of the Lower Inn Valley railway in Austria. ... More Information

Skanska - behind the UK's most prestigious underground projects

Skanska - behind the UK's most prestigious underground projectsThe Tunnelling Division of Skanska UK Civil Engineering, incorporating the tunnelling activities of Cementation UK, is a most ... More Information

Wirth TBE Breaks Through First Uetliberg Tunnel in Switzerland

Wirth TBE Breaks Through First Uetliberg Tunnel in SwitzerlandWirth's Tunnel Bore Extender (TBE), an innovative tunnelling system, broke through the first bore of the Uetliberg tunnel on 1st ... More Information

Herrenknecht TBM Breaks Through DTSS Tunnel T-05 in Singapore

Herrenknecht TBM Breaks Through DTSS Tunnel T-05 in SingaporeSembcorp Engineers and Constructors successfully completed the 12.3 km Kranji tunnel as part of Contract T-05 for the Public Utilities ... More Information

New Record for NFM Technologies TBM

New Record for NFM Technologies TBM'Besi', the 11.95 m-diameter TBM supplied by NFM Technologies (Wirth Group) for the excavation of Line 9 of the Barcelona metro, has just established a new world ... More Information

Low Road to Orkney - a ferry story

Theatre of DreamsLow Road to Orkney - a ferry storyProposals to build a 11.2 km long subsea tunnel across the Pentland Firth linking Orkney to the Scottish mainland were presented to the Orkney ... More Information

Barcelona Metro Service Tunnel Collapses

Barcelona Metro Service Tunnel CollapsesOn 27th January a major collapse occurred on a 233 m-long service tunnel under NATM construction as part of line 5 extension to Spain's Barcelona metro, ... More Information

Testing Verifies Creep Resistance of Steel Fibre Concrete

Testing Verifies Creep Resistance of Steel Fibre ConcreteAs a world leader in steel fibre technology, Bekaert operates a fully serviced concrete laboratory capable of testing all types of fibre ... More Information

Microtunnelling System For Immediate Sale

Microtunnelling System For Immediate SaleUsed Herrenknecht AVN 500 microtunnelling system for sale with 665 mm-diameter machine and range of additional equipment, from job site in Ventspils, Latvia. ... More Information

Robbins Breakthrough in Singapore

Robbins Breakthrough in SingaporeOn 26th January, 2005 Robbins 4.3 m-diameter double shield TBM 1413-301 broke through in Singapore. This completed the excavation of the second and final tunnel on ... More Information

European Commission Grants EUR620 Million to Major Transport Infrastructure Projects

European Commission Grants EUR620 Million to Major Transport Infrastructure ProjectsThe European Commission has just granted EUR620 million for the assessment and construction of trans-European ... More Information

Atlas Copco Drill Rigs for Tunnels in Mecca

Atlas Copco Drill Rigs for Tunnels in MeccaAtlas Copco has supplied seven drill rigs for the construction of four motorway tunnels to ease the movement of the millions of pilgrims who visit Mecca ... More Information

Mont Blanc Tunnel Trial Opens

Mont Blanc Tunnel Trial OpensOn Monday 31st January, 2005 the trial is due to start in Bonneville, France that will investigate charges levelled against various people and companies as a result of ... More Information

Tunnelling News

New game-changing tunnel boring, reef cutting 'meeting and beating' all expectations

UG2 reef at Bokoni is the target of the twin mobile tunnel boring and narrow reef cutter. Tunnelling will be done with the mobile tunnel borer for ... More Information

Mota-Engil CEO confirms winning bid for Santos-Guaruja tunnel

The company's subsidiary, Mota-Engil, has won the tender for the construction and operation of Brazil's first underwater tunnel, connecting the ... More Information

Metro Vancouver Utility Nearing Finish of $288M Annacis Water Tunnel

“Resilience is at the heart of this project,” said Nedim Alca, COWI's North America market director. “What makes this milestone so significant is not ... More Information

Fehmarnbelt: Danish tunnel portal nears completion

The work on the entrance to the Fehmarnbelt tunnel at Rødbyhavn on Lolland is almost complete. photo courtesy of The Fehmarnbelt Project. More Information

Final decision on airport tunnel 'now or never'

Alderman Jim Stevenson and City administrators are making a dramatic last push for the airport tunnel before construction on the new north/south ... More Information

Athens Metro Line 4 works to finish by 2029

The construction of Athens Metro Line 4 is progressing steadily, with the entire project ... Tunnel mistakenly excavated in Athens metro project. More Information

First trains on track to run through Metro Tunnel within three months

Melbourne's $15.5 billion Metro Tunnel could be switched on in as little as three months as construction wraps up at two CBD stations and trains ... More Information

Petersburg crews to begin tunnel project in response to ongoing flooding, damage - WRIC

As ongoing water issues have caused significant damage to infrastructure around Petersburg, the Old Towne neighborhood ... More Information

Intelligent optimization framework for tunnel construction

Tunnel construction forms the foundation of railway development and is essential for ensuring route continuity and operational efficiency. However, ... More Information

São Paulo positions TBM for next phase of Line 2-Green

A major milestone was reached on Monday (1 September) with the lowering of the cutter head of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) Cora Coralina... More Information

The 700-ton machine that'll dig NYC's Second Avenue subway extension

NYC has a new tunnel boring machine in its toolbox for the expansion of the line under 2nd ave. If you've never seen some BIG earth moving machines, ... More Information

Light at the end of the tunnel showing for Mount Washington transit project

The project is expected to be completed in October. New tracks finally emerge from the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel as a part of Pittsburgh ... More Information

Davao City Bypass South Tunnel hits breakthrough towards improved connectivity

The Construction Project with the ceremonial breakthrough of the southbound tunnel, marking the complete excavation from opposite ends of the ... More Information

Which companies are bidding for the US$2.3bn highway and tunnel contracts in Brazil?

The project in Brazil, as it will be the country's first underwater tunnel,” the person added. The project involves construction of a 1.5km tunnel ... More Information

US Northeast Rail Corridor Gets a Major Makeover with Tunnel and Bridge Replacements

This project is designed to replace tunnels severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy, ensuring smoother and more reliable service for Amtrak, NJ Transit, ... More Information

DPWH, JICA celebrate breakthrough of Southbound Tunnel in Davao Bypass

The event marked the successful connection of the tunnel's north and south ends. The ... More Information

Jacobs joins Ramboll on Marselis road tunnel project in Denmark

Danish Road Directorate senior project manager Michael Schmidt Vosgerau said: “It is a complex task to build a tunnel on one of the busiest access ... More Information

Planning continues for Midway Tunnel, Safe Streets for All projects

The Midway Tunnel project is a $13.4 million plan ... construction of a new overpass bridge and pedestrian and bicycle walkway above the tunnel. More Information

Four million tons of clay moved in HS2 excavation

Construction on HS2's second-longest tunnel started in October 2022. The rotating cutters cut away clay and other material at a rate of about 50ft ... More Information

Jacobs Has Design-CM Role on $640M Denmark Tunnel, With Ramboll as Key Consultant

Set to begin construction in 2028, Marselis Tunnel project is core component of the country's 10-year Infrastructure Plan 2035. By Emell D. Adolphus. More Information

Elon Musk's $760,000,000 plan to build underground tunnels beneath Houston, Texas

Elon Musk's next big construction plan from The Boring Company could build $760000 worth of tunnels beneath Houston to help with flooding... More Information

Kerala Moves Closer To Vizhinjam–Balaramapuram Tunnel Rail Project

The Kerala government is preparing to invite bids next month for the tunnel rail project linking Vizhinjam International Seaport with ... More Information

Norway's Ship Tunnel Project Under Threat as Costs Rise

New cost estimates suggest the ambitious project will far exceed its approved budget, raising questions about whether it will ever be built. More Information

Davao City Bypass southbound tunnel nears breakthrough

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the southbound tunnel of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project (DCBCP) is ... More Information

CA should pursue better alternatives to the costly Delta Tunnel Project Stocktonia

Governor Gavin Newsom is attempting to fast-track the construction of a massive, budget-busting water tunnel through the Delta to ship freshwater to ... More Information

Physical Origins of Shear Strength Fluctuations in Fault Gouges

Fault gouge is rock texture within fault zones that may include rock fragments (RF) and foliated structures. Previous studies have primarily focused on remould soils, the natural structure ... More Information

Webuild expands its role in high-speed rail projects

Four modern tunnel boring machines will be deployed to ensure precision and safety in complex geological conditions. Once completed, the old single- ... More Information

Hudson Tunnel Project advances as tunnel boring machines near completion

The Hudson Tunnel Project hit a key milestone as massive tunnel boring machines near completion, with delivery set for November. More Information

Nagdhunga tunnel in final stages of construction

If we look at the history of road construction and development in Nepal, there are various records of road construction starting from the Rana period. According to articles published in ... More Information

Boring of tunnel across Yellow River completed in China's Shandong

Constructed by using a "Shanhe" shield machine with a 17.5-meter excavation diameter, this double-deck, two-way, six-lane tunnel stands as the world's ... More Information

The £1.6bn plan for world's deepest underwater road tunnel leaving 'no room for error'

Opening of Rogfast tunnel under construction. The Rogfast tunnel will be the longest and deepest undersea road tunnel on Earth. (Image: SKANSA). A ... More Information

Tunnelling complete on NSW's Coffs Harbour bypass project

Tunnelling has been completed on the A$2.2bn (£1.1bn) Coffs Harbour bypass project in New South Wales, Australia, with the excavation of the third ... More Information

Veidekke acquires tunnel construction contract for Gothenburg's West Link Project

Veidekke has received a contract from the Swedish Transport Administration to build the Stora Hamnkanalen tunnel, a component of the West Link ... More Information

German Rail completes construction of Rastatt Tunnel

GERMAN Rail (DB) has completed civil works on the new 4270m twin-bore Rastatt Tunnel, a major component of the project to widen to four tracks the ... More Information

Final contracts signed for Eastern Freeway transformation

A huge amount of work is underway to build North East Link and upgrade the freeways – two tunnel boring machines are digging deep under Rosanna ... More Information

Progress on Sydney pipeline duplication

Bouygues Construction Australia and Rob Carr have launched a tunnel boring machine (TBM) on Sydney Water's Thornleigh pipeline duplication ... More Information

The latest plan to connect BART to downtown San Jose: One tunnel rather than two

When BART and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority first discussed plans to send trains rolling under downtown San Jose, transit officials contemplated a design with two tunnels ... More Information

Nashville Tesla tunnel: Here's when construction could start on the Music City Loop

Elon Musk's The Boring Company is currently in the design phase of constructing a tunnel connecting downtown Nashville to the Nashville ... More Information

World's longest underwater 'mega tunnel' to cost $46 billion but will halve 21-hour drive

Oddvar Kaarmo, the Rogfast project manager, cited additional motivation for the tunnel's construction: "The port at Mortavika is quite exposed and ... More Information