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Cityringen metro line in Copenhagen

Copenhagen’s new metro will be inaugurated on Sunday, September 29th  by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, accompanied by members of the royal family, Danish Prime Minister Mette ... More Information

The Robbins Company Blog

The Robbins Company Blog

3 Ways to Bore More Efficiently in Extremely Hard Rock: Maximize your TBM Advance through Minimized Downtime When the rock seems unbreakable, stresses are multiplied: The cutters must be stronger, ... More Information

Lyon-Turin base tunnel first 9km complete

On September 23rd , 2019 the TBM Federica (diameter 11.26 m, length 125 m, weight 2400 t) built by the French company NFM Technologie , completed the excavation of the first 9 km section between ... More Information

The Brenner Base Tunnel company has new leadership

The Brenner Base Tunnel company has new leadership

Starting on September 18th, 2019 Martin Gradnitzer and Gilberto Cardola will take the helm of the Brenner Base Tunnel cross-border project company  in Austria and Italy, replacing  the ... More Information

Narragansett Bay Commission Receives Federal Loan for Clean Water Project

The Narragansett Bay Commission has received a loan from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s WIFIA (Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) Program to the amount of $268.7 ... More Information

Robbins and iPS Webinar – 30th October 2019 - Rescuing and Refurbishing TBMs

Robbins and iPS Webinar  – 30th October 2019 - Rescuing and Refurbishing TBMs

Webinar Summary - Detlef Jordan, Robbins and Barrie Willis, iPS -  TBM maintenance: it’s one of the most important factors predicting project success, but it is often treated ... More Information

Strata Worldwide launches DigitalBRIDGE Plus+

Strata Worldwide launches DigitalBRIDGE Plus+

Strata Worldwide has launched a new leaky feeder solution for underground construction. The DigitalBRIDGE Plus+ delivers powerful, high-speed Ethernet and a full spectrum of VHF radio frequencies ... More Information

And they’re off: Hinkley Point C reaches another key milestone

The Hinkley Point C project has reached another key milestone with the start of tunnelling at the UKs first new nuclear power station in a generation. Work has started to install the 38,000 ... More Information

Grand Paris Express update

Grand Paris Express update

On Saturday 14th September, 2019 at the Braque pit site in Aulnay-sous-Bois the first TBM for the Grand Paris express was christened. The TBM was named Armelle after Armelle Martin who saved a ... More Information

ITA TUNNELLING AND UNDERGROUND SPACE AWARDS - FOUR FINALISTS FOR THE MAJOR PROJECT OF THE YEAR

ITA TUNNELLING AND UNDERGROUND SPACE AWARDS -  FOUR FINALISTS FOR THE MAJOR PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Four finalists have been announced for the major project of the year category which focusses on ‘Managing Urban Expansion’. The awards will be held in Miami, USA from the 18th to the ... More Information

Penang Undersea Tunnel updates

Penang is planning a massive transportation network that includes four highways, an eight-lane highway in the Persiaran Gurney, a light-rail transit (LRT) and an undersea tunnel. The ... More Information

Mapei Underground Technology Team

Mapei Underground Technology Team

Mapei's response to the growing demand from the construction market was to create their Underground Technology Team and product line. The Underground Technology Team (UTT), is dedicated ... More Information

The UK’s newest skills academy finally opens its doors

The UK’s newest skills academy finally opens its doors

 A pioneering civil engineering skills academy unlike anything else in the North East has been officially opened in Hartlepool.   The new skills academy from Seymour Civil ... More Information

Heung Yuen Wai Highway - Hong Kong

Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, is proud to have contributed engineering excellence to the Heung Yuen Wai Highway in Hong Kong. The major transport infrastructure project will promote ... More Information

Federal Funding Allocation for BART Silicon Valley Phase II project

Federal Funding Allocation for BART Silicon Valley Phase II project

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) allocated EUR113.15 million (USD125 million) to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for the Bay ... More Information

Victorian Tunnelling Centre

Victorian Tunnelling Centre

An Australian-first tunnelling training centre will open next year in Oakleigh. The centre will train thousands of local workers to deliver tunnel projects in Victoria - including the Metro ... More Information

ExpoFerroviaria 2019

ExpoFerroviaria 2019

Its less than a month to go before the next edition of EXPO Ferroviaria in Italy. The EXPO will take place from the 1st to the 3rd of October at Rho Fiera in Milan.  The event is for the ... More Information

Forrestfield-Airport Link - TBMs Grace and Sandy completed 70% per cent of tunnelling.

TBM Grace has now tunnelled more than 5.6km and installed more than 3300 rings, on her journey to Bayswater. Grace is now tunnelling in Ascot - underneath the Tonkin Highway road reserve and is ... More Information

Final pieces in place for West Gate TBM

Final pieces in place for West Gate TBM

The final parts of the TBM Bella, the largest in the southern hemisphere have been lifted into place to start digging the West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne. The 450-t cutterhead has been lowered 27 m ... More Information

Another breakthrough for Sydney Metro’s mega borers

Another breakthrough for Sydney Metro’s mega borers

A second mega boring machine has arrived deep under the Sydney central business district at the new Pitt Street metro railway station. Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Mum Shirl started digging from ... More Information

Tunnel Boring Machines in Difficult Grounds 4th International Conference

Tunnel Boring Machines in Difficult Grounds 4th International Conference

The TBM DiGs conference will be held from November 13th  – 15th , 2019 in Golden, Colorado USA. TBM DiGs is an international conference series that provides a specialized technological ... More Information

Bekaert Maccaferri Underground Solutions - Synmix® HP 55

Bekaert Maccaferri Underground Solutions - Synmix® HP 55

WHAT IS SYNMIX® HP?  - Synmix® macro synthetic fibres, from industry specialist Bekaert, have set a new standard for safety reinforcement with their light weight, easy to handle ... More Information

Senior Tunnel Engineer Dominic Reda Presenting at the 12th Annual Breakthroughs in Tunneling Short Course in Denver, Colorado

GALL ZEIDLER Consultants,  Senior Tunnel Engineer Dominic Reda will be presenting at the 12th Annual Breakthroughs in Tunneling Short Course in Denver, Colorado September 9th – 11th . ... More Information

Jinan Yellow River Tunnel Project

In September, 2019 China started the shield excavation of the Jinan Yellow River Tunnel, known as the "first” tunnel of the Wanli Yellow River according to the China Railway Construction ... More Information

Press release - Small Robbins Double Shield makes a Monumental Achievement

Press release -   Small Robbins Double Shield makes a Monumental Achievement

Compact TBM bores longest Rock Tunnel at 2.46 m Diameter In August 2019, a small diameter Double Shield TBM made a big impact. The 2.46 m (8.07 ft) diameter Robbins machine completed 3,475 m ... More Information

North East Link public hearing update

The Public Hearing for the North East Link Environment Effects Statement (EES) which began on the 25th July will reach its conclusion in mid – September 2019. Any individual and any groups ... More Information

Strengthened Financial Plan for Hudson Tunnel Project Trims USD1.4 Billion

Strengthened Financial Plan for Hudson Tunnel Project Trims USD1.4 Billion

In June 2019 the Gateway Development Commission became a bi-state organization, with new authority and ability to receive the federal grants and loans necessary to deliver the Gateway Program of ... More Information

Line 4 Metro Bucharest - Preliminary design update

Line 4 Metro Bucharest - Preliminary design update

The Feasibility Study and Preliminary Design  for the Lac Straulesti – Gara Progresu Metro Line 4/Green Line extension in Bucharest has been completed. Metrorex the operator of the ... More Information

ICE learning programme gains US accreditation

ICE is pleased to announce its first learning programme which has been accredited for US Professional Development Hours (PDH).   This programme, located on the ICE Learning Hub, has been ... More Information

Albvorlandtunnel: TBM Sibylle arrives in Wendlingen

Albvorlandtunnel: TBM Sibylle arrives in Wendlingen

On August 11th 2019 TBM Sibylle the first of two TBMs involved in the construction of the Albvorland tunnel, completed  7,700 m of the northern tube  after only 18 months. The Albvorland ... More Information

Sydney Metro update

Sydney Metro update

On August the 16th TBM Nancy broke through a wall of rock at the site of the future Pitt Street Station, about 20m below the heart of Sydney’s CBD. Nancy had clocked up 6km of tunnelling ... More Information

TERRATEC TBM completes first tunnel for Mumbai Metro

TERRATEC TBM completes first tunnel for Mumbai Metro

HCC-MMS JV achieves major milestone with Terratec machine having broken through on the first full section of running tunnel to be completed for Mumbai Metro Line 3, in India. In early-August, ... More Information

8th Cutting Edge Conference

8th Cutting Edge Conference

From the East to the West Coast, North America’s tunnelling industry is flourishing. In 2019, the eighth annual Cutting Edge Conference will be held in Hilton Miami Downtown, Florida from ... More Information

Mumbai Metro Line 3 renamed as Aqua Line

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday unveiled the rolling stock model of Metro Line 3, which has been named AquaLine. The MMRC (Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation) has awarded the ... More Information

Blog by Steve Smading – The Robbins Company

Blog by Steve Smading – The Robbins Company

3 Ways to Bore More Efficiently in Extremely Hard Rock: Maximize your TBM Advance through Minimized Downtime When the rock seems unbreakable, stresses are multiplied: The cutters must be stronger, ... More Information

Russia - Moscow Underground updates

Russia - Moscow Underground updates

Extension of the Kommunarskaya Line On 20 August, at the meeting of the Urban Planning Commission, the project for the extension of the Kommunarskaya line of the Moscow metro to the city of Troitsk ... More Information

Tunnelling News

Single-Bore Tunnel Method Chosen for BART Silicon Valley Phase II

This decision allows VTA to advance project design towards 60%, stay on a critical path to tunnel construction and meet the projected revenue service ... More Information

Boring Co. begins 'controlled blasting' for Nashville tunnel at TN capitol

The Boring Co. has started excavation work at a state-owned parking lot on Rose Parks Boulevard for the Music City Loop project Wednesday, Aug. 13, ... More Information

TBM arrives in Montreal for delayed metro extension project

A custom-built tunnel boring machine (TBM) has arrived in Canada for use on a 6km extension of the Montreal Metro... More Information

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