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Trans-Andean multimodal tunnel proposed

Trans-Andean multimodal tunnel proposed

The authorities in Lima, Peru are funding EUR1.4 million for feasibility studies for a 31 km-long multimodal road/rail tunnel on the route between Huancayo and Lima, reducing journey times from seven to four hours. More Information

Austunnel partners with Globalchimica

Austunnel have partnered with EPC Consulting www.epc-consulting.it and Globalchimica to provide sales and support for the Globalchimica range of tunnelling and mining products within Australia and the surrounding region. Globalchimica manufactures More Information

New agreement for Lyon-Turin line

On 30.01.2012 France and Italy signed a new intergovernmental agreement for the construction of the Lyon-Turin railway line for submission to the parliaments of both countries for ratification. More Information

Independent certification for Aker Wirth

Aker Wirth, a leading supplier to the tunnelling industry for more than a century, was recently audited by the accredited certification body DNV. More Information

Tunnel Technology 2012 for Shanghai

The third Tunnel Technology Summit will be held 28th-30th May, 2012 in Shanghai, China organized by Shine Media and Shanghai Transportation Trade Association. The theme is new technology, equipment and construction methods for propelling tunnel design, construction and operation. More Information

Final breakthrough for Sorbas tunnel

On 18.01.2012, excavation of the second tube of the 7.5 km-long Sorbas tunnel on the Sorbas-Barranco de los Gafarillos section on the Almeria-Murcia Region high-speed railway was completed. More Information

CEVA rail link under construction

CEVA rail link under construction

Work on the 16 km-long Cornavin-Eaux-Vives-Annemasse (CEVA) rail link commenced on 15.11.2011 to provide a 20 minute connection between Cornavin station (Geneva) and Annemasse municipality in France with five new stations at Lancy-Pont-Rouge, Carouge-Bachet, Champel-Hopital, Geneve-Eaux-Vives and Chene-Bourg More Information

Wayss & Freytag awarded Emscher sewer tunnel

W & F, a subsidiary of Royal Bam group, has been awarded the EUR420 million construction contract for a 35 km-long wastewater tunnel between Dortmund and Bottrup in Germany. More Information

Conceptual design for Feltre tunnel

On 18.01.2012 Anas Veneto presented the conceptual design to complete the SS50 Feltre bypass, which includes construction of a 3.5 km-long bi-directional tunnel under the Telva mountain. More Information

Xiushan rail tunnel completed

Xiushan rail tunnel completed

The 10,303 m-long Xiushan railway tunnel on the 141 km-long Yuxi-Mengzi line of the Pan-Asia Railway eastern line was completed on 10.01.2012, after six years’ work. More Information

Toven tunnel holing imminent

Construction of 13.5 km of dual carriageway from Brattlia in Drevja to Leirosen in the county of Nordland, Norway is underway as part of the new Fv 78 link between the E6 motorway in the east and Rv 17 county road in the west. More Information

Jacobs Engineering awarded I90 contract

Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a contract by Washington State Department of Transport WSDOT to provide design services for fire and life safety systems improvement in the Interstate 90 Mount Baker and Mercer Island tunnels. More Information

Cairo metro breakthroughs

Despite a year of political upheaval in Egypt, on 10.01.2012 the 9.46 m-diameter NFM TBM on Line 3, Phase 2 of Cairo metro project broke through into Stadium station after a 1,579 m drive during which best production figures were 24 m/day and 109.5 m/week. More Information

Robbins opens office in Chile

The world presence of Robbins Company has increased with the opening of their 14th office, in Santiago, Chile. More Information

Tender 053/2001 – First Stage - PQ for the Design Build of TBM tunnels contract for Tel Aviv metropolis RED and GREEN LINES

NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd is an Israeli government owned company in charge of the design and construction of the mass transit system in Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Israel. More Information

Lai Chi Kok drainage tunnel breakthrough

Construction of Hong Kong’s Lai Chi Kok drainage tunnel has entered its final stage following main tunnel breakthrough in December. The EUR1.3 billion project involves construction 3.7 km of 4.9 m-diameter tunnels to intercept and transfer stormwater from the uphill areas of Lai Chi Kok More Information

CIFA announces new shotcrete machine

CIFA will be unveiling its new CST 8.20 compact shotcrete jumbo at Intermat in Paris on April 16-21. The CST 8.20 joins the established CIFA shotcreting line-up alongside the CSS-3 Step 3, the CSS-3 Crawler, and the PCS 209. The CST 8.20 is designed for tunnels up to 10 m in height and for mining applications. More Information

Sandvik jumbos on five-lane tunnel in Brazil

Sandvik jumbos on five-lane tunnel in Brazil

Four Sandvik drill jumbos are engaged in developing the widest tunnel in Latin America to house four conveyor runs and a service road. More Information

HS2 railway London-Birmingham approved

The second high speed railway line to be built in the UK will run 225 km from London Euston to Birmingham New Street. The first section out of Euston will require a 4.4 km tunnel at Ruislip, and a second new 2.25 km-long tunnel will be driven beneath the Chiltern hills at Amersham. More Information

Odebrecht and Robbins triumph at Olmos

Odebrecht and Robbins triumph at Olmos

The Olmos aqueduct in the high Andes will transfer water from the Atlantic basin to the Pacific basin to irrigate one of the driest regions of Peru. Breakthrough of the final 12.5 km-long section was achieved by a 5.3 m-diameter Robbins main beam TBM on 20.12.2011 after an epic drive through bursting rock using novel support and operating techniques. More Information

Big Chinese TBM for Yangtze crossing

The first independently developed compound slurry TBM has been presented by China Communications Construction Company Tianhe. More Information

Turin Hosts INTERtunnel 2012

INTERtunnel 2012 will be held in Turin 27-29th March, 2012 at Lingotto Fiere exhibition centre along with the rail EXPO Ferroviaria. INTERtunnel is an established platform for the international tunnelling industry to showcase new products and technologies. More Information

Spain – Updates from Line 9 at Barcelona

The EPB/hard rock mixed-mode 11.95 m-diameter tunnelling machine known as Besi, supplied by NFM for the excavation of metro line 9 in Barcelona, has reached Lesseps station. More Information

Crossrail tunnelling to commence from Royal Oak

The first of eight TBMs for London’s Crossrail project is a 140 m-long, 1,000 t machine manufactured by Herrenknecht, which is currently undergoing factory testing prior to being shipped and reassembled at Westbourne Park. More Information

Happy holidays to all our readers!

The management and staff at tunnelbuilder ltd send greetings and good wishes to all our readers around the world at this festive time. It has been a tough year for some of our supporters, but a good year for the tunnelling industry, with over 500 valuable bids advertised on our front page. So eat, drink and be merry! And be thankful that our industry is proving resilient enough to survive the ongoing financial trauma facing everybody else…..51/11. More Information

Chile cross-border priorities

According to the new ten-year plan agreed by Union de Naciones Suramericanas, 31 major projects are to be undertaken in South America. Chile’s priorities have not changed, and remain: the ... More Information

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

Tunnelling News

4000-tonne machines dig arterial route under Melbourne's west

The West Gate Tunnel Project is in full swing beneath Melbourne's inner west, with tunnel boring machines (TBMs) Bella and Vida at the helm... More Information

Gotthard drilling machine gets no further - now it has to be blown up

Forced break in the Gotthard road tunnel: After 190 meters, the drilling machine working on the second tube has come to an end for the time being... More Information

Construction begins on 6 Cross Island Line Phase 2 stations

Tunnel Boring Machine measuring 12.8m in diameter. The machine will “bore through the ground only once for the construction of the tunnel which ... More Information

Tunnel boring machine returns after installing $22 million outfall

A 19.5 tonne tunnel-boring machine docked at Onehunga Wharf on Friday afternoon after successfully tunnelling the $22m Clarks Beach Outfall over ... More Information

Scarborough Subway Extension tunnelling progresses following maintenance stop

The remaining portion of the tunnel will be delivered by Scarborough Transit Connect, the development partner for the project's stations, rail and ... More Information

World's Deepest Underwater Tunnel to Have Cars Drive 16 Miles Under the Sea

Norway is building what is to become the longest and deepest road tunnel under the sea. The Rogfast project, measuring 26.7 kilometers (about 16.5 ... More Information

Tunnelling underway for National Grid’s 3.4km power tunnel in Snowdonia

The tunnel boring machine (TBM) Buddug has commenced excavation of National Grid’s 3.4km power tunnel in Wales’ Eryri National Park, otherwise known as Snowdonia. The tunnel is part of ... More Information

CPK signs contract for construction of HSR tunnel in Łódź

The contract for the construction of a 4.6 km long, 14-metre wide High-Speed Rail (HSR) tunnel will be carried out by construction company PORR. The project is valued at approximately PLN ... More Information

Underneath the busy Baltimore streets, the Howard Street Tunnel gets its makeover

A squad of construction workers descend daily under the streets of Baltimore. They labour deep down, in the semi-secret and highly restricted ... More Information

London Power Tunnels Milestone

We're thrilled to announce that our second 2.5km high-voltage circuit between Hurst and Crayford is now live. This £1 billion project is rewiring London, strengthening energy supply, and ... More Information

U.S. Tunneling Professionals Convene in Dallas at RETC 2025

The event drew approximately 1,400 people. Another highlight of the conference was the presentation of the now annual Underground Construction ... More Information

Construction of NY and NJ GatewayTunnel hits halfway mark

People are looking down at the ground from the Highline on Manhattan's West Side. Some parts of the new train tunnel structure ... More Information

Silicon Valley BART extension seeks new tunneling contractor

Silicon Valley BART extension seeks new tunneling contractor for construction. Maguire told reporters during a briefing Monday morning. He noted that VTA is trying to fill a $1.2 billion ... More Information

Tunneling In The Digital Age: Rethinking Subsurface Infrastructure

But successful construction is just the start of the journey. Underground infrastructure is a long-term investment—just look at the London Underground ... More Information

Sydney Moves Forward with Final Tunnelling for Harbour Project

Sydney prepares for the arrival of the largest TBMs in the Southern Hemisphere as the Western Harbour Tunnel project enters its final tunnelling ... More Information

Metrolinx seeks help to name 2 of its massive Ontario Line tunnel digging machines

Metrolinx is now accepting names for two of its giant tunnel boring machines (TBMs), which will be used for twin 16-metre-deep and six-kilometre-long ... More Information

Deutsche Bahn awards contract for Munich S-Bahn project

The contract involves structural works for the expansion, including the construction of tunnels and an underground station. The Tunnel Ostbahnhof JV, ... More Information

Excavation completed on Italian side of Brenner Base Tunnel

The tunnel boring machine (TBM) named “Flavia” successfully bored through the Alps beneath the Mules 2–3 section, reaching the Austrian border. More Information

Giant tunnel borer set for Shantou Bay project

A giant tunnel boring machine has been installed for tunnelling under Shantou Bay in Shantou, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo provided to ... More Information

€0.4bn road and tunnel project in Georgia

Work is proceeding on the Kvesheti-Kobi road and tunnel scheme in Georgia. The scheme is part of a larger project, being carried out with Chinese ... More Information

Lahore to transform with Rs49 billion tunnel boring project

Pakistan, April 27 -- The federal government has approved Lahore's Rs49 billion Tunnel Boring Project, marking a major development for the city... More Information

Construction at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

The 2,100-foot-long tunnel connects the terminal to parking facilities and the tramway leading to the RTA public rail line. During the project, two of ... More Information

AFFHOLDER AND J.F. SHEA TEAM UP ON $700 MILLION CONTRACT

The tunneling subsidiary, Affholder LLC, will lead a joint venture with J.F. Shea Construction, Inc., to build the I-35 Capital Express Central ... More Information

Factory Testing Complete on DC Water's first tunnel boring machine for the Potomac River

Mary passed all the necessary requirements and is one of two TBM's on the project. The tunnel is part of DC Water's Clean Rivers Project, to ... More Information

Work on Chennai Metro tunnel racing to a finish

The machine Flamingo, which started boring in 2023 for the tunnel linking Light House with Thirumayilai, is expected to reach the other end in ... More Information

CPK awards contract to build high-speed rail tunnel in Lodz, Poland

The tunnel, to be constructed using a tunnel boring machine (TBM), will have a ... More Information

Inside HS2: Meet London's miners working on the Northolt tunnels

We are on a tunnel boring machine (TBM) inside High Speed Two's huge Northolt tunnels. These tunnel boring machines are part of a tunnelling ... More Information

Ontario Begins Construction Of Last Tunnel Segment Of The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension

The remaining eastern portion of tunnel construction (500-meter twin tunnels) will use the sequential excavation method, with daily progress of ... More Information

Norway is building the world's longest and deepest subsea road beneath its fjords

We have subsea road tunnels which have that construction. And the new tunnel between Germany and Denmark, there they are laying down cases and put ... More Information

CERN releases report on the feasibility of a possible Future Circular Collider

The estimated cost of construction of the FCC electron–positron stage, including the tunnel and all the infrastructure, is 15 billion Swiss francs... More Information

TBM break through on Auckland's £915M wastewater megaproject completes 16.2km tunnel

Auckland's major wastewater infrastructure project, the Central Interceptor, has reached a significant milestone with the final breakthrough of ... More Information

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