Prequalification completed for $130 million tunnel in granite, 15.8 km-long with 5.1 m finished diameter at depths of 38 m to 112 m together with associated shafts. Bid opening January, 27th 2000. Contact Wayne Price at Jordan, Jones & Golding, e-mail wprice@jjg.com November 1999.   Prequalified joint ventures include Obayashi/Atkinson, Kiewit/Healy, Kenny/Frontier, and Shea/Traylor. Plans and specifications will be issued and bids taken this Spring. March 2000.Chattahoochee job awarded to low bidder Kiewit/Healy. Robbins will supply two 6 m-diameter TBMs together with cutters, backup, tunnel conveyors, and shaft conveyor under a partnering agreement with contractor. Visit www.robbinstbm.com May 2000.

  Awarded to Modern/Continental, value $73 million for completion May, 2002 comprising three shafts, 700 m of 10 sq m drill/blast tunnel and 3.8 km drive using Wirth 4.13 m TBM from 73 m-deep Weymouth shaft to Nut Island to connect with existing tunnel from Deere Island. All in hard rock with some faulting. Shaftsinking underway with TBM drive scheduled to start late-summer, 2000. Visit www.wirth-drilling.com for details of the TBM. November 1999.   Award to Affholder/Barnard jv of 4.26 km of 3.2 m tunnel to accommodate 1.27 m-diameter water line. Robbins 91-155 TBM will commence in New Year on first section 1.06 km upgrade at 3.4 % followed by 3.2 km at 1.04 %. Machine currently under refurbishment by Affholder. November 1999.  Modern Continental underway from 67 m-deep King's Cove shaft on 3.6 km-long x 4 m-diameter Braintree-Weymouth sewer using double-shielded Wirth hardrock TBM in argillite for completion March, 2002. Also mining 668 m-long x 3 m x 3 m drill/blast connection under Fore river to Quincy. Visit www.mwra.com and www.wirth-europe.com 30/01.

Big Walnut Sanitary Trunk Sewer Extension under design for Columbus by DLZ and Jenny for bid late-2002 comprises 2.77 km of 3.04 m-diameter hard rock tunnel in Ohio shale and 2.56 km of 1.52 m-diameter microtunnelling in glacial outwash deposits. Visit www.dlzcorp.com 14/01.

    In design, new interceptor system approximately 16 km-long with i.d. 1.9 m to 2.5 m to replace a portion of existing 70 year-old north outfall sewer. Soft, mixed ground conditions with boulders and featuring high water table. Alignment passes through some contaminated areas and seismically-active faults, so watertight construction techniques mandatory. Jacobs Associates leading team of 16 subconsultants. Visit www.jacobssf.com for progress updates. October 1999.   Capital improvement programme includes construction of a new deep-level 35 km interceptor sewer with internal diameter ranging from 2 m to 4 m. Project to provide additional conveyance capacity for an existing deteriorating sewer that is scheduled for rehabilitation will be constructed concurrently in two phases: 18 km east-west and 17 km north-south. October 1999.   URS Greiner Woodward Clyde is a key member of the Jacobs design team for the NEIS project. Also, through associated firm, Dames & Moore, URS Greiner Woodward Clyde is also providing geotechnical engineering support to the City for the NEIS and ECIS (East Central Interceptor Sewer) projects. Visit www.urscorp.com December 1999.   Frontier-Kemper will undertake 4.2 km drive starting February, 2000 using refurbished CTS TBM (ex Portland, OR) downsized to 6 m diameter. Long Airdox 24 inch conveyor belt pack will be installed in starter tunnel presently under drill/blast development following extensive excavation to establish portal.   Prequalification for 18.4 km-long, 3.35 m-finished diameter North Outfall Sewer – East Central Interceptor Sewer (NOS-ECIS) underway to be notified no later than 17th February, 2000. Contract will be advertised 1st March, 2000 for bids within two months and award 1st July, 2000. Project will be let in one lot and includes 8 shafts, 23 maintenance holes with 8 junction structures, a 90 m-long siphon, 250 m of microtunnelling, and conduits for fibre optics. Multiple new EPB or slurry TBMs required for predominantly soft ground and sandy soils in the Lakewood Formation and hard clay and soft rock in the San Pedro Formation. Isolated occurrence of nested boulders noted. All work above groundwater table. Three faults at Newport, Inglewood and Baldwin Hills. Project contact Baron Miya, e-mail bmiya@eng.ci.la.ca.us January 2000.East Central Interceptor Sewer tenders low bid: Kenny-Kiewit jv $235 million; Shea/Traylor/Frontier Kemper jv $261 million. For contact visit www.kiewit.com and www.frontier-kemper.com July 2000. Rebid award of NORS II project, 18.5 km-long, 4.77 m-diameter interceptor to Kenny/Shea/Traylor and Frontier Kemper Constructors jv at $239 million following withdrawal of Kenny/Kiewit jv. Visit www.frontier-kemper.com December 2000.Lovat will supply four 4.7 m-diameter TBMs to the jv of Kenny, J.F. Shea, Traylor Bros, and Frontier-Kemper for the 18.5 km-long NOS-ECIS project. The machines can operate in EPB, open, or closed modes to bore through the expected soft ground and boulders, with seismically active faults. First delivery is scheduled for October, 2001, and will be the 200th TBM manufactured by Lovat. Visit www.lovat.com 09/01.

  3.8 km of 1.27 m-internal diameter Hobas pipe under installation using two Soltau 1.38 m-diameter machines with 600 t jacking frames. Contracting jv of Delta Construction of Hawaii and Kinsel Industries of Houston. Further 2.5 km of smaller diameter connectors to complete. More information from paulsoltau@aol.com . October 1999.

  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.

  Prequalification underway for construction of 1.93 km-long, 2.23 – 3.5 m finished diameter South Mountain Water Transmission Tunnel. Inner lining will comprise 1.27 m-diameter pipe backgrouted into place. Contact City of Phoenix. March 2000.  Prequalification packages are being accepted by the City of Phoenix, Arizona for the construction of the 1.93 km-long South Mountain water transmission tunnel at 2.23 m to 3.5 m finished diameter with a 1.27 m-diameter pipe grouted in place. Bids due this Spring. February 2000.

2.6 km drive by Jay Dee Contractors in sands, silts and clays along Weinbach Avenue by 3.5 m diameter Lovat EPB. 3.2 m to 6.4 m cover. Project includes 15 manhole shafts. No dewatering allowed over most of drive because of proximity of business and residential property. TBM under launch. Sept 1999.   Lovat has completed over 1 km, lately in difficult ground conditions caused by fractured utilities above the alignment. The machine was delayed while a relief shaft was sunk and well points installed. Currently achieving 13 m/shift erecting ribs and lagging at 1 m intervals and drilling a 30 m-long drainhole at every set. November 1999.  Contract value reported as $11.2 million with design and construction management supplied by Clark Dietz with Haley & Aldrich. Tunnel lined with ribs and lagging prior to installation of 2.4 m RCP and grouting of the annulus. Drive holed into reception shaft on 22.02.2000 having averaged 25 m/10h day and pipe installation now complete. Project final completion due late-September. Visit www.lovat.com June 2000.Affholder has received a $6.95 million contract from the Indiana Department of Transportation to build a new sewer tunnel in Evansville. The 1,465 m-long, 2.44 m-wide tunnel will run 12 m below Highway 66. It will take two 15-worker crews about seven months to bore the tunnel. The project is scheduled to be completed in July 2004. Visit www.insituform.com/corporate/corp_affholder.html 48/03.

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