The 10.1 km North Hollywood section of L A metro will open this month, adding three stations to the system at Hollywood/Highland, Universal City, and North Hollywood, bringing the subway length to 28 km with 16 stations. The running tunnels were excavated in two contracts by Traylor/Frontier Kemper and Obayashi, and two of the stations were constructed by Tutor Saliba, while the terminus station at North Hollywood was completed by Kajima. Construction management was supplied by Hatch Mott MacDonald and Parsons Engineering, who brought the project in almost on time and within budget. June 2000.Optional routes for USD5-7 billion metro extension are 19.2 km from Purple Line Wilshire/Western along Wilshire Blvd or 20 km from Red Line Hollywood/Highland along Santa Monica Blvd. Awaiting decision on routing before raising finance. Visit www.metro.net or take a virtual tour at www.metrovr.net/metro/. 08/09.

  $8 million study concerning 8 km rail tunnel from Secaucus NJ on the west bank, under the Hudson River to Penn and Grand Central stations in Manhattan to complement East Side Access project for Long Island Railroad. Final plan to be selected by 2001. June 1999.   $2 billion funding approved by the Senate for proposed fourth rail line under the Hudson River as part of a $7 billion rail programme for Amtrak to upgrade high-speed rail corridors throughout the US. Three proposed options. Option G takes the new tunnel to New York's Penn station, and Grand Central for a cost of $4-$5 billion. Option P ends at Penn station and would cost $3 billion. Option S would take the tunnel to Penn station, and then to the Sunnyside rail yard in Queens for $4-$5 billion. Neither option P or S gets to the East side so that option G is considered the most attractive. 47/01.   The New Jersey Transit approved to undertake a $4.9 million environmental impact study for two one-way tunnels under the Hudson river. The new tunnel would link the Northeast Corridor line with Pennsylvania station in Manhattan, placing the parallel tunnels somewhere in the northern Hoboken-southern Weehawken area on the Hudson's west bank and midtown Manhattan to the east. The project is being undertaken in conjunction with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) which operates New York City's commuter trains and stations. The new tunnel would cost $5 billion.Visit www.njtransit.com and www.accesstotheregionscore.com 42/02.  The New Jersey Transit board awarded a $4.9 million contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff and Systra Consulting to begin environmental impact studies of a proposed new rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan. The two firms plan to finish the study by 2005. The next step would be to secure $16 million in federal funding for engineering studies. The plan for the tunnel includes two one-way tubes under the Hudson River between the Hoboken-Weehawken border and the Chelsea section of Manhattan. The entire tunnel project is estimated to cost up to $5 billion, most of which would come from federal sources. The tunnel would likely take more than 10 years to complete. Visit www.njtransit.com, www.pbworld.com and www.systraconsulting.com 27/03.Congress will grant $5 million in federal funds to begin the studies for developing a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey. The funds will be included in the 2004 transportation appropriations bill. The project could cost as much as $5 billion. The $5 million initial appropriation will be used to produce a draft environmental impact statement, one of the first steps necessary to prepare for construction. New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will coordinate the study. The new twin one-way tunnel would be designed to effectively double the number of commuter trains operating between midtown Manhattan and New Jersey. Visit www.njtransit.com 38/03.New Jersey Transit has solicited Expressions of Interest from design firms to provide professional engineering services for the preliminary engineering of the Trans-Hudson Express tunnel (THE tunnel). The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was issued to interested parties in January. The following three bidders have been shortlisted to receive the Request for Proposal for the THE tunnel: a JV of Atkins and Washington Group International, Hatch Mott MacDonald and a JV of Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV and DMJM Harris.New Jersey Transit hopes to have preliminary engineering completed during 2007, with the aim of having the link ready for revenue service in 2015. The winning bidder may also be invited to undertake overall design, project integration of all facets of the project, and/or one or more segments of final design, as well as construction assistance.The THE tunnel project will span New York and New Jersey and consists mainly of two single-track tunnels under the Palisades in New Jersey and the Hudson River connecting to a new eight-platform underground station under 34th Street and 7th Avenue as well as the existing Penn Station in New York City. Read E-News Weekly 35/2005, 51/2003 & 46/2002. Visit www.njtransit.com and www.accesstotheregionscore.com 14/06.The Trans-Hudson Express (THE) tunnel will start on the west side of Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen Township and continue under the Palisades and Hudson River to the new station under 34th Street between 6th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan. Each of the two tunnels will be approximately 6,100 m long. A connection from the new tunnels to the existing Pennsylvania Station is also included in the project. The external diameter is preliminarily anticipated to be 8.39 m. The interior diameter is preliminarily anticipated to be 7.47 m.The tunnels will be constructed through differing soil conditions. The sections under the Palisades and Manhattan will be bored through rock and the section under the Hudson River will be bored with a shielded machine through the anticipated softer ground conditions. Final cavern shaping will be done by drilling and blasting after rock boring is completed.Preliminary design of the project is anticipated to begin this summer and lining procedures, mucking procedures and construction methods will be advanced during this phase.The earliest construction bid advertisements are anticipated in mid to late 2008. Construction will begin following the bid and award period. Click us/21. Visit www.njtransit.com 15/06.A team of Parsons Brinckerhoff, CH2M Hill and ILF will design the proposed new rail line under the Hudson River. The new tunnel project is a needed improvement to the area's transportation system and will be linked to the railway system in New Jersey and to the subway system in Manhattan via a new station under 34th Street. Read E-News Weekly 33/2006. Visit www.pbworld.com, www.ch2m.com and www.ilf.com 48/06.NJ Transit's board on 13th December, 2006 approved hiring the CM Consortium of Newark for USD5 million as construction managers for the project to build a second Hudson River rail tunnel. The consortium is a joint venture of Tishman Construction, Parsons and Arup. The consortium will provide design oversight, make independent cost estimates, develop a master project schedule, and create a quality control plan. The consortium will oversee three engineering firms, named THE Partnership, who have already been awarded contracts in August to create preliminary designs for the proposed Hudson River commuter train tunnel and new Moynihan station. The project includes a new tunnel under the Palisades in New Jersey and the Hudson River to midtown Manhattan and an expanded rail station connected to the existing New York Penn station. Concept plans call for construction of two side-by-side, single-track tunnels of 6.6 km in length. NJ Transit hopes that construction on the projects could begin in 2009 and be completed by 2016. Visit www.tishmanconstruction.com, www.parsons.com and www.arup.com 03/07.THE Partnership, a joint venture that includes Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV Group and DMJM Harris and names itself as the Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Partnership, began preliminary design in August 2006 and will finish the work in about 13 months from now. Their contract is worth USD82.5 million. The THE tunnel is the centre piece of the USD6 billion Access to the Region's Core (ARC) project. Then, ARC will move into final design, the last pre-construction phase, assuming financing is in place to pay for the project. Click us/21. Visit www.pbworld.com, www.stvinc.com and www.dmjmharris.com 03/07.

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.

  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.