Negotiated contract for technical consulting to complete the 16 km Hallandsí¥s tunnel. Work was stopped in 1997 while 5.5 km had been bored. Tunnelling planned to resume in autumn 2002 and to last 5 years. Banverket considers TBM excavation as the best option due to less water leakage but final decision to be made by the contractor that will be chosen early 2002. Whatever the method is, Banverket demands the remaining 11.5 km to be lined. Cost estimated at SKr4-4.5 billion. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int, document S 218-150308 or contact Banverket, Bí¥stad, fax +46 431 442027. Also visit www.banverket.se/hallandsas 48/01. Cowi has signed a DKK10 million contract to supervise the TBM which will drill under high water pressures through the Halland Ridge. Cowi will also supervise the concrete segmental lining to keep the tunnel waterproof and dry. The first attempt in 1993 ended when the TBM was stopped because it had stuck in soft rock. The second attempt, using the drill/blast method, resulted in water ingress and a serious groundwater contamination by a poisonous chemical grout used to prevent water ingress. The project expects to receive environmental approval before the summer. The tunnel will cost about SEK6.5 billion. Visit www.cowi.dk and www.banverket.se 24/02.The Swedish Rail Administration has awarded the contract to complete construction of the 8.6 km tunnel through the Hallandsí¥s Ridge between Bí¥stad and Förslöv to a consortium of Skanska and Vinci. The contract is valued at approximately SEK3.7 billion (€406 million). Skanska's share is 60% and Vinci's 40%. One-third of the 8.6 km tunnel has already been built.The contract is conditional on the Swedish environmental court approving a water leakage request and a building permission from the municipality of Bí¥stad. Skanska began work on the tunnel in 1992 but the project was stopped in 1997 after some 2,000 tons of a caulking product containing acrylic acid leaked and contaminated the groundwater. Skanska and two of its executives were found guilty of negligence by a Swedish court in January. Since 1997 however, Skanska has worked intensely to develop its environmental expertise and quality work. This has resulted in Skanska being the first international construction group to be certified in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard. Construction will be carried out using a TBM and lining with precast concrete segments, a method not used previously in Sweden. It is expected to start in spring 2003. Visit www.banverket.se, www.skanska.se/projekthallandsas and www.vinci.com 46/02.The inner diameter of the Hallandsas tunnel is 9.04 m and outer diameter is 10.12 m. Very varied geology, mainly gneiss but also amphibolites and dolerites. The weathering and fracturing scales are going respectively from fresh to completely weathered and from low to highly fractured. High water inflow is expected. The maximum allowed average water inflow, during 30 days, is 100 l/sec. The Skanska / Vinci JV will use an Herrenknecht hard rock TBM with two different operating modes, open and closed mode (slurry mode). The diameter of the cutting head is 10.6 m. The shield weighs 1,200 tons and is 12 m long. The back-up is 200 m long. 19,000-ton thrust available. Designed to withstand 15 bar water pressure and to excavate under 8 bar and exceptionally under 13 bar pressure. The TBM is equipped with pre-drilling equipment to do probe drilling and grouting through the shield or the cutter head. The tunnel will be lined with 54 cm-thick concrete rings consisting of eight 2.2 m-long segments. Backfilling with mortar or pea gravel. Belt conveyor working during open mode excavation and a slurry system for the closed mode operation. The TBM will be assembled within an assembly chamber, 16 m wide x 18 m high x 30 m long, to be excavated by the drill/blast method. Cross passages at every 500 m maximum, also excavated by drill/blast. There will also be a disassembly chamber at the end of the tunnel. Half way on the alignment, there is a 900 m-long access tunnel built in the nineties by the former contractor to speed up the drill/blast progress used then. This access will be used for maintenance of the TBM. The TBM is planned to start in the late summer 2005 and completion is August 2010. Visit www.banverket.se/templates/NyheterTH____2835.asp and www.herrenknecht.com 26/04.Negotiated invitation to tender, deadline 26th June, 2008 for a TBM inspector for the Hallandsí¥s project. Click here. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=154895-2008, OJ S 116, or contact Banverket, Gävle, fax +46 26144042. E-mail upphandling.gavle@banverket.se 26/08.Sweco Infrastructure pocketed a contract to be TBM inspector for the Hallandsí¥s project. Visit www.swecogroup.com 38/08.The Skanska-led consortium Skanska-Vinci HB's contract to construct the dual-track Hallandsí¥s railway tunnel on the west coast line has been extended. Skanska's share of the increased contract amounts to SEK600 million. The customer is Banverket, the Swedish railway administration. The new contract is due to the complicated rock structure at Hallandsí¥s, which could not be foreseen. As a result, tunnel drilling equipment is wearing more than anticipated, while progress is taking longer. Approximately 57% of the main tunnel is now constructed and Skanska-Vinci's portion of the work is expected to be completed in 2014. The Skanska-Vinci joint venture considers to have a functioning technical solution and that the project can be executed in an environmentally safe manner. Click here. Visit www.banverket.se/hallandsas 42/08.

Feasibility study by Scandiaconsult and Cowi has proposed a second, single-tube, rail-only Oresund link between Helsingborg, Sweden and Helsingor, Denmark. The job could be completed for less than $1 billion by using a combination of cut-and-cover and immersed tube at the coasts, linked by a 4 km-long, 8.4 m-diameter bored central section. Geology is chalk, limestone and sand. Decision expected 2002 for entry into service 2009. Contact at www.cowi.dk or www.scc.se March 2000.Open call for tenders, deadline 26th June, 2006 for geotechnical and geological consultancy for a station and railway tunnel in central Helsingborg. The tunnel is composed of a north section (3.3 km) and a south section (1,330 m) and would be connected to the HH tunnel across the Oresund strait to Helsingor in Denmark (read E-News Weekly 13/2006). Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=082203-2006, OJ S 78, or contact Helsingborg Stad, Helsingborg, fax +46 702242208. E-mail borge.knutsson@helsingborg.se 20/06.

  BASF MEYCO Fireshield 1350 fire protection mortar was used on this project   4.2 km tunnel with 8.4 m i.d. segmental lining to connect Malmo centre with southern suburbs proposed by Svedab. Stations at city centre, Triangle Square and Hyllie. Chalk formations with 20 m cover. Cross headings at 500 m intervals. Commencement 1999 for 2002 completion. Prequalification under way. March 1998. Now scheduled for completion in 2005, 6 km-long City tunnel from central station to Hyllie station will be underground, with one third cut and cover and the rest using a TBM. Construction period two years. Will connect mainline trains with the new Oresund link to Copenhagen. Sept 1999. Pre-information announcement in OJEC concerning 5 km-long railway tunnel and buildings contract 2000/S 139-091177 for which the estimated date for initiating award procedures is now 1st December, 2000. More information from bengtove.persson@citytunneln.com or visit www.citytunneln.com August 2000. Invitations to tender expected September, 2001 for construction of 6.6 km-long City Tunnel, of which 4.5 km bored and 2.1 km cut and cover, with two underground stations. VBB and Cowi working on final design for Banverket. Visit www.citytunneln.com and www.cowi.dk 32/01. Invitation to prequalify for construction of $292 million, 6 km-long twin-tube railway tunnels using two EPBs in limestone with up to 2.5 bar water pressure at 12 m to 25 m depth. 1.5 km in cut and cover. Tenders expected May, 2002. Visit www.citytunneln.se 39/01. Tenders invited, deadline 18th February, 2002, for construction of the 2 x 4.5 km City tunnel and the Triangeln station. TBM excavation through limestone with concrete segmental lining plus short cut-and-cover section. Station to be built opening shafts at ground level and milling out a 250 m-long rock cavity. Contract award mid-2003. Time frame for work autumn 2003-spring 2007. Cost of SEK3 billion financed by the National Rail Administration, the Swedish State Railways, the City of Malmö, and the Skí¥ne region. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int, document S 233-160659 or contact Citytunnelprojektet, Malmö, fax +46 40321500, bengtove.persson@citytunneln.com. Visit www.citytunneln.com 50/01. A jv of Cowi and Sweco has the responsibility for feasibility studies, environment assessment and detailed design of the underground parts of the City tunnel. The City tunnel will be a 17 km rail link between Malmö Central Station, the Sound Link and the southerly part of the Swedish district of Skí¥ne. One-third will run through a bored tunnel and two underground stations. Two 7.9 m-diameter tunnel tubes will be built, cross-linked with 13 smaller tunnels for technical installations. The cross-passages will also function as escape routes and provide access for emergency situations. Tender documents are being prepared and will be delivered to contractors in the autumn for bidding. Construction will begin in late 2003. Visit www.citytunnel.malmo.se, www.cowi.dk and www.sweco.es 25/02.The government approved the construction of the City tunnel that will connect Malmö's city centre to the í–resund line. The decision paves the way to the process of selection of contractors. Tender documents have been sent to prequalified contractors. The first contract to be awarded will be the tunnels between Malmö Central Station and Holma and the underground Triangeln Station. Later this year, a contract will be awarded for Malmö Central Station's new subterranean station (Malmö C), north of the present railway station.The 6 km City tunnel will be built in cut-and-cover at each end. The bored portion consists of two parallel single-track tunnels to be driven through water-bearing limestone, approximately 20 m below the surface, using two double shield TBMs. The excavated material will be removed by wagons. Tunnelling will begin at Holma. The TBMs will start from two shafts from the south portals crunching their way north towards Malmö C.The Triangeln station will be a rock cavity some 20 m below ground with two tracks and a 250 m-long platform. Shafts will be opened from ground level and then a large cavity will be mined in the bedrock. Malmö C will have four tracks and two 320 m-long platforms.Construction will start in 2004 for completion in 2009. The cost is estimated at SKr8.8 billion (2001 value). Visit www.citytunneln.com 15/03.The first contracts for the city tunnel were finalised on 11th November, 2004 at a signing ceremony. The Malmoe Citytunnel Group, a consortium made up of Bilfinger Berger, Per Aarsleff and E. Pihl & Sí¸n, has been awarded contract E201 for drilling the tunnels and excavating the rock cavern that will make up the new Triangeln underground station. The contract is worth SEK2.3 billion, with Bilfinger Berger having 50% and Aarsleff and Pihl 25% each. It comprises two parallel tunnels, about 6 km long, between Malmoe C and Holma, including 13 intersecting tunnels and two access shafts, as well as the Triangeln station. A 4,650 m-long twin tunnel section with an 8.9 m-diameter will be drilled with two separate TBMs. In the south, the bored tunnels will end with a cut-and-cover tunnel from which a 700 m ramp will lead up to the overground lines. The 250 m-long x 28 m-wide x 12 m-high Triangeln underground station will be located about 25 m below ground level, with two tracks. The work is scheduled for commencement in the second quarter of 2005, awaiting issuing of the environmental permit, and the total construction period is 52 months. Visit www.bilfinger.de and www.aarsleff.comNCC International will construct the underground station Malmoe C Nedre, as part of contract E101. The contract comprises the Malmoe Central and Malmoe C Nedre underground stations. The contract is worth SEK1.2 billion. The underground station will be built with open shafts directly north of today's station. A ramp carries the railroad tracks from the freight and stockyard area in the east to a roughly 320 m-long station, and further on to an offshoot that connects to tunnels bored in the west. Work will commence during spring 2005 and is scheduled for completion during 2009. The City tunnel will not be in use before 2011. Visit www.ncc.info and www.citytunneln.com 47/04.Malmoe Citytunnel Group (MCG), the City tunnel contractor, has ordered two Herrenknecht TBMs that are going to bore the two 4.5 km-long tunnels under the centre of Malmoe. The first machine will be delivered in September 2006 and the second a few months later. The cutter head has a 9 m-diameter. Along with the back-up train behind the TBM, the total length is 120 m. They will be assembled in Malmoe, directly in the shaft in Holma. From the start of the boring at the turn of 2006/2007, the work will take approximately two years, which means that they are estimated to reach the shaft under Malmoe Central station during the second half of 2008. The TBMs will install prefabricated concrete segments. Visit www.herrenknecht.comThe City tunnel project is made up of a 6 km-long tunnel under central Malmoe and eleven kilometres of railway above ground. An underground station will be built at Malmoe Central station. New stations will be built at Triangeln and in Hyllie, south of Malmoe. Construction started in March 2005 and is planned to be finished in 2011. The budget of the project is SEK9.45 billion (2001 monetary value). 45/05.

The Joint Venture made up of CH2M Hill UK / Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd / COWI A/S from London have secured the contract as technical partners for the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC). This will be the new  crossing of the Thames Estuary, which is east of London, between Essex and Kent. The value range of the contract is from  EUR 139.61 million  to EUR 279.21 million, excluding VAT. The duration will be 120 months from the award. For further information please contact Highways England, att.n Cat Bensley, Bedford, tel +44 3004704945, e-mail cat.bensley@highwaysengland.co.uk, website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/highways-england. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=174494-2016. 21/16.

The CBBT (Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel) commission selected a team led by Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc and including major partners COWI and HNTB to serve as the Design Manager for the Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel Project that is currently under development. The Project will add a two-lane tunnel under the Thimble Shoal Channel, parallel to one of two existing immersed tunnels between the Delmarva Peninsula and the Hampton Roads area at Virginia Beach.

On 05.11.2014 CBBT will host at Hotel Virginia Beach Oceanfront a project showcase for the Parallel Thimble Shoal Tunnel. CBBT will be available to meet, by appointment, with potential contractors and consultants for further project discussion on 06.11.2014 and 07.11.2014. The meeting with suppliers will be held by appointment the week of 17.11.2014.

A formal Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Design-Build Contractor is expected by the second half of 2015, with final award scheduled for the summer of 2016. Visit www.cbbt.com. 42/14.