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ITA Tunnelling Awards - Celebrating Underground Engineering Excellence

ITA Tunnelling Awards -  Celebrating Underground Engineering Excellence

A calendar highlight each year is the annual ITA Tunnelling Awards. This year 25 finalists from 13 countries representing impressive projects, transforming machines and materials, and ... More Information

Falanghina TBM Starts Operations for the Region's Water Safety

Falanghina TBM Starts Operations for the Region's Water Safety

On September 10th, the launch event for the works to secure the Campania Region's water supply system took place at the Campolattaro Dam construction site, in the province of Benevento, with the ... More Information

Hydrodemolition – Tapered Conduit Cuts - Inside a Tunnel System - Author: Chris Turney

Hydrodemolition – Tapered Conduit Cuts - Inside a Tunnel System - Author: Chris Turney

Walco Industries Ltd. was asked to complete a hydrodemolition project at a hydropower dam. The dam is located in western Canada and is one of the largest earthen dams in the world. It’s a ... More Information

Italy/Liguria –TBM launch for the Bisagno Flood Relief tunnel on October 1st

On October 1st, 2025, the TBM (1,280 tons) will be launched — it arrived by ship from China at the Messina terminal last February. The use of the TBM will accelerate the excavation of the 5.5 ... More Information

The new Oural tunnel on the Ourense-Monforte-Lugo corridor to be inaugurated soon

On September 23, ADIF will inaugurate the new Oural tunnel, a milestone in the comprehensive renovation and modernization of the Ourense-Monforte de Lemos-Lugo corridor (117 km), which connects to ... More Information

Fehmarnbelt tunnel - Both portals near completion

Fehmarnbelt tunnel - Both portals near completion

The Danish entrance to the Fehmarnbelt tunnel with its 160-m long cut-and-cover tunnel at Rødbyhavn on Lolland is almost complete.  The transition between the motorway and the railway on ... More Information

Switzerland - Open Day on September 13, 2025 at the Ligerz/Gleresse Tunnel

Switzerland - Open Day on September 13, 2025 at the Ligerz/Gleresse Tunnel

On September 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., an open day will be held at the Ligerz/Gleresse tunnel, part of the track-doubling project between La Neuveville (BE) and Twann/Douanne (BE) in ... More Information

TBM excavation completed at Forch window in Italy

In mid-September 2025, TBM Barbara (85 m long and weighing 2,000 t) completed the excavation and lining—using 726 rings—of the Forch construction window (1.3 km), part of Lot 1 - ... More Information

Progress on the Ogliastrillo-Castelbuono section of the Palermo-Catania-Messina railway doubling project.

The TBM Margherita is advancing at an average speed of 11 m/day, at a depth of approximately 105 m, while excavating the odd tube of the Cefalù tunnel on the Ogliastrillo-Castelbuono section, ... More Information

Canada - Libby and Corkie will carve out the first two Ontario Line subway tunnels

Two new TBMs in the Metrolinx family have officially been named Libby and Corkie, following a naming contest launched in June 2025 — which saw more than 900 submissions and over 1,000 votes ... More Information

Arup Takes the Helm in Landmark UK Water Infrastructure Revamp

Securing Water Resilience for Over Two Million People - Global engineering and built environment consultancy Arup has been appointed by STRABAG UK to deliver comprehensive design services for the ... More Information

Italy/France - Mont Blanc Tunnel, vault renovation: the second test site

The second test site for the renovation of the Mont Blanc Tunnel vault will be carried out from 1 September to 12 December 2025 in two sections of the tunnel, upstream and downstream of one of the ... More Information

First breakthrough with TBM in a main tunnel in Austria for BBT

First breakthrough with TBM in a main tunnel in Austria for BBT

TBM Ida has completed the excavation of the 8.4 km H41 Sill Gorge-Pfons section of the Brenner Base Tunnel, reaching its destination in the municipality of Navis (Wipptal), near an existing ... More Information

Italy/Liguria - Services Conference on the final design for the doubling of the Genoa-Ventimiglia railway line: Finale Ligure – Andora section

On 8 September 2025 at 3 p.m, a Services Conference will be held for the purpose of examining the final design for the doubling of the Genoa-Ventimiglia railway line: Finale Ligure – Andora ... More Information

NYMTA Awards $1.97 Billion Contract for Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 Tunnelling Works

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA) has awarded a $1.972 billion contract to Connect Plus Partners—a joint venture of Halmar International and FCC Construction—to ... More Information

TERRATEC TBM commences excavation on Bangkok MRT Purple Line

TERRATEC TBM commences excavation on Bangkok MRT Purple Line

TERRATEC is pleased to announce that its Earth Pressure Balance Tunnel Boring Machine (EPBM), TERRATEC S114, has commenced excavation on Contract 3 of the MRT Purple Line (Tao Poon – Rat ... More Information

Heathrow’s Expansion Hinges on M25 Tunnel Engineering

The expansion of Heathrow Airport has once again brought the spotlight onto one of the most complex tunnelling proposals ever considered in the UK: the realignment of the M25 motorway through a ... More Information

Breakthrough for the Lower Olentangy Tunnel Project in USA

Breakthrough for the Lower Olentangy Tunnel Project in USA

The Herrenknecht TBM EPB named “The Mighty Quinn” arrived at its destination in early August after boring a total of 5.64km under the city of Columbus, Ohio, USA. For the Lower Olentangy ... More Information

The fourth Snowy 2.0 TBM shipped to Snowy Mountains

Snowy Hydro is now preparing for the arrival of its fourth TBM to join Snowy 2.0 – Australia’s largest renewable energy project.  The new TBM - 178-m length and 11.86 m diameter - ... More Information

Canada - Breaking ground on second Ontario Line tunnel launch shaft

Canada - Breaking ground on second Ontario Line tunnel launch shaft

Metrolinx is creating a second tunnel launch shaft near Gerrard Street and Carlaw Avenue which is now under construction. This will serve as the starting point for the second underground section of ... More Information

Veidekke Secures Final Tunnel Contract for Gothenburg’s West Link Project

Scandinavian construction powerhouse Veidekke ASA has officially been awarded the contract section of Gothenburg's ambitious West Link (Västlänken) rail project. Project Overview Scope: ... More Information

Central Romania: Cluj-Napoca Metro Project Moves into Underground Construction Phase

Work on Romania’s second metro network, in Cluj-Napoca, has entered a key new stage with the start of excavation for the tunnel boring machine (TBM) launch shaft.  Turkish general ... More Information

Underground Engineering in the Spotlight 1-3 October, Belgrade, Serbia

Serbian Association for Tunnels and Underground Structures in collaboration with the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association will  host the Southeastern ... More Information

North End Connectors Awarded C$1.4B Contract for Yonge North Subway Extension Tunnelling

On August 6, 2025, Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx awarded North End Connectors a fixed-price C$1.4 billion contract to design, build, and finance the advance tunnelling phase of the Yonge ... More Information

Canyon Tunnel Project: A New Lifeline in the Central Valley

Overview & Purpose - The Canyon Tunnel Project is a major $84 million regional water infrastructure initiative carried out by the South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) in partnership ... More Information

Vietnam - Breakthrough of TBM Than Toc for Hanoi's Pilot Light Metro Line

Vietnam - Breakthrough of TBM Than Toc for Hanoi's Pilot Light Metro Line

On July 28, 2025 at 10h20 a.m.,  TBM n.1 named Than Toc (Lightning speed) - designed and manufactured by Herrenknecht, over 100 m length and 850 t weight -  successfully completed its ... More Information

Australia - New Sydney Metro West Updates

Australia - New Sydney Metro West Updates

TBMs Dorothy and Betty power into Parramatta Tunnelling for the Sydney Metro West project is nearly 90% complete, with the arrival of two TBMs at Parramatta’s metro station site. This marks a ... More Information

France – Breakthrough of the Marguerite de Catellan TBM at the Cote Pavee station on Toulouse Line C!

France – Breakthrough of the Marguerite de Catellan TBM at the Cote Pavee station on Toulouse Line C!

On Thursday 24 July, the TBM Marguerite de Catellan broke through at the future Côte Pavée station, Lot 4 of Toulouse Line C: click here for the video. The TBM - launched in ... More Information

HS2 lifts third giant TBM in London after 5.47 km (3.4-mile) underground journey

On Saturday 26th July, the team working on the HS2 project lifted the TBM Emily's 9.11m diameter cutterhead, front and middle shield, weighing 880 t, using a large gantry crane, at the Green Park ... More Information

Production of segments completed in Ahrental for the Austrian H41 construction site of the Brenner Base Tunnel

Production of segments completed in Ahrental for the Austrian H41 construction site of the Brenner Base Tunnel

On Saturday 19 July, production of the precast concrete segments used by the TBMs for the final lining of the line tunnels were completed at the Ahrental plant located  near the Austrian H41 ... More Information

Delhi Metro Rail Project update

The Delhi Metro Rail Project marked another significant milestone as Afcons Infrastructure’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Disha (1264B) achieved a breakthrough at the Tughlakabad Railway Colony ... More Information

Ontario Line - Name the first two TBMs

Be part of transit history! Here’s your chance to make your mark on Toronto’s newest subway line. The first two TBMs have arrived in Canada. They will dig the tunnels in the southern ... More Information

ITA Awards 2025 Finalists Announced

After rigorous adjudication by the Panel of Judges, the Finalists of the 2025 series of the ITA Tunnelling Awards has been announced. From a short list of 51 entries from 27 ... More Information

TBM replaced by traditional method on a 500 m section on the south side of Second Gotthard tunnel

In February 2025, excavation work began on the construction of the second tube of the Gotthard motorway tunnel. While the TBM on the north side is progressing steadily, on 23 June 2025 it was ... More Information

Italy - Gran Sasso Tunnel: measures to accelerate upgrading activities

The green light has been given for work on the Gran Sasso Tunnel to begin. They had needed to comply with current technical regulations on the tunnels safety in the trans-European road network ... More Information

Construction Begins on Cross Island Line Phase 2

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has commenced civil construction works for Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line (CRL). Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow officiated the ground-breaking ... More Information

Tunnelling News

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

Monica Breaks Ground on Snowy 2.0

Monica the tunnel boring machine, with the renewable energy mega-project now more. TBM Monica is among the world's most advanced tunnel boring machines... More Information

Snowy 2.0 sets new tunnel boring machine to work, completes 46 underground concrete pours

Snowy 2.0 has set to work a fourth tunnel boring machine, a $75 million piece of drilling equipment purpose built to complete excavation of the huge pumped hydro project’s “geologically ... More Information

World's 'largest' underground assembly of tunnelling machines happening beneath Sydney

Workers are craning into place about 167 major pieces that will form the first of two giant boring machines. Once assembled like giant Meccano sets, ... More Information

Tunneling Begins on Major Water Pipeline for South Hillsborough

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Water has begun construction on a major underground pipeline project aimed at meeting rising water demand in southern Hillsborough County, where population growth ... More Information

The massive £3billion tunnel designed to connect two continents under the sea

The construction of a huge underwater multi-tiered tunnel is underway in Turkey, that will create a direct route from Asia to Europe - and is expected to carry 1.3 million passengers a ... More Information

Riederwald Tunnel in Frankfurt is further delayed

Traffic was supposed to start flowing through the controversial Riederwald Tunnel in Frankfurt in 2033. But that's unlikely to happen. The €1.5 billion project is facing further delays – ... More Information

What happens to our metro tunnel boring machines when they hit the end of the line?

These mechanical behemoths were Betty and Dorothy, the tunnel boring machines tasked with digging the Sydney Metro West tunnels. Loading. The ... More Information

The incredible £2.8bn underwater tunnel connecting Europe and Asia

A huge new tunnel will connect Europe and Asia - and construction has already started. The Great Istanbul Tunnel is a major project. It will carry ... More Information

China develops "smart brain" for tunnel boring machines to boost underground construction

A team from Hunan University in central China has collaboratively developed an intelligent operating system for tunnel boring machines, giving these massive underground giants a "smart ... More Information

How China rescued highway project under Yangtze River

The incident occurred in February 2023 during construction of the 6.4-kilometer Jiangyin–Jingjiang Yangtze River Tunnel. Midway through excavation, at ... More Information

HS2 final tunnel drive to Euston starts next week

A team from SCS will drive a 4.5-mile twin-bore tunnel linking Old Oak Common to Euston using two tunnel boring machines, Karen and Madeleine. More Information

Work begins on £48M Knutsford sewer upgrade featuring 1.8km stormwater tunnel

Sean Reid, United Utilities county business lead for wastewater in Cheshire said: “This project highlights our ongoing commitment to improving water ... More Information

$14.6M boost moves Gering–Fort Laramie Canal Tunnel project forward

After nearly six years of planning, construction is moving forward on the Gering–Fort Laramie Canal tunnels... More Information

Webuild: second breakthrough at Trebisacce Tunnel along Jonica State Road 106

Project will help transform Jonica State Road 106 into a strategic corridor linking Ionian coasts of Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia... More Information

Ground preparation for Lower Thames Crossing tunnelling

Work is ongoing to overcome sub-optimal ground conditions in preparation for the start of tunnelling on the Lower Thames Crossing in late 2028, according to the project’s tunnels director... More Information

LA Metro approves massive $25B underground rail line to bypass 405 Freeway

The LA Metro Board unanimously approved an underground heavy rail line to connect the San Fernando Valley and the Westside, bypassing the congested 405 Freeway. The nearly 13-mile route, ... More Information

TUNNEL VISION Mega £7.4bn undersea tunnel connecting two CONTINENTS just got one step closer

A MAJOR £7.4 billion underwater tunnel connecting two continents has taken a step closer to construction. Experts have said the 24-mile tunnel is “technically viable”, paving the way for ... More Information

TBM breakthrough in Sydney

Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Jane Starkey successfully completed her 1.2km underground journey through challenging Sydney sandstone... More Information

Hochul announces $25 million for Harlem crosstown subway tunnel design

At E. 120th St., a pair of tunnel-boring machines — currently under construction in Germany — will bore new, 8,400-foot tunnels north from the end ... More Information

Tunnelling under the Yarra River

Our two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will soon be travelling underneath the Yarra River... Approximately 300 metres of the 6.5 kilometre North East Link will be under the Yarra ... More Information

The Boring Company says its tunneling machine is 'ready to mine in Nashville'

The Music City Loop project is aimed at transporting people from Nashville International Airport to Lower Broadway in roughly 10 minutes. By Li ... More Information