Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority has decided on a new $140 million two-lane, immersed tube tunnel beneath the River Tyne to be financed, designed, built and operated by a private consortium. The new tunnel will effectively dual the existing A19, one of the key economic corridors in the North-East of England. Tenders will be issued in late-2003 and work is expected to begin in May, 2004 for an opening in December, 2006. More from bompr@compuserve.com or visit www.arup.com 25/01. Bid submitted by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority to build a new £139 million Tyne tunnel. Public inquiry expected to be held in the autumn of 2002. If the scheme is approved, the new 1.6 km tunnel could be open by 2007. Immersed tube technique plus cut-and-cover. Visit www.twpta.gov.uk/ntc/index.htm 23/02.Preinformation notice for design, build and finance of a new vehicular tunnel between north and south Tyneside, all approach roads and associated works. Also operation and maintenance of the new tunnel, the existing vehicular tunnel and the existing pedestrian/cycle tunnels. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=214500-2003, OJ S 241, or contact Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority, Newcastle, fax +44 1912116099. E-mail paul.fenwick@newcastle.gov.uk. Visit www.twpta.org.uk 02/04.Restricted procedure, deadline 3rd February, 2004 for construction-related highway services including new construction, improvements, refurbishments, traffic management, repairs and maintenance. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=002056-2004, OJ S 3, or contact Council of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle, fax +44 1912115909. E-mail john.ramsay@newcastle.gov.uk or jean.jarvis@newcastle.gov.uk 03/04.Negotiated procedure, deadline 7th May, 2004 for design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of a new immersed tube tunnel, all approach roads and associated works. Also includes the upgrading of ventilation, communications, signing and emergency escapes in the 1,645 m-long existing tunnel as well as operation and maintenance of the existing tunnel and the existing pedestrian/cycle tunnels. DBFO contract expected to be awarded in autumn 2005. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=046374-2004, OJ S 54, or contact Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority, Newcastle, fax +44 1912116099. E-mail paul.fenwick@newcastle.gov.uk. Visit www.newtynecrossing.info 13/04.The four prequalified bidders for the second Tyne crossing are Balfour Beatty; John Laing; Bouygues; and a joint venture of Mowlem / Nuttall / Vinci. The four are now on the shortlist for the next stage of the procurement process. The project is to build a new 1.6 km immersed tunnel parallel to the existing crossing. The estimated capital cost is approximately GBP180 million at today's prices. Visit www.newtynecrossing.info 41/04.The Bouygues Travaux Publics-led consortium has been appointed preferred bidder designate for the New Tyne Crossing by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority (TWPTA). The final 30-year concession contract to finance, design and construct a second vehicle tunnel alongside the existing Tyne tunnel and to operate and maintain all the tunnels (including the pedestrian and cycle tunnels) under the river, is expected to be signed in August this year. Bouygues beat the Balfour Beatty-led Connect North East consortium, which has been placed on stand-by should agreement not be reached with Bouygues. The Bouygues team includes Parsons Brinckerhoff, Wood Holmes Group, Hall Construction, Clancy Dowcra, Faber Maunsell, Insite Environments, Colas and Able UK. The New Tyne Crossing is a 1.5 km immersed tunnel and major and complex civil engineering project which will complete the dualling of the A19, a strategic road that links the North East's three largest conurbations. Click uk/36. Read E-News Weekly 6/2007, 5/2006, 44/2005, 34/2005 & 5/2003. Visit www.newtynecrossing.info, www.bouygues-construction.com, www.pbworld.com and www.fabermaunsell.com 17/07.After being named preferred bidder a few months ago, Bouygues Construction has signed the contract worth more than EUR500 million to build and operate the new Tyne crossing under-river tunnels in Newcastle. A concession operator named TT2 and made up of Bouygues Travaux Publics, a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction, HSBC Infrastructure Fund II and Bank of Scotland Corporate was selected to carry out the work, which is expected to take four years, followed by the operation of the tunnels. The contract includes the design and construction of a new tunnel, the renovation of the existing tunnel, financing and the operation of the whole system for 30 years (including the duration of the works). Visit www.newtynecrossing.info and www.bouygues-construction.comMotorway A19 that links Newcastle's north and south is a dual two-lane carriageway that narrows to one single lane in each direction in the tunnel. This bottleneck causes important disruptions. The new tunnel, which will duplicate the existing tunnel link, is 1,600 m long, whereof 360 m under the Tyne. For its crossing of the river, the tunnel will consist of 90 m-long precast concrete caissons. Bouygues proposed the TIMBY (standing for Tunnel IMmergé BouYgues) process developed by its engineers Pierre Longchamp, Philippe Autuori and Patrick Palbras in conjunction with Herrenknecht but the caissons will be built in the classical manner in a dry yard. Click here. The TIMBY concept has received in January this year the first innovation prize from the French federation for public works (FNTP). Visit www.fntp.fr/actualite/dp/DPinnovation26012007.pdfTyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority (TWPTA) is to provide a subsidy of EUR160 million, HSBC Infrastructure Fund II, Bank of Scotland Corporate, and Bouygues Travaux Publics will provide EUR54 million in capital, and TT2 has contracted a EUR290 million senior debt loan from banks HSBC, Bank of Scotland Corporate and Natixis. Construction of the new tunnel, worth EUR355 million euros, will start first. When finished, all traffic will be diverted through the new tunnel while the existing tunnel is renovated and upgraded to current safety standards. Work is slated to commence in March 2008 for opening of the new tunnel and the renovated existing tunnel in December 2011. 49/07.In December, Arup has been appointed technical advisor during the construction phase which will see the existing Tyne tunnel double in capacity by introducing a new 1.6 km tunnel, including an immersed tube tunnel. The new tunnel will carry two lanes of southbound traffic while the existing tunnel will be converted to carry two lanes of traffic travelling northbound. Arup worked with the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority (TWPTA) for the last eight years to develop designs for the crossing and to help procure a concessionaire for the project. Construction of the new Tyne crossing is scheduled to begin next spring and take four years. Read E-News Weekly 4/2008. Click here. Visit www.arup.com and www.newtynecrossing.info 08/08.The contract to build the immersed tube section of Newcastle's GBP260 million Tyne tunnel has been awarded to specialist contractor Volker Stevin Marine by tunnel concessionaire TT2, a consortium led by French contractor Bouygues Travaux Publics. It handed Volker Stevin Marine the GBP16 million contract to manufacture, transport and submerse the tunnel units that will form the structure's 360 m immersed tube section. The contract involves the construction of four 90 m-long split sections of rectangular precast and reinforced concrete, which are 8.5 m by 15 m in size and altogether will require 14,400 cubic metres of concrete. The tunnel sections will be built in the dry dock before being floated down the Tyne adjacent to the existing tunnel where they are expected to be submerged in Autumn 2009. TT2 began preliminary works on the 1.6 km tunnel in April and is set to begin the cut-and-cover section of the structure this summer. The new Tyne crossing will run parallel to the existing Tyne tunnel between East Howdon on the north bank of the river Tyne and Jarrow on the south bank. The new tunnel will carry all southbound traffic, whilst the existing tunnel will carry all northbound traffic. Visit www.volkerstevin.co.uk and www.newtynecrossing.info 24/08.Meanwhile, consultant Halcrow has also been appointed to design the mechanical and electrical systems for the new Tyne crossing. The M&E design will include tunnel-related aspects of ventilation, fire and incident detection, fire suppression, traffic control, electrical supply arrangements, drainage and lighting. Visit www.halcrow.com 24/08.French-owned Bouygues Travaux Publics has appointed consultants HPR to design and manage the new Tyne crossing. The brief will include design coordination and designing components of the scheme, managing regulatory approvals and consents for the scheme, and design of highway works, the immersed tunnel, cut-and-cover tunnel approaches, bridges and buildings. The new Tyne crossing will deliver a second two-lane 1.6 km vehicle tunnel under the River Tyne to ease traffic congestion between East Howdon and Jarrow, and will complete the dualling of the A19 from its junction with the A1 in southeast Northumberland to north Yorkshire. The new tunnel is expected to open in 2010 and the refurbished existing tunnel complete in late 2011 to bring it up to modern safety standards. Construction costs are estimated at GBP260 million. Visit www.hprconsult.com and www.newtynecrossing.info 27/08.Restricted invitation to tender, deadline 26.01.2009, for asbestos removal and encapsulation works on caulking in central Newcastle tunnels owned by Nexus, the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive. Contract commencement 01.04.2009. Prequalification requirements, together with specs and docs, from Paul Claughton at Nexus, tel +44 19 1203 3355, e-mail paul.claughton@nexus.org.uk. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=336748-2008 01/09.

  Contractor Byzak launched Herrenknecht TBM on 1.2 km-long, 4.4 m-diameter drive. Sept 1999.

This section will run for 39 km from Southfleet Junction to Ebbsfleet and under the River Thames to West Thurrock and Dagenham from where it will be in tunnels 19 km long to London St Pancras. Design work commissioned by Union Railways North for tunnels under the Thames and east London and acquisition of land and underground rights are proceeding, all under a $440 million contract for preliminary works. Construction starts in mid-2001 with completion in 2007. June 1999.   Union Railways proposes to compensate landowners for subterranean rights of way by paying a guaranteed minimum of $850 each to avoid protracted negotiations. October 1999.   Invitation to qualify for list of contractors for 40 km of 7.8 m-diameter soft ground tunnels with 5 x 35 m-deep x 200-300 sq m ventilation structures. Five separate contracts: from King’s Cross station in central London to Stratford east of the city 2 x 7.5 km tubes requiring two TBMs and including two ventilation structures; construction of 1 km-long Stratford station 54 m-wide at 18 m depth; from Stratford to Barrington Road 2 x 4.7 km tubes requiring two TBMs and including two ventilation structures; from Barrington Road to Ripple Lane 2 x 5.3 km tubes using two TBMs and including a ventilation structure and a cut-and-cover section; and the twin-tube 2.5 km Thames tunnel between Swanscombe and Thurrock requiring a single TBM. Depositions should include details of the machines to be used. The first preferred contractors announcement in January, 1998 nominated Tracklink, a jv of Mowlem, Holzmann and Besix for Contract 210 London Tunnels West, and a jv of Nuttall, Wayss & Freytag and Kier for Contract 250 London Tunnels East. This programme was aborted by the government in favour of a two-stage approach that resulted in the North Downs tunnel and Kent stretch of the new line being built first. More information from www.ctrl.co.uk December 1999.   First contract awarded to AMEC Civil Engineering for preliminary works including three pipejack tunnels for electricity and gas main diversions, commencing January, 2000 value $1.6 million. Information from PXJESSEL@ctrl.co.uk January 2000.   The major construction companies have been invited to a London briefing on 29th February to outline the civil engineering contracts that will make up Section 2 of the CTRL between Southfleet in north Kent and St Pancras in central London. CTRL developer Union Railways and project manager and designer Rail Link Engineering will unveil the contract packages on which design work is well advanced and invitations to tender will be issued this summer. Work is scheduled to begin in mid-2001 for commissioning 2007. More from PXRAVENS@ctrl.co.uk March 2000.   Prequalification underway for supply of 26,700 rings comprising 9+1 segments with i.d. 7.15 m, thickness 35 cm, length 1.5 m and 700 rings comprising 7+1 segments with i.d. 6 m, thickness 30 cm. Contact through PXJESSEL@ctrl.co.uk March 2000. Rail Link Engineering announced that 12 organisations have been invited to tender for five contracts worth $900 million for 20 km of tunnels from St Pancras station, through east London, and under the Thames river into North Kent. Contract awards scheduled early 2001 with construction commencing mid-year. Contract 220 from St Pancras to Stratford: Balfour Beatty/Amec; Miller/Dumez GTM/B&M; Nishimatsu/Kvaerner; Necso/Galliford. Contract 230 Stratford Box: Carillion/Bachy Soletanche; Mowlem/Bouygues/Besix; Kvaerner; Necso/Galliford. Contract 240 from Stratford to Barrington Road: Balfour Beatty/Amec; Campenon Bernard SGE; Nishimatsu/Kvaerner; Costain/Skanska/Bachy Soletanche. Contract 250 Barrington Road to Ripple Lane: Nuttall/Wayss & Freytag/Kier; Miller/Dumez/B&M; Hochtief/Murphy; Costain/Skanska/Bachy Soletanche. Contract 320 Thames tunnels: Nuttall/Wayss & Freytag/Kier; Campenon Bernard SGE; Hochtief/Murphy; Mowlem/Bouygues/Besix. Information from PXRAVENS@ctrl.co.uk May 2000. Union Railways reports value of contracts as: contract 220, $280 million; contract 230, $135 million; contract 240, $170 million; contract 250, $143 million. Contact PXJESSEL@ctrl.co.uk May 2000.Tenders issued for CTRL contract 103 for civil works to build new tracks for CTRL and connections to West Coast and East Coast main lines to the north of Kings Cross and St Pancras stations, including realignment of the Midland main line and construction of new tunnels for Thameslink 2000 project. Four organisations will bid: Kier/Nuttall; Tracklink (Mowlem/Bouyges/Besix); Alfred McAlpine/Amec; and Hochtief/Norwest Holst. Contract award Spring, 2001 with work commencing six months later. Client is Union Railways (North) Ltd. Visit www.ctrl.co.uk August 2000. Prequalification underway for contract 105 for Union Railways at St Pancras to include deck extension of station and train shed, and refurbishment of station including Thameslink tunnels. For documents fax +44 (0)207 681 5546 or visit www.ctrl.co.uk November 2000. Contractor prequalification announced for design/construct contract 310, Thames to Dagenham as: Balfour Beatty; Eurolink (Miller/Dumez GTM/B&M); Hochtief/Norwest Holst; Necso/Galliford; Tracklink (Mowlem/Bouyges/Besix); and Alfred McAlpine/Amec. Preferred bidder will be announced late-2001 with site open Spring, 2002. Visit www.ctrl.co.uk and www.balfourbeatty.com 03/01. CTRL Shortlist AnnouncedUnion Railways (North) Ltd has announced the shortlisted tenderers for five contracts worth over $750 million to construct major elements of Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). The contracts include 20 km of tunnels that will carry the CTRL from north Kent under the Thames and through east London into St Pancras Station.The shortlisted organisations for each contract are:Contract 220 - West London Portal (edge of Kings Cross Railway Lands) to Stratford Box: Balfour Beatty Group Ltd/Amec Capital Projects Ltd; Nishimatsu Construction Co Ltd/Skanska Construction UK Ltd.Contract 230 - Stratford Box: Tracklink (J Mowlem and Co PLC/Bouygues SA/Besix SA); Skanska Construction UK Ltd.Contract 240 - Stratford to Barrington Road, Little Ilford: Nishimatsu Construction Co Ltd/Skanska Construction UK Ltd; Costain Ltd/Skanska Construction UK Ltd/Bachy Soletanche Ltd.Contract 250 - Barrington Road, Little Ilford, to Ripple Lane, Dagenham: Edmund Nuttall Ltd/Wayss & Freytag AG/Kier Construction Ltd; Hochtief AG/J Murphy & Sons Ltd.Contract 320 - Thames Tunnels including northern and southern approaches from Swanscombe to Thurrock: Edmund Nuttall Ltd/Wayss & Freytag AG/Kier Construction Ltd; Hochtief AG/J Murphy & Sons Ltd.Preferred bidders for C230 and C320 are scheduled to be announced later this month (January) with the three remaining contracts awarded in February. All are scheduled to start on site in mid-2001. 03/01.Shortlist for contract 103 to be awarded Spring, 2001 are Kier/Edmund Nuttall and Hochtief/Norwest Holst. Work involves new tracks, connections and realignment together with new tunnels for Thameslink. Visit www.hochtief.de 04/01. Award of contract 230 for Stratford station box to Skanska/Nishimatsu/Cementation, value $150 million. Contract 320 including 2.5 km-long Thames twin-tube bored tunnels awarded to Hochtief/Murphy, value $185 million. Visit www.ctrl.co.uk 07/01. Latest contracts awarded:Contract 135 (St Pancras - Highways and Utilities) - approx. value £11.5 million, let to Edmund Nuttall Ltd; Contract 220 (Stratford to West London Portal) - approx. value £145 million, let to Nishimatsu/Cementation Skanska; Contract 240 (Stratford to Barrington Road) - approx. value £125 million, let to Costain/Skanska/Bachy Soletanche; Contract 250 (Ripple Lane to Barrington Road) - approx. value £115 million, let to Edmund Nuttall/Wayss & Freytag/Kier. More from www.ctrl.co.uk 09/01. Announcement of 8.1 m-diameter TBM orders as follows: contract 220 (Nishimatsu, Skanska) Stratford to Kings Cross, two Kawasaki dual mode EPBs; contract 240 (Costain, Bachy Soletanche) Barrington Road to Stratford, two Wirth EPBs; contract 250 (Nuttall, W&F, Kier) Ripple Lane to Barrington Road, two Lovat dual mode EPB/Open; contract 320 (Hochtief, Murphy) Thames Tunnels, two Herrenknecht Mixshields. Machine deliveries start May, 2002. Visit www.ctrl.co.uk 27/01. Tunnelling on Contract 240 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) project was halted as engineers investigated the appearance of a huge crater across several gardens along the tunnel route. The collapse of old water wells built in the 1860s is believed to be the most likely cause of the landslip, which forced 50 people to evacuate their houses in Stratford, east London on 8th February. All but two of the households were allowed back on 10th February. The 10 m-deep crater happened more than a day after a 120 m-long TBM - nicknamed Hudson - boring a 8 m-wide tunnel passed below the houses on Lavender Street. The tunnel remained intact. A joint venture involving Costain, Skanska and Bachy Soletanche was awarded a £125 million contract for the section between Stratford and Barrington Road and started work last November. The tunnel is the first of two being bored at 85 metres per week by the 1,100-tonne machine carving through chalk, sand and London clay. A second TBM, named Brunel, is working in conjunction with Hudson. The tunnelling work, 20 m below the surface, is pending the outcome of an inquiry. Hundreds of tonnes of concrete were poured into the 10 m-wide hole. Officials said they knew of the wells but residents accused London and Continental Railways (LCR) of ignoring their warnings. The £5.2 billion CTRL is being constructed in two sections. Work on the 74 km stretch from the Channel tunnel entrance to Fawkham Junction in North Kent began in October 1998. It is now 92% complete and should open next year. The second phase - 39 km between Southfleet, North Kent, and the terminal at St Pancras - got under way in July 2001 and is more than a third finished. Visit www.ctrl.co.uk. 08/03. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has given the go-ahead for tunnelling to restart on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link west to east tunnel between Stratford and Barrington Road (contract C240). Digging work resumed on 30th April after a ground collapse damaged homes and swallowed gardens in Lavender Street, Stratford (east London) last 8th February. The decision has triggered protests from residents who say they have yet to receive any credible explanation as to why the first collapse happened, or guarantees that there will not be a recurrence.In a letter, the HSE says that "further anomalies in the ground ahead of the down line and up line tunnels cannot be ruled out" and adds "We recognise that there is no technique available for reliably determining the location of each and every significant anomaly that may be in this area". The HSE has told the contractors to improve testing and monitoring procedures and to be ready with "emergency procedures in the event of any sudden collapse of ground".The area being tunnelled is dotted with underground wells and streams. There are also believed to be a number of unexploded bombs from the second world war. Work on the 4.5 km stretch of tunnel in Stratford may be especially risky because the plan is now for one EPB tunnelling machine to overtake the other. Previously they were set so that one was always 50 metres behind to avoid too much ground disruption at the same point. One Wirth TBM is still underneath Lavender Street, where the ground collapse occurred. The other machine, which is the first to be reactivated, is 150 metres away, beneath the car park of a warehouse. The machine involved in February's ground collapse is expected to be reactivated in mid-May. 19/03.Second breakthrough completed 2.5 km-long Thames tunnel 50 days ahead of schedule. Hochtief-Murphy jv 8.15 m-diameter Herrenknecht TBM negotiated water-bearing alluvium, terrace gravels and chalk at rates up to 170 m/week at up to 40 m below surface of river. Total 560,000 cu m excavated in two tunnels. Visit www.herrenknecht.com 42/03.Nishimatsu-Cementation Skanska jv has passed the 5 km mark on the 7.5 km-long Stratford tunnels of Contract 220, from which 1.6 million t will be excavated to breakthrough in early-2004. Visit www.ctrl.co.uk 42/03.

  Design and construct contract awarded to Miller Civil Engineering by Southern Water value $71 million. Herrenknecht 7.4 m Mixshield boring 1.6 km x 6.5 m i.d. storage tunnel at depths of 20 m to 60 m in ground conditions ranging from solid rock to running sand with high water pressures. 800 kW variable speed, bi-directional drive cutterhead. Built-in stone crusher behind cutter wheel. 6.6 m internal diameter precast concrete lining with seven gasketed segments and key. Annulus grouted systematically to minimise settlement. Possible hazards include methane, carbon dioxide and contaminated ground. Completion June, 2000. August 1998.  Herrenknecht Mixshield with VMT guidance system completed main drive mid-August, 1999. Best daily advance 21 m, or fourteen 1.5 m rings on two shifts. Fully-gasketed Charcon seven segment plus key lining with 7.36 m outside diameter. Erection time 15 min. Clayton locomotives and Wheel Sets rolling stock. Sept 1999.

  $300 million scheme for Hyder Welsh Water comprising 2.6 km of 2.44 m-diameter tunnels, 3.5 km of 1.95 m, and 3.7 km of 1.6 m in waterbearing mudstone, siltstone and sandstone using Herrenknecht EPB for the large diameter and AVN 2000D and AVN 1600D pipejacked machines for the smaller diameters. 20 access shafts ranging in internal diameter from 6.1 m to 7.62 m with precast concrete linings supplied by Tarmac Charcon and a 20 m-diameter, 40 m-deep pumping station. Shaftwork commenced December, 1997. Partnering agreement involves Welsh Water, Hyder Consulting, Laing Civil Engineering, Van Oord, and Byzack, with the latter handling the tunnelling. Completion 1999. June 1998.

  Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded a USD600 million contract to Eastside LRT Constructors, a JV of Washington Group International, Obayashi and Shimmick Construction for building of the 9.6 km East Los Angeles extension of the Gold Line. Running from the present Gold Line terminus at Union Station, it will run through the densely-populated areas of Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. There will be eight stations at Little Tokyo/Arts District, Pico/Aliso, Mariachi Plaza, Soto Street, Indiana, Maravilla, East LA Civic Center and Pomona/Atlantic. A 2.9 km twin-bore tunnel under Boyle Heights including two underground stations need to be built. The extension is expected to open in mid-2009. Visit www.mta.net, www.wgint.com and www.ocac.com 33-34/04.For the twin bored tunnels (2.75 km long) to be built under the Boyle Heights neighbourhood of East Los Angeles, as part of the 9.6 km Gold Line eastside extension, the internal and external diameters will be 5.74 m and 6.27 m respectively. Two Herrenknecht Earth Pressure Balance TBMs will be used for tunnel excavation. The tunnels are expected to be constructed in alluvial soils consisting of dense to very dense coarse-grained soils, and stiff to hard low plasticity clays and silts. Groundwater levels vary from below to above the tunnel invert. Precast concrete bolted segments with 24 m of fabricated steel liners at Soto station connections. The number of segments per ring is five plus a key. They are being manufactured by Traylor Shea Ghazi Precast. Muck removal by locomotives and muck cars. There are two underground stations Boyle and Soto. The station platform lengths will be 82 m. The Boyle station will be the first underground station as the trains are running outbound from downtown Los Angeles. The excavation is about 183 m long by 18 m wide. A cut-and-cover tunnel section extends from the west end of the station to the west portal. The second station excavation in Soto is about 100 m long x 18 m wide. The cut-and-cover method of construction with braced excavation will be used. Initial support system consists of soldier piles and lagging, deck beams and concrete decking. Other structures will include two portals at the west and east ends of the tunnel. Construction of the east portal has begun. Six crosspassages will also be constructed between tunnels. Currently, the Boyle station is being excavated and soldier piling is near completion at Soto station. TBMs are in fabrication. Tunnelling is scheduled to begin in December 2005. Click us/89. Visit www.mta.net, www.metro.net and www.herrenknecht.com 24/05.

Obayashi and Atlanta-based minority contractor MassAna Construction is the lowest bidder among the five teams who made an offer to build the Clear Creek and North Avenue tunnels, that will drain areas north of downtown Atlanta, and a pumping station. The JV offered a $210.2 million bid, 22% lower than the two closest competing bids of USD267.9 million and USD270 million. Contract signing planned on 30th March, 2004 with Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management. Two 8.2 m-diameter tunnels, each about 6.4 km in length, will be bored using two hard rock TBMs. Mucking-out with conveyor belts. The North Avenue tunnel would run south to north, beginning west of the college and ending at the R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center in northwest Atlanta. The Clean Creek tunnel will run east to west. The tunnels would intersect near the college and flow north to the R.M. Clayton pumping station. Construction to begin late next year. More details in E-News Weekly 13/2004. Visit www.ci.atlanta.ga.us/government/watershed.aspx and www.obayashi.co.jp/english 13/04.Obayashi and MassAna Construction ordered two Herrenknecht hard rock TBMs to excavate Atlanta's west area CSO storage tunnels. The 800-ton 91 m-long TBMs are open-style main beam machines, equipped with a 8,235 mm-diameter cutting head. The total installed main drive power is 3,200 kW, the thrust force is approximately 18,000 kN and the expected average compressive strength is 175 MPa. Geology made of fine to medium grained gneiss. Continuous conveyor for mucking-out. Cast in situ concrete lining. Machines to arrive in June 2005 for expected tunnelling start in July/August 2005.Contract A includes the 6,405 m 7.32 m finished diameter Clear Creek tunnel excavated by TBM in deep rock, 244 m of drill/blast excavated 3.35 m-diameter tunnel, one 4 m-diameter flow intake shaft structure and two 12.2 m-diameter shafts. Contract B includes the North Avenue tunnel and pumping station, consisting of a 7,140 m 7.32 m finished diameter deep rock tunnel, two 12.2 m-diameter shafts, a submersible type pumping station and one 7.32 m-diameter emergency overflow shaft and channel. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 13/2004. Visit www.herrenknecht.com 30/04.

    8.3 km-long, $58 million Walnut Creek-San Ramon Valley transmission improvements project under design for September, 2001 by Camp Dresser McKee, Carollo Engineers and Jacobs Associates will include 1.46 km-long rock tunnel and four microtunnel drives of 64 m to 127 m. Visit www.jacobssf.com 10/01.Modern Continental will install a large diameter transmission pipeline and build a 1.6 km tunnel through central Walnut Creek for EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utility District). The tunnel starts at the Kaiser overflow parking lot on Newell and goes north under the flood control channel to the armory, near Civic Park. There will be two shafts dug to provide access to the tunnel. The shaft at Newell will be 24.4 m-deep. The shaft at the armory will be 8 m-deep. Crews will build a TBM on a rail in the shaft on Newell and the boring machine will proceed to the shaft at the armory. The Newell shaft is the primary staging area. Modern Continental will use a Herrenknecht 2,000 mm microtunnelling machine, previously used on the Pentagon project in Arlington, Virginia. They will also use an EPB shield and an excavator shield to complete the balance of the tunnelling. Work on the tunnel will begin on 23rd January, 2003 and will be completed in 2004. Visit www.ebmud.com and www.moderncontinental.com 03/03.

2.64 km-long twin-bore rock tunnels under active runways with NATM station to be excavated in limestone beneath Minneapolis/St Paul airport. EPB with precast concrete segmental bolted lining specified by designer HNTB Corporation, who have also designed five cut-and-cover tunnels at the airport. Visit www.brierleyassociates.com October 2000. Obayashi-Johnson Bros to commence boring in October, 2001 using refurbished Herrenknecht dual-mode EPB/open TBM in sandstone for $110 million, 1.8 km-long twin tubes at Minneapolis-St Paul. Visit www.hntb.com or www.mottmac.com 28/01. TBM, 6.86 m-diameter, started driving two 2.8 km tubes, 6 metres apart, underneath Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on the Hiawatha line from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America in Bloomington. Sandstone boulders and hard limestone. Machine expected to surface near the airport's Humphrey Terminal in March, 2002 before being taken apart, trucked back to its starting point and reassembled to bore the second parallel tunnel. Lining ring consisting of six large concrete segments, each 1.5 m-wide by 1.8 m-long and 25 cm-thick, plus one smaller keystone. Also includes the 161 m-long Lindbergh station, 20 metres underground. Opening programmed by late 2003. Cost of $142 million financed by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, plus federal, state and Metropolitan Council funds. Visit www.dot.state.mn.us, www.mspairport.com and www.herrenknecht.com 49/01.$49.5 million has been granted by the Federal Transit Administration for the construction of the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit project. President Bush has proposed $7.2 billion for the 2003 budget. The Hiawatha line extends from the transit mall at Fifth Avenue in downtown Minneapolis along Hiawatha Avenue to a terminus, across 24th Street to the Mall of America in Bloomington. The 18.7 km line includes 17 stations and two 2.2 km tunnels under runways and taxiways to provide two new stations serving Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. Breakthrough of the first tunnel took place on 25th April, 2002 (see E-News Weekly # 19). Service is scheduled to commence in December 2004.

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.