A consortium comprising Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), Pacific Consultants International (PCI) from Japan, PBI from the US and Systra from France has been awarded a general consultancy services contract for the implementation of Phase 1 of the Bangalore metro project. RITES is leading the consortium and its share in the INR2.15 billion contract works out to about 58.8%. The metro project is being undertaken by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. The consultants will provide advice on system design through to commissioning the scheme, including its integration with other modes of transport. The project consisits of a 33 km metro network along two corridors, named the 18 km east-west corridor and the 15 km north-south corridor. Some seven kilometres will run underground while the rest is elevated. The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011. It is partly funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Read E-News Weekly 21/2006, 19/2005, 22/2003 & 1/2003. Visit www.rites.com, www.pci-world.com, www.pbworld.com and www.systra.com 34/07.Invitation for prequalification, deadline 2nd May, 2008 to shortlist design and construct contractors for underground stations and tunnels including ventilation and air conditioning for the Bangalore metro rail project. It is proposed to execute the underground sections under the contract BMR/UG-1 (north-south corridor) and the contract BMR/UG-2 (east-west corridor). Contract BMR/UG-1 runs from north of Majestic station (included) to south of City Market station (included). It comprises the design and construction of approx. 4.5 kilometres and includes approx. 2.6 km of twin tunnels, 600 metres of ramps and three underground stations (Majestic, Chickpete and City Market). It is considered that the construction of the tunnel will be by the use of NATM.Contract BMR/UG-2 goes from east of Majestic station to east of Cricket Stadium station (included) and west of City Railway station (included). It comprises the design and construction of approx. 4.65 km and includes 3.25 km of twin tunnels, 475 metres of ramps and four underground stations (City Railway, Central College, Vidhana Soudha and Cricket Stadium). The contractor will also be responsible for the engineering, procurement, installation, testing and commissioning of the tunnel ventilation system for the contract BMR/UG-2, based on the key design information provided by the contract BMR/UG-1 contractor.Phase 1 of the Bangalore metro rail project consists of two corridors: the east-west corridor from Mysore Road terminal station to Baiyyappanhalli terminal station for a length of 8.1 km with 17 stations, of which four stations will be underground, and the north-south corridor from Yeshwanthpur station to RV Road terminal station for a length of 14.0 km with 15 stations, of which three will be underground. The two lines will intersect at a common interchange station at Majestic station. Contact Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, Managing Director, Karnataka, India. Tel +91 802296930 / 301, fax +91 8022969222, e-mail bmrcl@dataone.in or visit www.bmrc.co.in/pdf/ug.pdf for prequalification notice, www.bmrc.co.in/pdf/ugcor.pdf for corrigendum and www.bmrc.co.in/pdf/ed&ia.pdf for technical details about the project. 16/08.

Tender notice, deadline 6th July, 2006 for geotechnical investigations for the area along the route of two proposed water conveyance tunnels from Maroshi to Ruparel College and Malbar Hill to Cross Maidan in Mumbai. Visit www.mcgm.gov.in/tenderfiles/dept35ssno5tend528ver2eng.pdf or contact Municipal Corporation of Brihanmumbai, fax +91 2222624431 or 2222626437. 26/06.Patel Engineering on 7th May, 2007 announced it had bagged an order worth INR1.56 billion from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai for construction of a tunnel for transportation of water from Malabar Hill to Cross Maidan in Mumbai. The project involves a 3.5 km tunnel, which would be 2,800 mm in diameter and around 90 metres below the ground level, with shafts and associated works. About one kilometre of the tunnel will pass below the sea. The project will be executed in a 50/50 joint venture with Pratibha Industries, with Patel Engineering as the lead partner in the venture. This tunnel project will be executable in 37 months. Visit www.patelengineering.com, www.pratibhagroup.com and www.mcgm.gov.in 20/07.Hindustan Construction secured a INR3.16 billion contract to build a 11.85 km-long 3.6 m-diameter water tunnel from Maroshi in Andheri to Ruparel College in Matunga Road. The tunnel will replace the old Upper Vaitarna and Vaitarna mains in this section and will improve the water supply to Vakola, Mahim, Dadar and Malabar Hill. The tunnel will be connected to the already existing Ruparel-Dr E Moses Road tunnel that supplies water to Malabar Hill. It will be completed around 2012 and will supply 1,100 million litres daily. The tunnel will be laid underground by digging a 27.5 m-deep shaft and then laying the tunnel horizontally using a tunnel boring machine. Work will begin in the next month and the project is expected to be completed in five years. The project has been submitted for partial financing to the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission but is yet to receive approval from the the central govermment. This is the third of five tunnels in a plan by Brihanmumbai Municipal Committee (BMC) to help upgrade the old water distribution system in the city. Read more in E-News Weekly 33/2007. Visit www.hccindia.com 33/07.

India's three-decades-old Srisailam Left Bank Canal project SLBC, previously known as the AMR project, has stalled due to reported non-payment of contractors. The deadline for completion of the 43.5 km-long Nalgonda and 18.8 km Veligonda TBM tunnels expired a month ago. Nalgonda will be the world's longest bored tunnel. The Srisailam dam, with a huge capacity 800 sq km reservoir and 1,670 MW electricity output, is key to power supplies in Andhra Pradesh state. The 240 m-high dam came under threat a year ago when record inflows were experienced from the Krishna river. For contract details visit www.coastalprojects.co.in/ProjectAwardedLookup.asp and for project background visit www.aponline.gov.in. Visit tunnelbuilder archive in/42 and in/45 for project history. 40/10.

  Invitation for prequalification, deadline 21st June, 2005 for the 434 MW Rampur hydroelectric project. Package 1 is for civil works for 433.36 m of headrace tunnel on the left bank, river diversion works, a 43.2 m cut-and-cover section of the headrace tunnel, a 642.5 m-long construction adit and spill tunnel on the left bank, a 12,372 m headrace tunnel on the right bank, a 224 m-long diversion tunnel and D-shaped adit to the headrace tunnel and their plugs including provision of vehicular gates in one of the adits.Package 2 is for civil works for 2,188 m of headrace tunnel on the right bank, a surge shaft, pressure shafts, a valve house, a power house complex, a tailrace tunnel including its outfall structure, adits, river protection works and hydromechanical works. Invitations for bid will be made in August 2005. Contact Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (SJVNL), Deputy General Manager (Contracts), Corporate Contract Department, D-15, Sector 1, Phase I, New Shimla 171009 Himachal Pradesh, India. Tel +91 1772672143, fax +91 1772671715, e-mail: contractsjvnl@yahoo.com or visit http://sjvn.nic.in/tenders/spn.htm 22/05.Patel Engineering in joint venture with Gammon India has bagged an order worth INR8.06 billion from Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd for the 434 MW Rampur hydroelectric project. The project work involves construction of a 15 km-long headrace tunnel, a 140 m-deep surge shaft and power house on the right bank of Satluj river near Bael village in Kullu district. The project will be completed in the next 54 months. Visit www.pateleng.com and www.gammonindia.com 15/07.

Invitation to tender, deadline 04.02.2016, for the design and construction of works for the underground station boxes at Sir Thiyagaraya College and Korrukupet stations and associated tunnel works for the Chennai Metro rail project. Duration of the contract is 20 months from the date of the issue of the letter of acceptance. The value of the contract is EUR953,261.30 (USD1,048,300). The pre-bidding conference is on 05.01.2016 at 11h00 in the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd  Conference Room, Koyambedu, Chennai, e-mail cgmugc.cmrl@tn.gov.in. Visit  http://www.chennaimetrorail.gov.in/tenders/Corrigendum%20No.1_Phase%20I%20Extension-UAA-08.pdf and http://www.chennaimetrorail.gov.in/tenders/cmrl@tn.gov.in_20151130_161610.pdf. Contract n. PHASE-I EXTENSION/UAA-08. 51/15.

  Electrowatt-Ekono of Switzerland, part of the Jaakko Pöyry Group, has been awarded a power consultancy service contract from NHPC for Stage II of the 4 x 200 MW Parbati hydroelectric plant. The contract includes tunnelling expert services, which will be provided by Electrowatt Infra. The Parbati scheme involves a 90 m-high dam on the Parbati river and a 31.4 km-long 6 m-diameter headrace tunnel. Visit www.poyry.com and www.nhpcindia.com 30/03.Larsen & Toubro, in association with Patel Engineering, has bagged a contract worth Rs4.39 billion from the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), for execution of Lot 1 of the 520 MW Parbati hydro electric project, Stage III in Kullu district. The consortium will construct works within 56 months a river diversion, a 43 m-high rockfill dam, an intake, desilting chambers, a 5.9 km-long 7.25 m-diameter headrace tunnel and other associated. Visit www.nhpcindia.com and www.lntenc.com 10/06.

Award of contract by THDC India Ltd, value EUR288 million, to Hindustan Construction Company with Alsthom for construction of 1,000 MW Tehri pumped storage project in Uttarakhand. The plant comprises headrace tunnel, surge shaft, penstocks, underground powerhouse, busbar galley and cavern, and tailrace. Four reversible 250 MW pump turbine units will be installed. Project completion in 54 months. More from www.thdc.gov.in. Full project history at tunnelbuilder archive in/35. 26/11.

Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced on 24th March that the Rs5 billion Rohtang tunnel project had been approved and decks had been cleared for starting the execution of the project in April 2002. The 9 km tunnel will be driven under the 4,000 m-high Rohtang pass, providing all-weather road to Lahaul-Spiti and Laddakh. 14/02.Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone of the 9 km Rohtang tunnel near Solang Nallah, on the Manalli-Leh road, considered to be the highest road link on earth. Project executed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO). 22/02.The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has signed a contract with SMEC International for the project's design of the 9 km Rohtang tunnel. Once the detailed report is ready, work will begin early next year on boring the tunnel to connect the Kullu valley to the snowbound Lahaul valley by an all-weather route instead of the present route through the 3,980 m-high Rohtang Pass that remains under snow for more than half of the year. The tunnel will also provide a better route to the landlocked Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir. Overlooking the popular resort town of Manali, the Rohtang tunnel will be located at around 2,900 m and will reduce the distance of the 480 km Manali-Leh road by 46 km. The environment clearance for the project has already been obtained. The BRO has already built 24 km of approach roads leading to both portals of the tunnel. The work on the tunnel is expected to finish by 2014. Read E-News Weekly 16/2005. Visit www.smec.com.au 28/06.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 13.02.2019, for consultancy services for E&M works for the 8.8km Rohtang tunnel project. Duration of the contract will be 18 months. Contact Chief Engineer(Project) Rohtang Tunnel, Solang Valley, Manali, Dist- Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India, tel +91- 1902-256618/256067, fax  +91- 1902-256075, email bro-rtg@nic.in. Visit

https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app?component=%24DirectLink_8&page=FrontEndTenderDetails&service=direct&session=T&sp=StijDDOIVp94UgOxXxqi25g%3D%3D.

Ref.n.         80219/EM Engr/18/E8.  07/19.

  Herrenknecht 3.1 m-diameter single-shield hardrock TBM delivered to jv HCC/McNally for 2.3 km-long, 20 m-deep, segmentally-lined Ghatkopar high level tunnel in weathered basalt where high water inflows are possible. Client: BMC/World Bank. Engineer: Binnie & Partners (India), TCE Consulting Engineers. Segment moulds from CBE. Visit www.hccindia.com and www.herrenknecht.com 32/01.Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd (BMRTL) is inviting expressions of interest, deadline 18th May, 2005 for general consultancy services for the Bangalore metro, Phase I consisting of two corridors (east-west and north-south). The first phase covers 33 km, whereof 26 km elevated and 7 km underground (3.4 km on the east-west line and 3.3 km on the north-south line). The estimated construction cost is USD900 million. The project will take five years to build. The scope of the services include, among other things, preliminary system design; tender design and tender documentation; bid process management and selection of designers, contractors and suppliers; review of detailed designs; construction supervision; quality, safety and environment management; contract management; testing and commissioning of the entire system. Contact Managing Director, Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd. (BMRTL), Unit 305, 3rd Floor, Blue Cross Chambers, No.11, Bhagwan Mahavir Road Cross, (Infantry Road Cross), Bangalore 560001. Tel. +91 80 25599324, 25599325 or 25591061, fax +91 80 25591699. Visit www.bmrtl.com/ExpressionGC.pdf. A prequalification notice of contractors for the elevated sections has also been published. Visit www.bmrtl.com/tendernew.htm. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 1/2003. 14/05.

  Jaiprakash underway using Robbins 8.3 m hardrock TBM to bore headrace in quartzite and six Atlas Copco 352 and 353 drillrigs mining the chambers. Norconsult is involved as designer. October 1999.Hindustan Construction Company has been awarded Stage III of the Chamera hydroelectric project by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). Stage III of the scheme is located in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh on the banks of the river Ravi. The project comprises of a 68 m-high dam, an underground power house (3 units of 77 MW each), a 340 m-long 8.2 m-diameter horseshoe-shaped diversion tunnel, a 15.93 km-long 6.5 m-diameter concrete-lined headrace tunnel, a 18 m-diameter 110 m-high surge shaft, and two underground parallel desilting chambers (each 300 m x 13 m x 22 m in size). The project is valued at Rs5.05 billion and has a completion period of 60 months. Visit www.nhpcindia.com/english/press/uri2chamera3.htm and www.hccindia.com 46/05.