National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has signed a MoU with the government of Uttaranchal for the initial survey and investigation for the 3 x 120 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydro scheme on river Dhauliganga. It is a tributary to river Alakananda which itself is a tributary to river Ganga. A 11,646 m-long headrace tunnel will be built, standard horse shoe-shaped cross section with 4.8 m diameter. The project area is located in the central Himalayan crystalline group of rocks. The rock comprises metamorphic rocks, mostly granetiferous augen gneiss, schist, quartzites with intermittent bands of schist and basic rocks. It is expected the headrace tunnel will mainly encounter this type of rocks. Presence of hot water springs of nearly 80-100°C in nearby areas and in the drilling activities along the Main Central Thrust (MCT) areas. Not much exploration drilling is possible along the tunnel alignment which will be covered with a 1 to 1.5 km overburden. The horizontal cover is also very thick. The tunnel alignment is covered with snow and thick forest areas of rugged topography. The zone may not be suitable for geophysical exploration due to the difficult topographic condition. Vertical drilling may result unnecessary, long and difficult. The planned method of construction is drill/blast with rockbolts, shotcrete, wiremesh and steel arches (I and H sections) as support. Final concrete lining. Date to invite tenders not decided yet. Detailed survey and investigation started as of 1st January, 2003. Estimated cost Rs5.55 billion (value 1992) to be revaluated 9.5% approximately per year. Self financing by NTPC for survey and investigation. More from debadatta_ray@yahoo.com and abirkar@rediffmail.com 02/03.Invitation for bids, deadline 17th June, 2005 for construction of a headrace tunnel for the 4 x 150 MW Loharinag Pala hydroelectric power project on the river Bhagirathi in Uttarkashi district, State of Uttaranchal. The scope of work includes construction of an approx. 13 km-long, 6 m-finished diameter modified horseshoe-shaped, concrete lined headrace tunnel, including three intermediate 6 m-diameter D-shaped adits. Contact National Thermal Power Corporation, Sr. Manager (CS-Hydro), Sixth Floor, Engineering Office Complex, Plot A-8A, Sector-24, Noida 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India. Tel. +91 1202596669 or 1202596620, fax +91 1202410215 or 1202410011. Visit www.ntpctender.com/nit/listJobs.asp?nitId=2098 17/05.The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has awarded a Rs3.18 billion headrace tunnel contract for the Loharinag Pala hydroelectric power project to Patel Engineering. The 600 MW Loharinag Pala project is a run-of-river scheme situated on the river Bhagirathi in the Uttarkashi district of Uttaranchal. Patel Engineering's contract involves construction of a 6 m-diameter 13 km-long horseshoe shaped concrete lined headrace tunnel on the right bank of the Bhagirathi. The tunnel will be executed through three access adits using the drill-and-blast method. The Loharinag Pala project is expected to be completed in 38 months. Visit www.patelengineering.com 35/06.Larsen & Toubro, in joint venture with Alpine Mayreder, has bagged an order valued at Rs4.56 billion from NTPC for the execution of 4 x 130 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project in Uttaranchal. The package includes construction of a concrete lined headrace tunnel of approx. 11.3 km and 5.6 m finished diameter, using partly a TBM, and partly a roadheader and drilling and blasting. The project is located in district Chamoli on the Dhauliganga river, a major tributary of Alaknanda. Visit www.lntecc.com and www.alpine.at 50/06.Invitation for prequalification, deadline 28th June, 2007 for EPC turnkey package for construction of the 444 MW Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydro electric project. Civil works include a 65 m-high gravity concrete dam; a 10 m-diameter diversion and spill tunnel; a 12 m-diameter spill tunnel, intake structures followed by three desilting chambers, each 350 m long, 16 m wide and 20.6 m high; a 13.4 km-long 8.8 m-diameter horseshoe-shaped headrace tunnel; a 130 m-high, 22 m-diameter surge shaft; a 351 m-long, 5.2 m-diameter pressure shaft; an underground power house for four 111 MW generating units; an underground transformer cavern to accommodate 13 transformers and switchgear; a 120 m-long x 27 m-high underground downstream surge tank; a 3.07 km-long, 8.8 m-diameter horseshoe-shaped tailrace tunnel; a cofferdam, etc. The invitation for prequalification is also for hydro-mechanical works, electro-mechanical works and assistance in the successful operation of the plant for six months. Contact Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, Executive Director, Ganga Bhawan, Bypass Road, Pragatipuram, Rishikesh-249 201 Uttarakhand. Tel. +91 1352430721, fax +91 1352438379, e-mail bansallk_2004@yahoo.com.sg. Visit http://thdc.nic.in 16/07.National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) has awarded Patel Engineering the construction contract for key civil works on the 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project. The value of the contract is INR4.3 billion, and the contract period is 48 months. The scope of the work includes construction of the surge shaft, pressure shaft, penstock, tailrace tunnel, switchyards and the power house. The plant will house four 130 MW units. The headrace tunnel was awarded last year to Larsen & Toubro and Alpine Mayreder. Click in/35. Visit www.patelengineering.com 52/07-01/08.Invitation for prequalification, deadline 26th February, 2008 for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package for civil works and hydromechanical equipment works for the Vishnugad Pipalkoti hydroelectric project. Civil works include a 65 m-high gravity concrete dam; a 10 m-diameter diversion and spill tunnel; a 12 m-diameter spill tunnel; an intake structure followed by three desilting chambers (each 350 m long x 16 m wide x 20.6 m high); a 13.4 km-long x 8.8 m-diameter horse shoe-shaped headrace tunnel; a 130 m-high x 22 m-diameter surge shaft; a 351 m-long x 5.2 m-diameter pressure shaft; an underground power house for four vertical Francis turbine generating each 111 MW; an underground transformer cavern; a 120 m-long x 12 m-wide x 27 m-high underground surge tank; a 3.07 km-long x 8.8 m-diameter horse shoe-shaped tailrace tunnel, a cofferdam, etc. This is a re-bid. Contact Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, Ganga Bhawan, Bypass Road, Pragatipuram, Rishikesh 249201, Uttarakhand. Tel. +91 1352430721, fax +91 1352438379, e-mail thdccontract_vphep@yahoo.co.in or visit http://thdc.gov.in/English/Scripts/tender_link_link.aspx?vid=281 03/08.

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.

Invitation to prequalify issued by National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) for the 120 MW Sewa hydroelectric project, stage II located in district Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir. Deadline 16th September, 2002. Lot-SW.1 includes, in particular, a 323 m-long 6 m-diameter diversion tunnel, an inlet tunnel, a branch tunnel, a silt flushing tunnel, four adits totalling 1,233 m, and a 10,020 m-long 3.3 m-diameter headrace tunnel. Completion time is 48 months. Contact: Chief Engineer, Contracts-1, Room No. 209, NHPC Office Complex, Sector-33, Faridabad 121003, Haryana, India or tel. and fax +91 129 5278024. Visit www.nhpcindia.com/english/main.htm, then click on Tenders & Bids and select Corporate Office. 35/02.

Green light given to the construction of a 1 km tunnel between Paud road and Gokhale Nagar in the city of Pune, beginning behind the MIT campus and emerging at the Mafco company's premises at Gokhalenagar. Pune Infrastructure Development Ltd. had submitted a proposal to the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) in June 2001 on a BOT basis. Cost estimated at $7.2 million. 16/02.

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.

The Border Roads Organisation has awarded the EUR250 million contract to build the 8.8 km-long Rohtang Pass Highway Tunnel to the JV Strabag AG (Austria)/Afcons (India). At 3,980 m, Rohtang Pass, in the western Himalaya region of northern India, is one of the highest navigable mountain passes in the world. The Leh-Manali Highway, the only road connection to the northern border of Himachal Pradesh province, leads over Rohtang Pass. The heavy winter snowfalls and storms in the region mean the communities north of the pass are cut off for 4-6 months when the road is closed. The construction of the Rohtang tunnel, at approximately 3,100 m above sea level, will make the Leh-Manali Highway passable year-round and will contribute significantly to the economic development of the northern border region.Special challenges in building the tunnel include the elevation, the extreme climate and the geologic conditions. The rock at the site consists mainly of slate and migmatite, with three potential fault zones and squeezing rock, making NATM the method of choice.The horseshoe-shaped tunnel will be 10 m wide, to accommodate an 8 m-wide two-lane roadway plus a 1 m-wide walkway on each side. A 2.25 m-high and 3.6 m-wide escape tunnel will be integrated underneath the main roadway in the tunnel cross section. In all, the works will involve moving more than 800,000 cu m of rock. Tunnelling will begin in Spring, 2010 and will proceed from both portals. As the northern portal will not be accessible during the winter months, the main tunnelling works will be focused at the southern end. With a planned construction time of about 5.5 years, the tunnel should be completed by end-2015. Visit http://bro.nic.in, www.strabag.com and www.afcons.com. 43/09.

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.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 04/05/2021, for the blocking of water leakages and channelling of water at various locations inside the Atal tunnel as part of the Rohtang  tunnel project in the State of  Himachal Pradesh. Duration of the works will be 240 days.  Contact Chief Engineer Rohtang Tunnel c/o 56 APO, tel 9816529736. For further on the tender, please click here. Tender Reference n.. CE (P) RTNL/05/2020-21, Ref. N. 2021_BRO_623883_1. 16/21.

  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.

Feasibility study underway by OSRTC for 80 km-long suburban rail link from Chandikhol to Khurdha to serve 2.5 million population in Chuttack and Bhubaneswar on a circular route with intermediate stations. Visit www.serprojects.com 14/01.

Extension underway from 8.45 km from Tollygunge to New Garia for commissioning March, 2004, funded two-thirds by Indian Railways, one-third by State government. Existing system, the first underground metro in India, is 16.45 km-long. Visit www.metropla.net 10/01.8.45 km-long Tollygunge-Garia extension delayed by 9 months by 3,000 squatter families along banks of Tolly's canal holding up necessary piling works for elevated section. Work on the 160 m-long Tollygunge subway has already been completed, and is set for a ceremonial opening on 15th August 2001. Visit www.metropla.net 36/01.

Lokkak Downstream will have 5.8 km-long x 4.5 m-diameter headrace and 46 m-long tailrace from surface powerhouse. Pre-construction work underway on 6.5-year programme. Visit www.nhpcindia.com November 2000.

Koel Karo will have 1.394 km-long x 11.2 m-diameter horseshoe-shaped headrace and 710 m-long, 11 m-high x 11.2 m-wide D-shaped tailrace serving underground powerhouse with 4 x 172.5 MW turbines. Pre-construction work underway for 7-year programme. More from www.nhpcindia.com November 2000.

Rockfill dam with diversion tunnel underway. Headrace 5.8 km-long x 6.5 m-diameter, tailrace 500 m-long x 6.5 m-diameter, together with short access adit 2 km upstream from surge shaft and underground powerhouse for 4 x 70 MW turbines. Tailrace exits in Kali river. Completion 2004. More from www.nhpcindia.com November 2000.