1.5 km underground rapid transit system with two stations in weathered alluvium below water table. Jacobs Associates handling tunnel design as part of design and build jv of Kiewit-Kenny-Zachry with CMA Architects and Engineers and local designers. Rio Piedras station under construction using concrete-filled stacked drifts and extensive compensation grouting. Lovat EPB and segmental concrete lining for twin 430 m tunnels to University and sprayed concrete lining elsewhere. Nov 1998.   Four NATM tunnels for Carolina and Bayamon lines completed and twin EPB tunnel completed and lined. South cut and cover section fully excavated and concrete walling underway. Remaining stacked drifts for Rio Piedras station under excavation and concreting. E-mail contact mguzman@kkz-cma.com Sept 1999.   URS Greiner Woodward Clyde is project geotechnical and instrumentation engineer for design and construction phases of the Rio Piedras project, as part of the KKZ JV. More from www.urscorp.com December 1999.  Preliminary design of Phase 2 underway. $600 million, 1.7 km design/build extension involves 1.255 km of twin tunnels, crossover and stations at Minillas and San Mateo at 10-15 m depth in soft, sandy clay and clayey sand. Visit www.jenny-engineering.com 35/01.

  Project getting underway by Traylor Bros/Jay Dee comprises 1.95 km drive in dolomitic limestone by 7.5 m-diameter TBM. Will be segmentally lined at 6.7 m internal diameter. Access shaft 92 m-deep with 9.5 m internal diameter, 800 mm-thick concrete lining cast in place. Two 2.54 m-diameter blind drilled access shafts to 84 m depth and six 3.2 m-diameter diffuser shafts drilled to 70 m depth in river bed. Sept 1999.  Wirth reports its PBA 928 blind shaft borer with reverse circulation working with Traylor Bros/Jay Dee/Millgard jv has completed the two land shafts and is now engaged on drilling the six shafts in the Detroit river which will provide riser pipes for the outfall tunnel. A 22 year-old Robbins open gripper TBM is under conversion by CTS, Kent, WA to a shielded 7 m-diameter machine with segment erector for the 1.9 km-long drive in soft limestone. Visit www.americancommercial.com and www.wirth-drilling.com June 2000.

  4.2 km x 5.7 m-diameter hardrock TBM drive by Frontier-Kemper Constructors for Asarco to replace existing 25-year old drill/blast, circular concrete lined, horseshoe-shaped drive at its Ray Complex southeast of Phoenix. Will be lined at 5 m-diameter. Alignment is on 255 m radius curve at 1.4 % downgrade and rock cover varies from 43 m to 342 m. Sept 1999.

  $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.

Two 2.9 m-diameter rock drives totalling 4,267 m with an intermediate siphon pipeline in opencut and a downstream 3,230 m opencut 2.44 m-diameter pipeline to connect with existing Syar tunnel. Under design by URS Greiner Woodward Clyde for Central Utah Water Conservancy District, UT for bid late-1999. April 1999.   Accepted design/build alternative to previously reported Spanish Fork tunnels comprises a 6.7 km-long aqueduct awarded at value $53 million to Obayashi/Clyde jv who are planning to use a refurbished 3.8 m-diameter Herrenknecht TBM starting mid-September, 2000. Primary support will be rockbolts and steel arches followed by cast-in-place 3 m i.d. concrete final lining. Designers are Jacobs Associates with Camp Dresser McKee and Golder Associates. This is the final extension of the system from Strawberry Reservoir which includes the 10-year old Syar tunnel, a long-time resident in the tunnelbuilder Hall of Fame (click on Recordbreakers, above). Visit www.jacobssf.com and www.herrenknecht.com June 2000.  Refurbished Herrenknecht 3.9 m hardrock TBM with 78 m-long trailing backup underway at Provo, UT on 7.3 km drive for Obayashi/Clyde with Jacobs Associates on design/construct project. TBM excavation scheduled for completion August, 2001 on 24 h/day, 6 day/week. Package includes two 220 m-deep vertical shafts. Visit www.jacobs.com and www.herrenknecht.com 08/01.

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.

Tutor Perini was selected by the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) for the EUR401.4 million ($550 million) CS179 contract Systems Facilities Package N. 1 for the East Side Access Project. Work under this contract will be performed in the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) GCT terminus station and the tunnels connecting Harold Interlocking, a switching station in Queens, to the GCT. Tutor Perini will be responsible for coordinating overall systems integration and for interfacing with various systems provided by other contractors. Five Star Electric, the Company’s speciality contracting subsidiary, will perform significant work under this contract. Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2014 and be substantially completed in 2020. Click us/18 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://investor.perini.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=106886&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1899330&highlight= and http://mta.info/nyct/procure/contracts/CS179sol.pdf. 08/14.

The Tutor Perini Corporation’s subsidiary, Frontier-Kemper Constructors, was selected by the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) for the EUR214.6 million ($294 million) CM006 contract Manhattan North Structures for the East Side Access Project. The scope of work consists of fabrication and construction of the permanent structural concrete lining, interior structures, and fit-out for caverns and tunnels previously excavated by other contractors beneath and to the north of the Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in Manhattan. Five Star Electric and Superior Gunite, Tutor Perini’s speciality contracting subsidiaries, will perform certain portions of the work under this contract. Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2014 and be substantially completed in 2017. Click us/18 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://investor.perini.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=106886&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1899330&highlight= and  http://mta.info/nyct/procure/contracts/CM006sol.pdff. 08/14.

  Shea/Traylor/Healy well into contract 2 with 8.3 km of total 19 km of 4.93 m-diameter drive completed using Robbins TBM with CTS backup and now gearing up for contract 3A which involves another 1.34 km using roadheader and TBM. Obayashi/Modern Continental meanwhile have completed over 3.4 km of contract 6054 which comprises 7.82 km of 5 m-diameter rockbolted drive using a CTS TBM. Some 1.2 km was in hard, abrasive rock which necessitated cutter changes at a rate of one every 1.5 m of advance. March 1999.   Contract 242 by Shea/Traylor/Healy has completed 8.75 km drive west to break into shaft constructed by adjacent contractor Obayashi/Modern Continental under separate contract. The latter have advanced 5.9 km using 5.25 m-diameter CTS TBM with 2.26 km to complete. Shea/Traylor/Healy now halfway through their 11 km drive west while also mining 1.4 km TBM/roadheader drive under contract CP3A. Sept 1999.  Obayashi/Modern Continental reports mining in difficult ground through a fault zone on contract 6054 with 6.4 km of the total 8.15 km completed. Grouting with steel sets and wire mesh lagging. November 1999.At 31st October, 2001, work was well underway on the 28.6 km MetroWest water supply tunnel (MWWST). The 7.9 km western tunnel segment CP-1 from Shaft E in Southborough to the 62.8 m-deep Shaft D in Marlborough was 79% completed by the Obayashi/Modern Continental jv using a TBM. The contractor completed the excavation of the tunnel in July, 2000. From Shaft D, the MWWST will connect to the Walnut Hill water treatment plant and to the existing Cosgrove tunnel. Tunnel concrete lining operation began in December, 2000 and by end-October 2001, over 4.1 km of the tunnel has been lined which represents a 53% completion. Over the next few months, the contractor will carry on with the tunnel lining and the grouting operations in the lined section. Work on the CP-1 segment is about seven days behind schedule. Completion is expected for April, 2003. Contract value is $149.7 million. Visit www.obayashi.co.jp and www.moderncontinental.comThe 19.1 km middle tunnel segment CP-2 in Southborough, Framingham, Wayland and Weston was 84% completed by a jv of Shea, Traylor Bros., and Healy. It was tunnelled in two directions using two TBMs from the 123.7 m-deep Shaft L. The 8.5 km west heading tunnel was completed in July, 1999 with 1,280 metres lined with concrete on 31st October, 2001. The 10.6 km east heading tunnel was bored under Dudley Pond in Wayland and past the interconnections at Shafts NE and NW in Weston continues eastward to the eastern tunnel segment. It was completed in May, 2000. The contractor has currently lined 7 km, 66% complete. The raise boring excavation of Shaft NE, 4 m in diameter x 131 m-deep, was completed on 19th November, 2001. It is the last shaft on the MWWST project. Work on the CP-2 segment is on schedule for completion in April, 2003. Contract value is $254.5 million. Visit www.traylor.com and www.sahealy.com The 1.4 km eastern tunnel segment CP-3A connects the CP-2 segment with Shaft 5A, at the east end of the system, where it will connect to the existing Boston city tunnel to the south and with the 96 m-deep Shaft W and storage tanks to the north. Excavation of the tunnel was completed at spring 2000 by the same jv as CP-2. Concrete lining ended in February, 2001. Since then, 670 metres of 3.05-3.7 m pipes to connect Shaft 5A to the city tunnel is in progress. This contract will be completed in July, 2002. Value is $56.9 million. Visit www.mwra.state.ma.us/water/html/metrow.htm for a full project overview. 03/02.

Astaldi, in joint venture with Impregilo and Ghella, is to build two new railway lines in Venezuela valuing a total of USD2.2 billion. The two new lines are San Juan de los Morros-Dos Caminos-Calabozo-San Fernando de Apure (252 km) and Chaguaramas-Las Mercedes-Cabruta (201 km). The works are part of intergovernmental agreements between Italy and Venezuela. The joint venture, in which each member holds equal 33.33% stakes, will carry out the works for the two railway sections over the course of 76 months. Start-up is planned for the second quarter of 2006, immediately after the contracts are signed. The project, which is aimed at fostering the development of Venezuela's central and southern area, involves building 453 km of new railway lines, 15 km of which in tunnel and with 12 km of bridges and viaducts. The project also includes designing and installing superstructure, 13 railway stations, three logistic centres, and a maintenance workshop. In addition to the value of the works to build the lines, there will also be USD1 billion in options for designing, supplying and assembling railway systems (signals, control, telecommunications, electrification and rolling stock). Visit www.astaldi.com, www.impregilo.it, www.ghellagroup.com and www.infraestructura.gov.ve 16/06.The joint venture between Astaldi, Ghella and Impregilo has signed its two contracts worth a total of USD2.2 billion with Venezuela's autonomous state railways (IAFE). The signing of the contracts follows intergovernmental agreements reached in April between Italy and Venezuela. The contracts concern the construction of the new San Juan de los Morros-San Fernando de Apure (252 km) and Chaguaramas-Cabruta (201 km) railway lines. These 453 kilometres of new lines involve 15 km of tunnels and 12 km of bridges and viaducts. Visit www.astaldi.com, www.impregilo.it, www.ghellagroup.com and www.infraestructura.gov.ve 25/06.GEI, a consortium formed by Astaldi, Ghella and Impregilo will be responsible for the construction of the 251 km San Juan de los Morros-San Fernando de Apure rail line, whereof 41 km in the mountain and 210 km in plain. The line totals a cost of USD1.6 billion. The contract has been signed and the site is being prepared. It is a design/build contract. At this stage, the project is in the design phase so that many of the technical aspects will have to be defined in the future, once the project is finalised. From the operational point of view, the planning and organisation of the project is underway and soon the sites will be prepared and mobilised.This line has been divided in lots, the construction of which will be undertaken by the contractors who teamed to form the consortium GEI. According to the preliminary project, ten single bored tunnels will be constructed for a total of 16 km. The cross section is 90 sq m. There are no other underground structures (stations, shafts, etc.). Geology consists of metamorphic rock (micaschists).Ghella will build the 6.3 km San Juan tunnel (from chainage 2+300 to chainage 8+600), which is part of subsection D1-G which goes from chainage 0+000 to 11+611, to be also fully built by Ghella. The other tunnels on the line are part of the subsections awarded to Impregilo and Astaldi (see pdf here of how the tunnels are divided and pdf here of the division into lots). Visit www.ghellagroup.com, www.astaldi.com and www.impregilo.itThe planned tunnelling method is to use hydraulic breakers where possible (FIAT Kobelco excavators and Krupp and Indeco hammers) and drilling and blasting with Atlas Copco jumbo drill rigs, Cat and FIAT Kobelco loaders, and Astra trucks. There will be six working faces. Visit www.fiatkobelco.com, www.indeco-breakers.com, www.atlascopco.com, www.cat.com and www.astraspa.comFor support, Swellex bolts, three CIFA shotcrete pumps and three Scamac shotcrete pumps will be used. The shotcrete will be reinforced with Maccaferri fibres. Visit www.swellex.com, www.cifa.com, www.scamac.com and www.maccaferri.comFor mucking-out, 12 Cat 966 loaders, FIAT Kobelco loaders and 24 Astra trucks will be used in addition to Dieci telescopic elevators. Visit www.dieci.com 48/06.

  Construction of the El Valle-La Rinconada section on Line 3 will commence first quarter of 2002. Four TBMs to be used, two of which coming from Line 4 once the twin tunnels between Capuchinos and Plaza Venezuela are completed. Visit www.metrodecaracas.com.ve 52/01. Odebrecht signed a contract to extend southwards Line 3 from El Valle to La Rinconada serving four stations in Los Jardines, Coche, Mercado and La Rinconada where the line will intersect with the Valles del Tuy railway. Completion scheduled for 2006. Visit www.metrodecaracas.com.ve and www.odebrecht.com.br 38/02.

Systra signed two contracts worth EUR36 million with the Hanoi Metropolitan Rail Transport Project Board (HRB) for Hanoi's first metro line, estimated at EUR500 million. Lead consultant, Systra will be responsible for the design studies, preparation of the tender documents, bid assessment, supervision of construction and rolling stock production and assistance to the commissioning and operation. Systra already carried out the feasibility and planning studies. Tenders for construction are expected to be invited in 2008 for opening in October 2010 for the city's millenium. Line 1, for which Systra already undertook the feasibility and planning studies, stretches for 12.5 km going from Nhon (depot and workshop) to the railway station. There is a 2.9 km underground section in the city centre, planned to be built using the cut-and-cover method (5 to 8 m high), with four underground stations. Read E-News Weekly 7/2007. Visit www.systra.com 49/07.