Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority appraising bids for design/build of tunnels and deep stations from Convention Place to 45th St station. Prequalified bidders are Modern Transit Constructors (Modern Continental/SA Healy/Impregilo/Hochtief/Parsons/Robison); Obayashi (Obayashi/Atkinson/Jacobs); Puget Link Constructors (Traylor/Shea/Frontier-Kemper); and Puget Sound Constructors (Hatch Mott MacDonald/Sverdrup/Sauer/Golder). March 2000.   The design/build contract for the Puget Sound tunnels and deep stations will be bid in late February 2000. Prequalified joint ventures are: Modern Transit Constructors (Modern Continental, S.A.Healy/Impregilo, Hochtief Ag, Parsons Transportation Group and Robison Construction); Obayashi (Obayashi Corp., Atkinson Construction, with Jacobs Associates Design Consultant); Puget Link Constructors (Traylor Bros. Inc., J.F. Shea Co. Inc., Frontier Kemper Constructors Inc.); Puget Sound Constructors, LLC and Hatch Mott McDonald-Sverdrup JV design consultant, Dr. G. Sauer- design sub consultant and Golder Associates- Geotechnical Sub consultant). March 2000. The Obayashi/Atkinson team is reported to have dropped out, and it is reliably reported that there are only two remaining of the four prequalified teams that were competing for this design/build project. June 2000. Modern Transit Constructors has been chosen as contractor-elect to design and build the 7.2 km-long Central Link light rail tunnel in Seattle, WA. The contract will be for the twin-bore tunnels only and does not include trackwork, signals and power. Negotiations are proceeding with Modern Transit Constructors with a view to awarding the contract by early-November. The joint venture is led by Modern Continental, with S A Healy, Impregilo, Parsons Transportation, Robison and Dumez-GTM. The runner-up team, Puget Link Construction comprises Traylor Brothers, J.F. Shea, Frontier-Kemper and Atkinson Construction, with Hatch Mott McDonald-Sverdrup JV as design consultant and Golder Associates as geotechnical subconsultant. Visit www.soundtransit.org Sept 2000.Negotiations with Modern Transit Constructors, a consortium headed by Modern Continental Construction Co. Cambridge, MA, with S.A. Healy, McCook, IL; Impregilo, Italy; Dumez-GTM, France; Parsons Transportation Group, Pasadena, CA and Roison Construction Group, Sumner, WA are reported to have been suspended due to potential cost overruns. The proposed design-build subway tunnel was more than $200 million over the Transit Agency budget estimate of $557 million. The board will study new options on construction methods to reduce cost. Visit www.soundtransit.org and www.moderncontinental.com December 2000.There are two bids to build a light rail tunnel through Beacon Hill as part of contract 710 of the 22.4 km initial segment from Convention Place in downtown Seattle to Tukwila. However, the lowest bid from Obayashi is USD280 million, USD41 million higher than Sound Transit's USD239 million estimate. The other bid is from Kiewit and its partners Traylor, Frontier Kemper and Beton und Monierbau in Beacon Hill Constructors with USD305 million. The project includes the entire tunnel and station complex, consisting of a 15.24 m-diameter main shaft to house the elevators leading to the concourse tunnel connecting a 5.75 m-inner diameter 1.6 km twin tunnel, a 9 m-diameter auxillary shaft to house emergency stairs, a ventilation adit, cross passages, surface buildings, architectural finishings, landscaping, mechanical and electrical work, elevators, ventilation fans, etc., except systems work (power supply and communications, etc.). The contract also includes the adjacent McClellan station (aerial station and aerial guideway at the east portal and aerial guideway at the west portal). A 30 m-deep shaft has been sunk to investigate the Beacon Hill tricky glacial soils. Contract to be awarded by end of May or June 2004 for start of station excavation at fall 2004 and start of tunnel boring with EPB TBMs in 2005. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 30/2003 & 13/2003. Visit www.soundtransit.org 22/04.Sound Transit has awarded URS Corporation a three-year contract to provide construction management services for the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) project. The project is part of the 22.5 km Central Link. The light rail will travel under downtown, sharing the 13-year-old tunnel with buses. The 2.1 km tunnel was built with rails for future light rail. However, they need to be insulated from the ground, and the roadbed is 15.2 cm too high to accommodate trains and newer buses. The tunnel will remain closed for two years for a retrofit that includes a new short cut-and-cover "stub tunnel" at Pine Street where trains can stop and turn around. All the buses that now use the tunnel will return to the surface during construction. URS will manage the DSTT retrofit totalling approximately USD60 to USD80 million in construction. Other work includes upgrades and improvements to the mechanical, electrical, fire, and safety systems, a state-of-the-art communications system, and a new integrated signalling system for both buses and trains. Construction is scheduled for completion in June 2007. Read E-News Weekly 22/2004. Visit www.urscorp.com and www.soundtransit.org 23/04.Balfour Beatty Construction bid USD82.7 million to retrofit the 2.1 km downtown Seattle bus tunnel for joint rail-bus use, which is nearly USD11 million (12%) less than Sound Transit's estimate. The contract, which includes construction of a short, dead-end tunnel under Pine Street, is a major component of Sound Transit's 22.5 km light rail line from downtown Seattle to Tukwila. Preliminary work on the new Pine Street stub tunnel between Seventh and Terry avenues could start in about four months. That tunnel will provide space for trains to turn around. The entire tunnel project is estimated to take 21 months. Visit www.soundtransit.org and www.balfourbeatty.com 30/04.Northlink Transit Partners, a joint venture of Earth Tech, HNTB, and Jacobs Associates, was awarded a USD38.9 million contract by Sound Transit for the final design of the University Link light rail extension. The 5.1 km extension will run in tunnel from Westlake station to the University of Washington, with stations at Capitol Hill and on the UW campus near Husky Stadium. The final design project includes a tunnel crossing under the Lake Washington Ship Canal between Portage Bay and Union Bay. Earth Tech's responsibilities will include providing project control systems, managing the design of the two rail stations, tunnel ventilation, mechanical and electrical systems. The project is expected to take two years to complete. Construction is scheduled to begin at fall 2008, with service starting in 2016. Read E-News Weekly 50/2006, 24/2004 & 13/2003. Visit www.soundtransit.org/x1171.xml, www.earthtech.com, www.hntb.com and www.jacobssf.com 03/07.Jacobs Engineering Group announced that the Seattle Tunnel and Rail Team (START), a joint venture between Jacobs and CH2M Hill, has been selected to receive a construction management services contract from Sound Transit to extend light rail service to connect the region's three most densely populated urban centres in Washington state (downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill/First Hill and the University district). The 5.1 km project entails constructing two parallel tunnels that run northward from Westlake to the University of Washington, with stations at Capitol Hill and on the University of Washington campus near Husky Stadium. It is anticipated that the new addition will start operation in 2016 and add 70,000 daily riders to the regional light rail system. Visit www.jacobs.com, www.ch2m.com and www.soundtransit.org/x1171.xml 29/08.Initial contract for site preparation on University Link awarded to West Coast contractor Condon-Johnson & Associates, www.condon-johnson.com/seattle/, value EUR13.93 million. Contact Eric Dybevik, tel +1 206 575 8248, e-mail edybevik@condon-johnson.com. Meantime, voter approval gained for 58 km-long expansion of Link light rail system with 19 stations including 20 km extension north from University of Washington to Lynnwood with underground stations at Brooklyn and Roosevelt. Contact Jeff Munnoch jeff.munnoch@soundtransit.org or visit www.soundtransit.org. 52/08.

  The 10.1 km North Hollywood section of L A metro will open this month, adding three stations to the system at Hollywood/Highland, Universal City, and North Hollywood, bringing the subway length to 28 km with 16 stations. The running tunnels were excavated in two contracts by Traylor/Frontier Kemper and Obayashi, and two of the stations were constructed by Tutor Saliba, while the terminus station at North Hollywood was completed by Kajima. Construction management was supplied by Hatch Mott MacDonald and Parsons Engineering, who brought the project in almost on time and within budget. June 2000.Optional routes for USD5-7 billion metro extension are 19.2 km from Purple Line Wilshire/Western along Wilshire Blvd or 20 km from Red Line Hollywood/Highland along Santa Monica Blvd. Awaiting decision on routing before raising finance. Visit www.metro.net or take a virtual tour at www.metrovr.net/metro/. 08/09.

  Contract awarded by Northeast Regional Sewer District to KM&M/Kenny jv for 4.1 km-long, 6.36 m finished diameter TBM tunnel with cast-in-place concrete lining together with shafts, drop structures and 500 m of exploratory drive. Completion time 4 years. November 1999. Robbins 235-280 TBM ex-Morocco will be used for $51.5 million Mill Creek drive in Chagrin shale at depths of up to 80 m. Machine is presently at Robbins' Solon, OH workshops for major conversion from single shield to double shield and upgrade with addition of a ring beam erector for the proposed rib and lagging primary support. Robbins will also provide new TBM gantry back-up, 900 mm-wide tunnel conveyor, and vertical shaft conveyor. Design by Montgomery Watson with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Dawn Engineering and URS. Visit www.robbinstbm.com and www.urscorp.com June 2000.KM&M/Kenny will install ring beam primary support with meshed crown and timber-lagged invert in 100 Mpa shales, followed by CIP reinforced concrete, internal diameter 6.09 m. Robbins Model 234-280 TBM under refurbishment at Solon will be supplied with backup system, and horizontal and vertical conveyors. Start date late-November, 2000. Visit www.robbinstbm.com October 2000.

    Major scheme to provide 650 million gal/day of water for Southern California. 29 km of 12 ft finished diameter tunnels under construction by Shank/Balfour Beatty in three lots: Arrowhead West (6.2 km), Arrowhead East (9.6 km), and Riverside Badlands (13.2 km). Arrowhead East has advanced 2.55 km using contractors own 5.6 m-diameter TBM and similar machines under erection at Arrowhead West and Riverside Badlands. Extensive grouting programme undertaken to reduce water inflow. Project completion scheduled for December, 2003. Sept 1999.   These tunnels cross both the San Andreas and San Manuel faults. Pre-excavation grouting using microcements was being carried out ahead of the TBMs, and backfill grouting around the carrier pipe in the completed tunnels was planned. However, despite the injection of 1,250 t of cut-off grout, which reduced the water inflow from 1,400 gal/min to 275 gal/min, Arrowhead East tunnel has been closed down after completing 2.5 km of drive. Arrowhead West is also closed for similar reasons, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has replaced the management and is considering options for realignment of both tunnels or their abandonment and replacement by pipeline. Riverside Badlands tunnel is unaffected, but it is reported that the Parsons Brinckerhoff construction management team has been replaced by a team from Hatch Mott McDonald. January 2000.   Shank/Balfour Beatty reports good progress on Riverside Badlands tunnel, the only one of their original three contracts that is still in place, Arrowhead East and West having been terminated due to unforeseen groundwater conditions. An average of 52 m/day is being achieved and the 12.8 km-long x 4.8 m-diameter tunnel is nearly half-complete. Bechtel and Jacobs Associates are redesigning the Arrowhead tunnels for re-bid later this year. Visit www.jacobssf.com and www.balfourbeatty.com June 2000.   MWD prequalifying bidders on the Arrowhead East and West projects in San Bernardino. This project was halted by water intrusion in excess of specs with contractor Shank Balfour Beatty J/V paid for work performed and anticipated profit. Visit www.jacobssf.com December 2000.  The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has awarded to J.F. Shea Construction a $242.2 million contract to drill two tunnels, stretching a total of 12.5 km, under the San Bernardino National Forest. The Arrowhead west tunnel is 5.8 km, the Arrowhead east tunnel is 6.6 km. Finished diameter of 3.6 m. Geology consisting of gneissic metamorphic rock, quartz monzonite, quartz dioride and several faults and fissures. Two TBMs will be required, the maker has yet to be chosen by the contractor. Bolted and gasketed segmental lining, reinforced concrete cylinder pipe. Portal preparatory work will probably begin as early as 100 days. Tunnelling to begin in about a year and will be completed by the second quarter of 2007. Engineering companies involved are San Francisco-based Jacobs and Associates as designer, and Hatch Mott McDonald as construction managers. Financing with pay-as-you-go capital funds and bonds. Visit www.mwdH2O.com and www.jfshea.com 16/02.Breakthrough took place end of July 2001 on the 12.9 km tunnel beneath the Badlands mountain range in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. 16/02.

  $8 million study concerning 8 km rail tunnel from Secaucus NJ on the west bank, under the Hudson River to Penn and Grand Central stations in Manhattan to complement East Side Access project for Long Island Railroad. Final plan to be selected by 2001. June 1999.   $2 billion funding approved by the Senate for proposed fourth rail line under the Hudson River as part of a $7 billion rail programme for Amtrak to upgrade high-speed rail corridors throughout the US. Three proposed options. Option G takes the new tunnel to New York's Penn station, and Grand Central for a cost of $4-$5 billion. Option P ends at Penn station and would cost $3 billion. Option S would take the tunnel to Penn station, and then to the Sunnyside rail yard in Queens for $4-$5 billion. Neither option P or S gets to the East side so that option G is considered the most attractive. 47/01.   The New Jersey Transit approved to undertake a $4.9 million environmental impact study for two one-way tunnels under the Hudson river. The new tunnel would link the Northeast Corridor line with Pennsylvania station in Manhattan, placing the parallel tunnels somewhere in the northern Hoboken-southern Weehawken area on the Hudson's west bank and midtown Manhattan to the east. The project is being undertaken in conjunction with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) which operates New York City's commuter trains and stations. The new tunnel would cost $5 billion.Visit www.njtransit.com and www.accesstotheregionscore.com 42/02.  The New Jersey Transit board awarded a $4.9 million contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff and Systra Consulting to begin environmental impact studies of a proposed new rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan. The two firms plan to finish the study by 2005. The next step would be to secure $16 million in federal funding for engineering studies. The plan for the tunnel includes two one-way tubes under the Hudson River between the Hoboken-Weehawken border and the Chelsea section of Manhattan. The entire tunnel project is estimated to cost up to $5 billion, most of which would come from federal sources. The tunnel would likely take more than 10 years to complete. Visit www.njtransit.com, www.pbworld.com and www.systraconsulting.com 27/03.Congress will grant $5 million in federal funds to begin the studies for developing a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey. The funds will be included in the 2004 transportation appropriations bill. The project could cost as much as $5 billion. The $5 million initial appropriation will be used to produce a draft environmental impact statement, one of the first steps necessary to prepare for construction. New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will coordinate the study. The new twin one-way tunnel would be designed to effectively double the number of commuter trains operating between midtown Manhattan and New Jersey. Visit www.njtransit.com 38/03.New Jersey Transit has solicited Expressions of Interest from design firms to provide professional engineering services for the preliminary engineering of the Trans-Hudson Express tunnel (THE tunnel). The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was issued to interested parties in January. The following three bidders have been shortlisted to receive the Request for Proposal for the THE tunnel: a JV of Atkins and Washington Group International, Hatch Mott MacDonald and a JV of Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV and DMJM Harris.New Jersey Transit hopes to have preliminary engineering completed during 2007, with the aim of having the link ready for revenue service in 2015. The winning bidder may also be invited to undertake overall design, project integration of all facets of the project, and/or one or more segments of final design, as well as construction assistance.The THE tunnel project will span New York and New Jersey and consists mainly of two single-track tunnels under the Palisades in New Jersey and the Hudson River connecting to a new eight-platform underground station under 34th Street and 7th Avenue as well as the existing Penn Station in New York City. Read E-News Weekly 35/2005, 51/2003 & 46/2002. Visit www.njtransit.com and www.accesstotheregionscore.com 14/06.The Trans-Hudson Express (THE) tunnel will start on the west side of Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen Township and continue under the Palisades and Hudson River to the new station under 34th Street between 6th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan. Each of the two tunnels will be approximately 6,100 m long. A connection from the new tunnels to the existing Pennsylvania Station is also included in the project. The external diameter is preliminarily anticipated to be 8.39 m. The interior diameter is preliminarily anticipated to be 7.47 m.The tunnels will be constructed through differing soil conditions. The sections under the Palisades and Manhattan will be bored through rock and the section under the Hudson River will be bored with a shielded machine through the anticipated softer ground conditions. Final cavern shaping will be done by drilling and blasting after rock boring is completed.Preliminary design of the project is anticipated to begin this summer and lining procedures, mucking procedures and construction methods will be advanced during this phase.The earliest construction bid advertisements are anticipated in mid to late 2008. Construction will begin following the bid and award period. Click us/21. Visit www.njtransit.com 15/06.A team of Parsons Brinckerhoff, CH2M Hill and ILF will design the proposed new rail line under the Hudson River. The new tunnel project is a needed improvement to the area's transportation system and will be linked to the railway system in New Jersey and to the subway system in Manhattan via a new station under 34th Street. Read E-News Weekly 33/2006. Visit www.pbworld.com, www.ch2m.com and www.ilf.com 48/06.NJ Transit's board on 13th December, 2006 approved hiring the CM Consortium of Newark for USD5 million as construction managers for the project to build a second Hudson River rail tunnel. The consortium is a joint venture of Tishman Construction, Parsons and Arup. The consortium will provide design oversight, make independent cost estimates, develop a master project schedule, and create a quality control plan. The consortium will oversee three engineering firms, named THE Partnership, who have already been awarded contracts in August to create preliminary designs for the proposed Hudson River commuter train tunnel and new Moynihan station. The project includes a new tunnel under the Palisades in New Jersey and the Hudson River to midtown Manhattan and an expanded rail station connected to the existing New York Penn station. Concept plans call for construction of two side-by-side, single-track tunnels of 6.6 km in length. NJ Transit hopes that construction on the projects could begin in 2009 and be completed by 2016. Visit www.tishmanconstruction.com, www.parsons.com and www.arup.com 03/07.THE Partnership, a joint venture that includes Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV Group and DMJM Harris and names itself as the Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Partnership, began preliminary design in August 2006 and will finish the work in about 13 months from now. Their contract is worth USD82.5 million. The THE tunnel is the centre piece of the USD6 billion Access to the Region's Core (ARC) project. Then, ARC will move into final design, the last pre-construction phase, assuming financing is in place to pay for the project. Click us/21. Visit www.pbworld.com, www.stvinc.com and www.dmjmharris.com 03/07.

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) identified a shortlist of qualified teams who will receive an invitation to submit, deadline 30/06/2023, a proposal in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) to serve as a Delivery Partner in connection with the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP). The Delivery Partner will provide key areas of support to help deliver the HTP. 

Shortlisted teams include:  

• Joint Venture of Bechtel-HNTB;  
• Hudson Delivery Partnership (Atkins North America, Inc., Arup US Inc., The McKissack Group, Inc.);  
• MPA Delivery Partners (Parsons Transportation Group of New York, Inc., Arcadis of New York, Inc., Mace North America Limited). 

The shortlisted teams are among those that submitted a Statement of Qualification (SOQ) earlier this month in response to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) issued by GDC through the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak).  

Visit https://www.gatewayprogram.org/  and https://procurement.amtrak.com . Ref.n. X048-23093. 21/23.

East Side Access project will extend the Long Island Railroad commuter service to Grand Central terminal on the east side of Manhattan. Ten year scheme will cost $3.2 billion and involves construction of a new line between Queens and Manhattan requiring more than 6 km of tunnels together with refurbishment of existing tunnels under East river. New soft ground tunnels will be driven in Queens to connect to the existing 63rd Street tunnel and hardrock tunnels will be needed under Manhattan’s east side to the Grand Central Terminal. Scheduled for completion 2009 to provide 172,000 rides/day to and from the east side of Manhattan with connection to the new line from JFK airport to Jamaica, Queens. Technical consultant Mott MacDonald. Project managers Bechtel Infrastructure/URS Greiner. Tunnel engineering services to be provided by jv of Parsons Brinckerhoff and STV Inc under a contract valued at $184 million. Construction value of the tunnel contract is $1.4 billion. April 1999.  East Side Access will extend LIRR service from Queens to Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. Soft ground tunnels in Queens, rock tunnels in Manhattan, and platform caverns beneath GCT station. In design for 2012 construction completion. Visit www.pbworld.com and www.urscorp.com 15/01.A USD6 billion tunnel under the East River from Brooklyn is the best option for the lower Manhattan rail link, a new project to connect non-stop lower Manhattan to Long Island and JFK Airport. It is hoped construction will begin by 2006, when an environmental impact study is expected to be completed. The line could be operational by 2013. The project would be undertaken by New York City in coordination with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 8/2004. 20/04.Open competitive bidding, deadline 29th June, 2004 for excavation of the Manhattan tunnels from beneath East 63rd Street and Second Avenue to beneath Park Avenue at East 38th Street to connect the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Station. The total length of the tunnel will be approximately 9,455 linear metres. The diameter will be approximately 6.56 m for an excavated rock volume on the order of 315,180 cu m. Eight TBM drives are planned using two TBMs. Construction cost over USD100 million. Contact MTA Capital Construction, Phil Avello or David Cannon, 469 Seventh Avenue, 6th floor, New York, NY 10018. Tel. +1 212 6952973, 212 9674748 , fax +1 212 6434735, e-mail esaproc@mta-esa.org. Visit www.mta.info 23/04.The excavation of the Manhattan tunnels (contract CM009) for the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) East Side Access has been re-bidded. The total length of the excavated tunnel, from beneath East 63rd Street and Second Avenue to beneath Park Avenue at East 38th Street, will be appoximately 7,620 m. The diameter will be approximately 6.56 m. Four TBM drives are planned using two TBMs. Drilling and blasting will be used to excavate starter tunnels, assembly chambers, caverns, cross passages, etc. Initial rock support will be by reinforced shotcrete and rockbolts to ensure stability of the excavation. The contractor will be responsible for the installation of some temporary construction utilities to service and maintain the excavated tunnels and the existing 2,680 m-long 63rd Street tunnel utilized for access. Other contract work includes medium voltage temporary power substation, reconstruction of invert in the 63rd Street tunnel, installation of instrumentation in the new tunnels, etc. Visit www.mta.info/nyct/procure/vendorlists/cm009phl.pdf to view the list of the contract documents holders. E-mail mtaccpro@mta-esa.org for more or contact Dan DeLilla, tel. +1 2126434705. Also visit www.mta.nyc.ny.us/capconstr/esas 10/06.The three bidders for the Manhattan tunnels (contract CM009), which form part of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) East Side Access, are a JV of Dragados and Judlau with USD427,954,000; then the SSTB JV between Slattery Skanska and Traylor Bros., with a bid of USD495,879,300; and lastly a JV of J.F. Shea and Schiavone, with a bid of USD519,600,000. Click us/18 for details. Visit http://enterprise.nyct.com 22/06.Dragados in JV with its local partner Judlau Contracting, which is 70% owned by the Spanish firm, were awarded the contract to connect the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in Queens and Grand Central station in Manhattan by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The contract has a value of USD428 million. The project is named East Side Access, Manhattan tunnels.Dragados will use two rock TBMs to bore four tunnels totalling 7.5 km and 6.7 m in diameter. No tunnels have been built for more than 20 years to expand the subway or suburban rail systems in New York. In the years 1980-1984, lot 5B of the LIRR in Manhattan has been excavated with a 6.20 m-diameter Robbins TBM. The main contractor was then Impregilo. That was the first time a TBM was used for metro or rail systems in New York. The New York subsoil is rock and 265,000 cubic metres will be extracted. Work starts immediately and will take up to four years and two months. Click us/18. Visit www.dragados.com, www.mta.nyc.ny.us/capconstr/esas/index.html and www.mta.info/lirr/pubs/aboutlirr.htm 29/06.Request for qualifications, deadline 15th August, 2007 for contract CQ031, construction of Queens bored tunnels, structures and trackwork for the East Side Access project. The MTA Capital Construction (MTACC), acting as an agent and in behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is seeking individual firms or joint ventures who are interested in being the prime contractor for contract CQ031, to submit qualification documents as part of a two step Request for Proposal (RFP) process. For more information visit www.mta.info/nyct/procure/contracts/cq031.pdf 31/07.A single bid to help carve out space for a new Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) terminal under Grand Central Terminal came in USD200 million higher than anticipated. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had estimated the job to cost USD670 million. Instead, the bid came in closer to USD870 million. The sole bid was submitted by a joint venture between Judlau Contracting and Dragados. Last year, Judlau and Dragados were awarded a separate USD428 million contract to tunnel under Manhattan in preparation for the LIRR's expected 2013 arrival at Grand Central. The MTA explains that an uncommonly large number of construction projects in the US and worldwide may have led to less interest from bidders. The job may be split into several smaller contracts and the MTA is currently exploring whether a new call for bidders could delay the project beyond its expected 2013 completion. 46/07.Jacobs Engineering Group announced on 29th April that it received, in joint venture with its partner LiRo Engineers, a contract from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction Company to provide consultant construction management services for the East Side Access project in New York City. The value of the seven-year contract is estimated at USD75 million. The project involves boring nearly 11.2 km of railroad tunnels in Manhattan and Queens, laying 15,250 metres of track, building a new terminal under Grand Central Terminal, and building a new commuter station in the Sunnyside Yard in Queens in addition to extensive infrastructure work. Visit www.jacobs.com and www.liro.comThe new tunnel and track system will provide an alternative route for the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) trains that currently travel underground to Pennsylvania station on Manhattan's West Side into the new terminal under Grand Central Terminal on the East Side. The connection will increase the LIRR's capacity into Manhattan and shorten travel time dramatically for commuters travelling from Long Island and eastern Queens to the East Side of Manhattan.The project requires using tunnel boring machines to excavate more than 1.5 km of hard rock dual-bored tunnels under Park Avenue in Manhattan and to bore four soft ground tunnels to the Sunnyside Yard in Queens. In addition to building the concourse under Grand Central Terminal, the project includes construction of new entrances, ventilation buildings, and substantial surface work, such as retaining walls and track realignments, that will be completed during ongoing rail activity in Sunnyside Yard. 20/08.

  Monumental expansion programme to meet the future water needs of Las Vegas includes a lake tap shaft to depth 76 m beneath the lake surface to be bored from a barge; an intake tunnel in jointed and faulted metamorphic rock; 22 x 1.82 m-diameter pumping shafts bored from surface to the 100 m level; and a 3.65 m-diameter subaqueous concrete pipeline. Kiewit Construction has completed the 7.6 m-diameter access shaft to the 115 m level and the 792 m East tunnel has broken through using drill/blast supported by rockbolts and shotcrete at a rate of 6 m/day. Work progressing on the 502 m intake tunnel. Zeni Drilling has completed the first shaft. March 1999.   Atlas Copco 322 twin-boom and basket drilling 3.8 m holes for 2.5 m advance in intake tunnel. Mucking out by Wagner 3.5 Scooptrams. Support by fully-grouted Ingersoll Rand C-tube rockbolts of lengths to 3.8 m and 10 cm of fibre reinforced shotctrete. Forward grouting commenced after 250 m after water inflows of 600 gal/min were encountered. 25 m probe holes have been necessary. The well shafts are being pilot drilled blind to full depth using a reverse circulation rotary drillrig and then reamed to the 1.82 m final diameter to accommodate the 1.3 m diameter pumping columns. June 1999.  Zeni reported completion of all 22 well shafts, including casing and grouting. The bases of the well shafts have been exposed by a top heading through the forebay, and the bench is now underway to complete. Breakthrough of intake tunnel into shaft scheduled for late-November, 1999 and flooding of tunnel in January, 2000. November 1999.The Southern Nevada Water Authority has awarded a USD447 million contract to Impregilo and its US subsidiary S.A. Healy to design and build the so-called third straw to draw water from the Lake Mead reservoir. This is a concrete-lined tunnel 6 m in diameter and approx. 4.8 km long underneath the bed of Lake Mead. Construction should begin before the end of the year and eventually involve a massive tunnel boring machine that will be manufactured in Germany and shipped to the United States. The third straw is slated to go on line by early 2013. Visit www.impregilo.it and www.sahealy.comThe Lake Mead reservoir on the Colorado River behind Hoover Dam supplies about 90% of the water used in and around Las Vegas, but the lake level continues to drop in the face of an eight-year drought. The new intake will allow the authority to continue drawing water even if Lake Mead shrinks below the level of the two existing straws. One or both of the existing inlet pipes would be forced to shut down if the lake level falls below current intakes. Lake Mead is currently at a surface level of about 340 metres above sea level, or about 20 metres above the 320 m level of the original intake. A second intake draws water from 305 metres above sea level. It was completed in 2002, at a cost of about USD80 million. The third intake is expected to draw water from below a 275 m elevation. 13/08.The Southern Nevada Water Authority is also soliciting bids, deadline 21st April, 2008 for the Lake Mead intake No. 2 connection and modifications project (contract No. 070F 05 C1). The proposed underground works include connection to the existing intake tunnel and modifications to the existing intake structure, including but not limited to a 6.7 m-diameter 116 m-deep shaft, a ventilated building over the top of the shaft, a 4.3 m-wide by 4.9 m-high by 82 m-long modified horse shoe tunnel from shaft to existing IPS-2 tunnel, 4.3 m-wide by 4.9 m-high by 76 m-long modified horse shoe tunnel connection to the future tunnel from intake No. 3, and existing IPS-2 intake modifications. Visit www.snwa.com/nonpvcs/construction_ops/inv/070F05C1.pdf 13/08.Further technical details are available regarding the Lake Mead intake No. 3 shafts and tunnel project, recently awarded to Vegas Tunnel Constructors, a joint venture of Impregilo and S.A. Healy. The tunnel will primarily be excavated in late Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic bedrock. Of the 4,666 m-long intake tunnel, about 300 metres will be excavated in the Saddle Island Lower Plate (amphibolites, schist, and gneiss) and about 370 metres in the Saddle Island Upper Plate (schist, amphibolites, gneiss, pegmatite, dacite intrusives). The majority of the tunnel drive (about 3,540 metres) is located in the Muddy Creek formation (conglomerate, breccias, sandstone, siltstone and gypsiferous mudstone). As the TBM approaches the intake riser, it will pass through about 370 metres of red sandstone, and the final 90 metres will be in the Callville Mesa basalt.Except for an erection chamber and starter tunnel that will be excavated by drill and blast, the tunnel will be excavated by a Herrenknecht convertible hybrid tunnel boring machine. The TBM, in open mode, will evacuate the spoils by screw conveyor feeding a continuous tunnel conveyor. The continuous tunnel conveyor will feed two muck skips that are hoisted up the intake access shaft and then moved to a stockpile on site. In closed mode, the screw conveyor is retracted from the cutterhead and the TBM functions in fully slurry mixshield mode, utilizing a separation plant. The tunnel will be supported by a precast, bolted, gasketed tunnel lining with five plus a key segments. Inside diameter will be 6.1 m, and the segment ring will be 1.83 m long. Visit www.herrenknecht.comOther underground structures include the 180 m-deep intake access shaft with cast-in-place concrete liner with inside diameter of 9 m, excavated by drill and blast. A stub tunnel approximately 26 m long will be excavated by drill and blast at depth of about 110 metres to provide a connection to the future pump station. At the bottom of the shaft will be a large TBM erection chamber, starter tunnel, and tail tunnel that will provide the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) with an option for a future tie-in and water transmission. The intake riser will be constructed in Lake Mead at a depth of 90-107 m below the lake surface. Lake-bottom excavation will be by underwater drilling and blasting. The intake riser will be constructed by sunken tube technology and will provide a docking station for the TBM.The construction manager is Parsons Water and Infrastructure. SNWA’s design engineer is MW/Hill, a joint venture of Montgomery Watson and CH2M Hill. The contractor’s design engineer is Arup USA, with Brierley Associates. Visit www.snwa.com, www.parsons.com/about/bus_unit/gbu/water, www.mwhglobal.com, www.ch2m.com, www.arup.com and www.brierleyassociates.com 15/08.

Seven tunnels totalling 2.5 km and three cut-and-cover stretches making 833 m required on a 9.5 km line between El Tambor and Las Adjuntas in Los Teques, capital of Miranda state, 30 km west of Caracas. BOT contract prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff. Total investment around US$300 million. Four bids submitted: Spanish-Venezuelan JV Necso-Capev (US$184 million); Brazilian consortium Odebrecht-Vinccler (US$208 million); Impregilo with Astaldi (US$218 million); and Dragados-Dycvensa (US$320 million). Preliminary work expected to end in October. Contract to be signed within two weeks for work to commence in November, 2001. Time frame of 34 months. Visit www.pbworld.com 42/01.Brazilian-Venezuelan jv Oderbrecht-Vinccler chosen by Metro de Los Teques to build the line Los Teques-Las Adjuntas for US$208 million, financed by Corporacií³n Andina de Fomento (CAF). Visit www.caf.com 45/01.