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.

914 m of 2.44 m-diameter soft ground tunnel along two separate alignments in downtown Charleston including pump shaft, work shafts, and connections to existing stormwater tunnel. Under design by URS Greiner Woodward Clyde for City of Charleston, SC for bid late-1999. April 1999.Affholder won a USD40 million contract, awarded by the Charleston Commissioners of Public Works (CPW), for the third phase of the sewer tunnel replacement project. The third phase, or Cooper tunnel, is the longest section of tunnel and involves replacing some 5,490 m of tunnel some 40 m below ground along the east side of the peninsula. The excavated diameter will vary from 1.52 m to 2.13 m. The inner diameter varies from 50 cm to 1.22 m. A 1.95 m-diameter Lovat TBM will be used in open mode, as well as a 1.83 m Decker in open mode and an Alpine F6A roadheader. Excavation is entirely in the Cooper marl, a hard dry claylike material. The tunnel will be lined with fiberglass pipe manufactured by Hobas and backfill grouted by Pacific International Grout. Primary support will be steel ribs and wood lagging. Locomotives and muck cars for haulage will be used. All equipment is used or homemade. The contract also includes 1.32 m ID concrete caissons and 1.12 m drilled shafts. The Cooper tunnel will connect to the ongoing 3,660 m Ashley tunnel to complete the peninsula tunnel system. The third phase is slated for completion by September 2007. Visit www.lovat.com, www.vab.sandvik.com, www.charlestoncpw.com/tunnel/sewer_tunnel_project.htm and www.insituform.com/corporate/corp_affholder.html 31-32/05.Charleston Water System's board on 28th March, 2006 approved a USD24.4 million contract to extend Charleston's sewer tunnel system to Daniel Island to handle the 37.8 million litres of daily sewage expected when the area is eventually built out. The water and sewer system's Daniel Island treatment plant has a capacity of 1.9 million litres per day and Charleston Water System is seeking a permit to double that. The long-term plan is to pipe the waste from Daniel Island, Cainhoy and Thomas Island under the Cooper River, through the sewer system on the Charleston peninsula, and under the Ashley River to the Plum Island treatment plant.Consequently, Charleston Commissioners of Public Works plans to build a new USD40 million Daniel Island wastewater tunnel that would join the existing Charleston Peninsula tunnel system, which consists of the Ashley tunnel, Cooper tunnel and Harbour tunnel. These currently carry an average 37.8 million litres of wastewater to the Plum Island treatment plant every day. The new tunnel will go online in 2008. The length of the sewer tunnel is 5.8 km. The excavated diameter is 2.44 m, with a 1.4 m carrier pipe as the final lining. The method of excavation will be with a 2.44 m-diameter Lovat TBM. The initial lining will be steel ribs with hard wood lagging. Final lining will be a 1.4 m carrier pipe. The annulus space will be grouted with low density cellular concrete after carrier pipe installation. Mucking-out with electric locos and muck trains. Two shafts will be constructed by the caisson method, each 6 m ID and 7.3 m OD and approximately 36.6 m deep. The contractor is Affholder. Black & Veatch designed the project and is now providing the construction management. Construction started on 1st May, 2006 and is due for completion 15th December, 2007. Site preparation is nearly completed and the first shaft is under construction. Tunnelling is still a few months away. Visit www.charlestonwater.com/about_capital_tunnel_overview.htm, www.lovat.com, www.bv.com and www.insituform.com/corporate/corp_affholder.html 25/06.

On January 29th, Charleston Water System approved a EUR39.02 million (US$50.8 million) construction contract with Southland Renda JV, a joint venture between Southland Contracting and Oscar Renda Contracting, both based in Texas, to build the new West Ashley Tunnel. West Ashley Tunnel is the last phase of a 15-year project to replace the wastewater tunnel system. Construction will involve boring a 2.6 km-long, 42.84 m-deep, 2.86 m-diameter tunnel from Albemarle Road under the Wappoo Cut to the Plum Island Wastewater Treatment Plant off Haborview Road. The project also includes building a new pump station and piping at the treatment plant as well as sewer system improvements in several areas. Construction of this final phase will take approximately 30 months to complete. The new West Ashley Tunnel will replace an existing tunnel that carries wastewater from West Ashley, parts of Johns Island, and the Towns of Hollywood, Ravenel, and Meggett to the treatment plant. Visit www.charlestonwater.com/press_release_02_05_13.htm.  11/13.

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.

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to solicit Statements of Qualifications (SOQ), deadline 05/06/2023, to provide construction services for the comprehensive renewal of two of the four tubes within the East River Tunnel (ERT), damaged during Sandy in October 2012. The 110-year-old ERT is utilized by Amtrak, MTA Long Island Railroad (MTA LIRR), and New Jersey Transit trains traveling between Manhattan and destinations east. 

This Project will rehabilitate two tubes of the approximately 4 km (2.5 miles) East River Tunnel (Line 2 and Line 1) from portal to portal - Penn Station in Manhattan to Sunnyside Yard in Long Island City, Queens including utility extensions and connections in Penn Station and Sunnyside Yard. The Project will ensure continuation of operations for LIRR, NJ TRANSIT, and Amtrak, and improve the safety and security of the East River Tunnel.  

Click here for tender documents -  Anticipated Announcement of Shortlisted Proposers: 23/06/2023, Anticipated Award Date: January 2024.  Anticipated Construction Schedule: Notice to Proceed – January/February 2024;  Line 2 Construction Period – July 2024 through August 2025;  Line 1 Construction Period – November 2025 through January 2027. Contact Amtrak, attn Jerard Linnemann, New York, email Jerard.Linnemann@Amtrak.com. Visit https://media.amtrak.com. Ref.n. RFQ X036-23094. 16/23 

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to solicit Statements of Qualifications (SOQ), deadline 16/06/2023, to perform Construction Management Services for the East River Tunnel (ERT) rehabilitation project. The Project will rehabilitate two East River Tunnel tubes (Line 2 and Line 1) from portal to portal - Penn Station to Sunnyside Yard, including utility extensions and connections in Penn Station and Sunnyside Yard. The Project will ensure continuation of operations for LIRR, NJ TRANSIT, and Amtrak, and improve the safety and security of the East River Tunnel.  Anticipated Announcement of Shortlisted Proposers: 28/06/2023, Anticipated Award Date: September-October 2023.  Contact Amtrak, attn Jerard Linnemann, Philadelphia, email Jerard.Linnemann@amtrak.com  Visit https://procurement.amtrak.com. Ref.n. RFQ X036-23132. 21/23.

  Part of the No 3 water tunnel scheme that involves excavation of 93 km of deep tunnels. Grow/Perini/Skanska completing final 1,500 m of this 7.9 km x 7.06 m-diameter drive in extremely hard granite and gneiss up to 275 MPa with igneous intrusions and abrasivity in the range 3.3 to 4.3 on the Cherchar abrasivity index. Robbins HP TBM 235-282 giving around 1.8 m/h advance in this rock, but frequent cutter changes distort the overall performance. March 1999.  De Neef reports success by Perini, Grow, Kiewit jv using polyurethane chemical grout injection to stem 200 gpm inflows which trapped TBM. Large diameter holes were drilled and equipped with 1.8 m-long mechanical downhole packers to facilitate stage grouting using Hydro-Active Cut with a high dose of accelerator. More details from www.deneef.com February 2000.Camp Dresser & McKee and Hatch Mott MacDonald jv is providing engineering services for replacement of two existing siphons crossing New York harbour between Staten Island and Brooklyn by 1.9 m-diameter pipeline within 3.8 m-diameter, 3.2 km-long tunnel bored by EPB or slurry TBM. Final design with bids scheduled for mid-2009. Visit www.hatchmott.com/contentpages/pagecontent.aspx and www.cdm.com. 08/09.

  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.

  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.

  Kenny/Kiewit/Shea sinking 9.1 m x 94 m-deep working shaft and 10.6 m x 97 m-deep gate shaft and will commence 10.4 km tunnel in April, 1999 using 8.32 m Robbins TBM upsized and modified from recently-completed Des Plaines project. 2.5 km x 4.57 m second tunnel will be started later. Completion November, 2002. All part of the ongoing TARP megaproject. March 1999.   10.5 km mainline drive north underway by Kenny/Kiewit/Shea using 8.7 m-diameter refurbished Robbins hardrock TBM. Second 5.7 m-diameter Robbins working on two 1.27 km spurs, and three Lovat TBMs will be employed later. Sept 1999.   8.7 m Robbins breaking records, having achieved a best month of 1.6 km and best day of 97 m. All rock is being sold from surface plant. Second Robbins underway and first of three Lovat TBMs will start in early-2000. November 1999.   Groundbreaking ceremony took place in Calumet City for the Little Calumet Leg, a 7.9 mile (12.7 km) tunnel, 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter, which is the last leg of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) or Deep Tunnel involving more than 100 miles of tunnels. Tunnel construction is to end in March 2006. Construction of TARP began in 1976. The cost of the 93 miles (150 km) of tunnel completed so far has been about $2 billion. Two reservoirs to hold billions of gallons of storm water and raw sewage still need to be built. The entire project is expected to be operational in 2014. Visit www.mwrdgc.dst.il.us/plants/tarp.htm and www.epa.gov/25water/tarp 25/02. The Jay Dee/Affholder JV started tunnelling in mid-February on the final tunnel segment of the District's Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) after months of preparatory work including the excavation of a 10.4 m-diameter 60 m-deep shaft to the tunnel level. This 12.7 km (7.9 mile) tunnel, known as the Little Calumet Leg, serves a 38.6 sq km (14.9 sq mile) area of southern Cook County preventing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) from spilling into the Little Calumet River. The tunnel will be driven through limestone at a depth of approximately 46 to 91 m (150 to 300 feet) below ground through the use of a Robbins TBM. Electric motors on the TBM turn a 5,537 mm (18' 2") diameter cutting head that is steered and thrust forward by hydraulic cylinders to cut through the rock. The excavated rock is brought to the surface via conveyor belts. The $168.7 million contract was awarded in January 2002 and is scheduled for completion in March 2006. Upon completion of this segment, the TARP system will consist of a total of 176 km (109.4 miles) of tunnels. Visit www.mwrdgc.dst.il.us/default.html and www.robbinstbm.com 11/03.The Robbins Company reports record progress by Affholder on the 12.8 km-long Little Calumet leg of Chicago's 175 km-long TARP project. Their 5.56 m-diameter TBM is driving the CSO tunnel in two sections from a 60 m-deep central launch shaft through limestone with a compressive strength of 83-96 Mpa. The Robbins TBM Model 1410-251-2 has seven 450 hp (335.6 kW) motors driving the cutter head, which is fitted with 39 wedgelock 19 in (483 mm) cutters. Best advances: 45.75 m/8h shift; 116.7 m/day; and 474.7 m/week. Most rock excavated in 24 h is 2,836.55 cu m. Robbins supplied the TBM, back up, extensible main conveyor, vertical shaft conveyor, surface conveyor, and stacker. More from robyj@robbinstbm.com or visit www.robbinstbm.com 22/03.

5,000 ft tunnel through soft sedimentary rocks at Dougherty Valley to carry 1.5 m-diameter pipeline and twin 0.3 m-diameter bypass lines. Shaft at one end and portal at the other. Under design by URS Greiner Woodward Clyde for Central Costa Sanitary District, Martinez, CA. April 1999.

Shank/Balfour Beatty to commence 12.7 km tunnel in June, 1999 using own-design 4.85 m TBM. Alignment mainly below water table at average depth of 60 m in alluvium and fractured metamorphic rock. Two intermediate shafts required for ventilation and grout transport. Probehole drilling, grouting and dewatering expected to stem water inflow and improve ground conditions. Part of Inland Feeder project. Completion scheduled September, 2002. March 1999.  See Inland Feeder us/23 for further updates. Sept 1999.

Shank/Balfour Beatty driving 9,286 m-long Arrowhead East aqueduct as part of Inland Feeder project which will require a total of 29 km of tunnels. 5.38 m shielded TBM designed by contractor launched March, 1998 and is working in granite and gneiss erecting 1.2 m-deep rings of four precast segments. Average advance on single-shift working is 18 rings/day with 28 rings maximum. 2 km completed to date. Steel-encased 12 ft internal diameter concrete pipe will be installed later and backgrouted in place. March 1999.  See Inland Feeder us/23 for further updates. Sept 1999.