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Letter of intent signed for Karawanken dualling

Slovenia and the Austrian province of Carinthia signed a letter of intent on 09.12.2011 to build a second tube for the 7,864m-long Karawanken road tunnel. More Information

Robbins EPBs bore Final Meters in Zhengzhou

Robbins EPBs bore Final Meters in Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou, China is one step closer to becoming a national crossroads for rail traffic with the breakthrough of two EPBs. The 6.3 m (20.7 ft) Robbins TBMs have set a Chinese EPB record in the process, excavating up to 720 m (2,362 ft) in one month. The swift machines boring the Metro Line 1 holed through in October and November 2011—at least two weeks ahead of schedule. More Information

Atlas Copco to acquire GIA.

Stockholm, Sweden, December 16, 2011: Atlas Copco AB has agreed to acquire the underground business of GIA Industri AB from Vätterledens Verkstad AB. With the acquisition, Atlas Copco broadens its offering with products including electric mine trucks, utility vehicles and ventilation systems. More Information

Listec line type heat detector

Listec GmbH of Isen, near Muenchen in Germany is supplying its line type heat detector to two major European projects: Line C of Rome metro, and Frejus road tunnel. More Information

Crossrail unveils its first tunnelling boring machine

Crosssrail has unveiled the first of eight, 1,000 tonne tunnel boring machines that will construct the its tunnels under central London More Information

Emcor SA seeks agents to promote their products.

Emcor SA, a Spanish company that manufactures and supplies materials for the tunnelling and mining industry, is looking for agents and/or companies to introduce and sell these products in Austria, Germany, France, Finland and Russia. More Information

New Rotterdam river crossing approved

New Rotterdam river crossing approved

On 08.12.2011 Dutch transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen gave the green light to build the Blankenburg road tunnel, west of Rotterdam. More Information

Chile – Seli has completed the exploratory tunnel for Los Bronces mine

On November 17, 2011 just over two years after works began, the Seli TBM completed the excavation of an 8km exploratory tunnel for the Los Bronces mine. Los Bronces is one of the largest copper mines in the world, and is located near Cordigliera in the Andes. More Information

USA – The state of Virginia signs off road and tunnel contracts worth USD 3 Billion

A joint venture between Skanska Infrastructure Development and Macquarie Group worth US$2.1 Billion was approved by VDOT to build a new Midtown Tunnel and to rehabilitate the existing Midtown tunnel in Virginia. More Information

CIFA formworks for Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP)

As a part of the new Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) awarded by ADSSC of Abu Dhabi to Impregilo for the construction of the 2 lots T02 and T03, CIFA will supply formworks for the cast lining on site. More Information

Naples Line 6 reaches Municipio

Naples Line 6 reaches Municipio

On 23.11.2011 breakthrough was achieved on the Mergellina-Municipio section of Naples Line 6 when the Wirth EPB TBM reached the exit shaft in Municipio. Excavation of the 2,902 m-long, 8.25 m-diameter tunnel below the water table started in October, 2007. More Information

MoU signed for Belgrade metro

On 18.11.2011 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the city of Belgrade and Alstom Transport South Europe for construction of a new EUR1billion public rail transport system. A 15-month preliminary study by Egis Rails will determine the full technical and operational features of a 15 km line (L1) with 4.5 km underground and 25 stations. Located on the southern bank of the Danube, the Y shaped line will connect the central districts of the city, linking Ustanicka-Novi Merkator to Tvornicka on one branch, to Zelesnicka Stanica Novi Beograd on the other. More Information

Normet concrete sprayer debuts in Mexico

Normet concrete sprayer debuts in MexicoNormet introduced its new Alpha series diesel hydraulic mobile concrete sprayer, the Semmco Alpha 30, at the recent CIM mining convention in Acapulco, Mexico. ... More Information

Final breakthrough for T-Connection in Norway

Final breakthrough for T-Connection in NorwayOn 13.10.2011 final breakthrough for the 9 km-long undersea tunnel of Norway's T-Connection was safely achieved by contractor AF Gruppen AS. The project, ... More Information

Italian breakthroughs

Italian breakthroughsOn 24.10.2011 breakthrough was achieved on the north tube of the Collemaggio tunnel, located between km9.244 and km10.036 on the SS318. Two days later, another tunnel holed out ... More Information

Middle East Tunnelling 2011

Middle East Tunnelling 2011This event takes place at Oryx Rotana Hotel in Doha, Qatar on 12-14th December, 2011. The region is home to some of the most significant and innovative tunnelling projects ... More Information

Robbins EPB starts Baku metro drive

Robbins EPB starts Baku metro driveA 6.3 m-diameter Robbins EPB has commenced boring the Baku metro in Azerbaijan. Together with another similar EPB, the machine will bore parallel 3.5 km-long ... More Information

Higher costs for Blanka tunnel in Prague

Higher costs for Blanka tunnel in PragueSaturday 15.10.2011 was open day at Blanka road tunnel, part of the northwest section of the Prague ring road in the Czech Republic. The construction cost is ... More Information

Middle East Tunnelling 2011

Middle East Tunnelling 2011The MEED Middle East tunnelling conference takes place in Doha, Qatar on 12-14th December, 2011. It will provide attendees with the latest information on tunnelling ... More Information

Minova acquires SDA business

Minova acquires SDA businessMinova, part of Australian group Orica, has acquired the self drilling anchor business from Atlas Copco MAI of Feistriz, Austria. Minova International is the world's ... More Information

Amsterdam-Almere metro feasibility studies

Amsterdam-Almere metro feasibility studiesThree selected consortia have completed technical and economic feasibility studies for the prposed direct metro link between Amsterdam and Almere across the ... More Information

ZED gets prestigious achievement award

ZED gets prestigious achievement awardZED Tunnel Guidance Ltd has received the Queen's Award for International Trade. The award follows the company's outstanding achievement in international trade, ... More Information

Sluiskil tunnel construction started

Sluiskil tunnel construction startedOn 05.10.2011, after a period of preparatory work, construction of the east adit of the 1,330 m-long twin tube Sluiskil tunnel under the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal in ... More Information

Breakthrough in SS77 Belfiore tunnel

Breakthrough in SS77 Belfiore tunnelOn 26.09.2011 breakthrough was achieved on the South carriageway of the 1,101 m-long Belfiore tunnel on the SS77 Val di Chienti. For more click here and it/116. ... More Information

Road tunnels manual

Road tunnels manualThe 24th World Road Congress took place in Mexico from 27.09.2011 to 30.09.2011. During the congress, the new road tunnels manual was installed online in English and French. The ... More Information

Sandvik rigs winning in Rio de Janeiro

Sandvik rigs winning in Rio de JaneiroMain contractor Odebrecht is upgrading 25 km of main highway between Barra and Santa Cruz in the southern suburbs of Rio, including construction of the 1.1 ... More Information

Robbins at AFTES International Congress in Lyon

Robbins at AFTES International Congress in LyonFind out more about high cover tunnelling at Robbins' technical session on Wednesday, 19th October at the AFTES Congress in Lyon, France. Paper title: ... More Information

VMT opens branch office in US

VMT opens branch office in USThe current dramatic growth in the US tunnelling industry has resulted in VMT opening an office in Sumner, WA to service its clients more effectively. The new facility ... More Information

Contitech commitment to sustainability

Contitech commitment to sustainabilityContitech division of Continental is a leader in rubber technical elastomer products and plastics technology. The company has introduced its sustainability ... More Information

Montcada EPB completes its task

Montcada EPB completes its taskOn 28.09.2011, 11.7 m-diameter Herrenknecht EPB Montcada reached the exit shaft after a 3,017 m drive north-south at up to 50 m depth. Its 105 m-long back-up installed ... More Information

tunnelbuilder readership hits new highs

tunnelbuilder readership hits new highsSeptember was a good month for tunnelbuilder.com, with a weekday readership high of 1,586/day and a weekend high of 983/day. Daily average was 956, which rolls ... More Information

Thames tunnels to be bored by Herrenknecht TBMs

Thames tunnels to be bored by Herrenknecht TBMsHochtief/Murphy JV will use two Herrenknecht slurry TBMs to drive the 2 x 2.6 km-long x 6 m-diameter Crossrail Thames tunnels. This brings to eight the ... More Information

Cut/cover tunnel on the SS36 at Monza in Italy

Cut/cover tunnel on the SS36 at Monza in ItalyThe link road under construction between the SS36 and the Milan motorway network crosses the municipalities of Monza and Cinisello Balsamo, through ... More Information

Austunnel Partnering Success

Austunnel Partnering SuccessAustunnel supplies professional tunnelling personnel such as supervisors, TBM fitters/mechanics, electricians, PLC electricians, boilermaker/welders and TBM pilots. ... More Information

Tunnel design and construction

Tunnel design and constructionThe latest conference in the series takes place on 16-18 November, 2011 in Amsterdam. For full details of speakers visit Tunnel Design & Construction Europe. 39/11. More Information

South Tyrol Castelbello ring road decision

South Tyrol Castelbello ring road decision The competition for the construction of the 3 km-long Castelbello and Colsano ring on the SS 38 has been decided, and funds will be allocated in 2012. The ... More Information

Tunnelling News

In pics: construction site of Chongming-Taicang tunnel

A smart assembling vehicle works at "Linghang" large diameter shield tunneling machine at the construction site of the Chongming-Taicang tunnel, part of the Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu ... More Information

IN PICTURES: Spectacular images of the removal of HS2's huge tunnelling machine

TBM Sushila was used to construct part of the Northolt Tunnel – an 8.4-mile tunnel ... construction/london-tunnels/progress-3/northolt-tunnel/tbm- ... More Information

Historic tunnels uncovered beneath Salisbury station during £5.3M upgrade project

Engineers from Network Rail and South Western Railway have uncovered a network of tunnels and rooms beneath Salisbury station during ongoing £5.3M upgrades to the station’s forecourt... More Information

Massive $450m road project connecting Russia and Georgia with six bridges & five tunnels

Massive $450m road project connecting Russia and Georgia with six bridges & five tunnels. The new road will pass through Georgia along a trade route ... More Information

Buca Metro Tunnel Excavations Reached 50 Percent Level

Important progress is being made in the construction of the line, where four tunnel boring machines (TBMs), each 100 meters long, 7 meters wide and ... More Information

'Very promising' narrow-reef boring technology nearing rollout stage

A novel tunnel boring machine (TBM) will open up Bokoni's narrow tabular dipping PGM orebody to allow narrow-reef boring to take place, so that ... More Information

A vast undersea tunnel is being built

The 7.4 billion-euro ($7.7 billion) project is a huge undertaking, in every sense. Each section of the tunnel is colossal. These concrete structures ... More Information

National Grid gets planning permission for Grain to Tilbury upgrade with new Thames tunnel

National Grid has secured full planning approval for the Grain to Tilbury project, which includes a new power tunnel under the River Thames... More Information

Right track tunnel of Huangjialing Tunnel in NW China's Gansu drilled through

A staff member works on the construction site of the right track tunnel of the Huangjialing Tunnel in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, northwest ... More Information

Shetland Islands tunnels plan takes 'huge step forward' with sonar investigations

This phase will further inform the project's development and feasibility. The tunnel project, seen by locals as pivotal for improving ... More Information

Construction of the Tarande tunnel begins next week

On March 17th, in Vilnius district Construction of a tunnel and other related infrastructure will begin at Taranda and Bukiškis. This project aims ... More Information

Delhi Metro's Golden Line achieves major tunnel breakthrough;

The construction of Delhi Metro's Golden Line achieved a major milestone on Thursday as the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) broke through at the ... More Information

RiverRenew Tunnel Project Nearing Completion

The RiverRenew Tunnel System Project, the largest infrastructure investment in Alexandria's history, is nearing completion. More Information

Sydney Metro West tunnels enter final stretch after big breakthrough

Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) constructing the huge Sydney Metro West tunnels have made a smashing entrance 24 metres below the surface. More Information

Chennai Metro Rail launches first tunnel boring machine for underground tunnelling in Kolathur

Corridor 5 begins at Madhavaram Milk Colony and connects through Koyambedu, Porur, Alandur and other residential/commercial areas of the city to ... More Information

Element Six, Master Drilling Announce Tunnel Development Partnership

Element Six and Master Drilling will deliver a diamond-enabled solution designed to increase tunneling development speed, reducing costs and minimize the environmental impact of tunnel ... More Information

Gateway Project Tunnel Connecting NY and NJ Moves Forward

Five Gateway contracts have been awarded so far, including one on Predergast's first day for construction on the Manhattan side of the tunnel... More Information

HSR Xi'an – Yan'an: Completion of All Tunnels in the Project

The HSR Xi'an – Yan'an has completed the excavation of all tunnels, including the Tongchuan Tunnel. This is a key milestone in the construction ... More Information

Brazil's US$1bn underwater tunnel project making waves among potential bidders

The first underwater road tunnel project in Brazil is attracting interest from multiple potential bidders, an official familiar with the matter ... More Information

Element Six and Master Drilling Announce Strategic Partnership for Advanced Tunnel

Achieving high quality, nonexplosive tunnel construction with various aspects of value generated compared to traditional rock excavation methods is a ... More Information

Tutor Perini Wins a $1.2 Billion NYC Contract

A joint venture of Sylmar-based civil construction firm Tutor Perini Corp. and its subsidiary Frontier-Kemper Constructors has won a $1.18 billion contract to construct a pair of rail ... More Information

Milestone reached for $1.6b Auckland wastewater tunne

Watercare's Central Interceptor project has passed an historic milestone with the southern half of the 16.2 kilometre tunnel – Blockhouse Bay ... More Information

Elon Musk's 'Wormhole' Tunnel Promises To Carry 20,000 People Per Hour In Dubai

It’s been more than eight years since Elon Musk decided he was fed up with traffic and declared he’d start digging tunnels to revolutionize public transport across the United States. So ... More Information

First tender for Dubai’s $22bn tunnels due within days

Dubai Municipality is expected to tender the first two packages of the $22bn Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) project imminently... More Information

London's Thames Tideway Tunnel now fully connected

After 10 years of construction work, the last of the 21 connections of the Thames Tideway Tunnel was made to the city's Victorian sewage system. More Information

Silvertown Tunnel

Silvertown Tunnel is the Transport for London project looking to forge a brand-new connection between Silvertown and the Greenwich Peninsula... More Information

Dubai Loop: Elon Musk to Build Huge Underground Road Network

Musk's The Boring Company, which is responsible for building a similar project in Las Vegas, aims to create 17 kilometers of tunnel capable of ... More Information

Wisconsin approves $4.5m tunnel lighting project

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has approved a $4.5m lighting systems upgrade project in various tunnels in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. More Information

$1.18bn Manhattan Tunnel contract awarded as part of $16bn Hudson Tunnel Project

The Hudson Tunnel Project is the key section of the Gateway Programme, which is a comprehensive rail infrastructure investment aimed at boosting ... More Information

North East Link continues to forge ahead towards completion

Tunnelling will soon commence on Victoria's longest twin road tunnels – the North East Link tunnels – as two massive tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are ... More Information

Africa's huge £8.5m tunnel cuts up to 26 minutes off journeys to major capital city

The tunnel is to be constructed within the next three years. This project will not only create 500 jobs in the construction ... More Information

CMRL's tunnel boring machine from Panagal Park reaches Kodambakkam station after a year

Chennai Metro Rail's Phase II Project faces delays as tunnel boring machines 'Pelican' and 'Peacock' progress towards Kodambakkam... More Information

$800-million twin-tube tunnel, longest in the Philippines, nears 'breakthrough'

A senior agency official stated on Thursday that the tunneling phase of the Davao City Bypass Construction Project will achieve a long-awaited ... More Information

The World’s Largest Immersed Tunnel Is Being Built—And It’s Done Without a Tunnel Boring Machine

When we think about groundbreaking advancements, our minds often jump to cutting-edge technology like smartphones or supercomputers. But some of the most awe-inspiring innovations are ... More Information

Brenner Base TBM enters 'highly fractured' fault zone

A tunnel boring machine (TBM) working on the northernmost active construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel project has entered a “highly ... More Information

India building a historic Undersea Tunnel for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project

He stated, "All high-quality safety norms have been adopted in the construction of this India's first carefully designed undersea tunnel project." The ... More Information

Norway's Incredible Ship Tunnel Plan Is Back On Track

Despite pandemic-related and planning delays to the project, the Norwegian Coastal Administration is pressing ahead with plans to build the world's ... More Information

PM Modi inaugurates Z-Morh tunnel in J&K

The tunnel works with the under-construction Zojila tunnel to enhance travel efficiency and road connectivity. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra ... More Information

Metro's tunnel construction on track

Meanwhile, the 'Azad' TBM is already working on the 'up-line' tunnel for the same stretch. After arriving at Transport Nagar, both TBMs were 'dragged' ... More Information