Restricted invitation to tender, deadline 10th June, 2001, for construction of four 2.5 m-diameter tunnels with total length of 12 km for Agence Nationale des Barrages, fax +213 212 99471. Published 10th May, 2001 at http://ted.eur-op.eu.int 22/01. €225 million loan approved by the European Investment Bank for the construction of a pipeline to supply drinking water to Greater Algiers and several towns in Kabylia. Project to link the Taksebt dam and Algiers. Involves construction of four tunnels with a total length of 12 km. Works between 2002 and 2006. Visit www.eib.org 48/01. Bids invited for work supervision of the Taksebt-Algiers water transfer including the Tizi Ouzou tunnel, length 3 km, the Draa Ben Khedda tunnel, length 1319 m, the Naciria tunnel, length 2621 m, and the Thénia tunnel, length 4820 m. Diameter 2.5 m for all. Bids also invited for technical consulting. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int/ojs/en/frame.htm, OJ S 93-72813 and -72815 or contact Agence Nationale des Barrages, Algiers, fax +213 21299471. 21/02.Agence Nationale des Barrages (ANB) has shortlisted two consortia, one headed by Dragados and the second led by SNC-Lavalin, for the construction of the water transfer from the Taksebt dam to the cities of Tizi Ouzou, Boumerdès and Algiers. Dragados proposed 10 billion dinars, taxes and tariffs not included, and €272 million for construction. SNC-Lavalin offered 23 billion dinars with taxes included and €386 million for construction. The project requires two treatment stations, two pumping stations, ducts, 30 reservoirs approximately, and four tunnels totalling 12 km. Work to start in February 2003. Both consortia proposed 37 months to complete the job. European Investment Bank to finance €225 million and French Development Agency (AFD) €30 million. 49/02.SNC-Lavalin, Ondeo Degremont, Enac (Entreprise Nationale de Canalisation), GTP (Entreprise Nationale des Grands Travaux Petroliers) and Inerga (Entreprise Nationale de Realisation d'Infrastructures Energetiques) have been awarded a CAD750 million contract to design and build the 600,000 cu m/day water treatment plant and pumping station at Taksebt, about 100 km east of Algiers. The contract with the Agence Nationale des Barrages also includes the operation and maintenance of the facilities for a five-year period once construction is completed. SNC-Lavalin will design several water treatment plants, supply and install 90 km of ductile iron pipes, and construct four tunnels, each 2.5 m in diameter, totalling 11.7 km. The pipe and tunnel systems from the treatment plant will supply water to the provinces of Tizi Ouzou, Draa Ben-Khedda and Boudouaou, as well as Algiers. Design and construction work on the plant and pumping station will be completed in different stages, with full completion in the fall of 2007. Visit www.snclavalin.com 05/05.The two Lovat TBMs, Isabella and Susanna, are ready to drive the Tizi Ouzou aqueduct. At end-December, the first TBM had already arrived in Algeria. Its assembly was scheduled in January 2006 for tunnelling start at end-January 2006. The assembly of the second TBM is programmed from end-January 2006 and tunnelling will commence in mid-February 2006. The two shielded TBMs, 3.7 m in diameter, will excavate 11.35 km of tunnel for a drinking water line from Taksebt dam near Tizi Ouzou to Algiers. The first TBM will drive the 2,377 m Tizi Ouzou tunnel and the 2,600 m Naciria tunnel. The second TBM will excavate the 1,208 m Dra-Ben-Kedda tunnel and subsequently the 4,768 m Thenia tunnel. Click dz/13 and here. Visit www.lovat.com and www.cmcra.com 07/06.

Contractor Thiess has recently signed a contract with Lovat for the supply of a refurbished RME147SE series 22000 single shield rock TBM to be used in the construction of the City West Cable Tunnel (CWCT) in Sydney. The 3.72 m-diameter TBM will bore the 1,560 m-long tunnel from the Marry Ann Street shaft to the City North substation, along a maximum slope of 3.05%. The entire tunnel alignment is below the groundwater level, with groundwater heights above the tunnel invert varying from 5 to 24 metres. Depth of cover above the tunnel crown will vary from 19 to 37 metres. The tunnel will be located within the Triassic Hawkesbury sandstone, which consists of sandstone beds interbedded with siltstone, mudstone and shale. Other geological conditions expected are near vertical dolerite intrusions, typically weathered to residual clays at the rock surface with the sandstone on either side of a dyke baked and fractured by the intrusion. A number of near vertical zones of faulting, or closely spaced joints, have been identified in the project area. One of them, the GPO fault zone, is expected to intersect the proposed tunnel alignment. After undergoing a complete refurbishment at Lovat's facilities in Europe, the TBM will be shipped to Australia for assembly prior to year's end. The tunnel will predominantly be constructed using the TBM, with a small 100 metre section to be excavated by roadheader. Construction of the tunnel itself is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. This will be followed by the tunnel fit out and the installation of electrical cables. The new tunnel is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2009. Visit www.lovat.com, www.thiess.com.au and www.energy.com.au/energy/ea.nsf/Content/Network+Sydney+CBD+Eastern+Suburbs 22/07.

  Melbourne Water has awarded to John Holland, a member of the Leighton Holdings Group, a 6-year contract to assist in the delivery of a number of major sewer tunnelling projects. The projects involved are potentially worth AUD160 million. John Holland will provide pre-construction and construction services. Visit www.jhg.com.au and www.melbournewater.com 23/04.John Holland, a 99% owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings, who is itself 54% owned by Germany's Hochtief, has won a AUD301 million contract to build Melbourne Water's first stage of the northern sewerage project, which includes eight kilometres of sewerage tunnels in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to meet growing commercial and residential capacity demands. The sewers will range in size from 1.6 to 2.5 metres in diameter. Additionally, five major access shafts of up to 65 metres in depth and 13 metres in diameter will also be constructed, enabling two specially designed TBMs to be utilised. Project managers Connell Wagner and design joint venture SKM-Jacobs will be working alongside John Holland to deliver this project. Construction work is expected to commence shortly and this first stage of the two-stage project is due for completion by 2012. Visit www.nsp.net.au, www.leighton.com.au, www.johnholland.com.au, www.hochtief.com, www.conwag.com, www.skmconsulting.com and www.jacobs.com 33/07.Lovat signed a contract to supply a new RME115SE earth pressure balance TBM to John Holland for the construction of the Melbourne main sewer replacement. The 4-spoke chromium carbide plated mixed ground cutting head is equipped with back loading rippers (interchangeable with 394 mm disc cutters). The cutting head is powered by a 450 kW hydraulic drive system. Speeds range between 0-8.2 rpm with maximum torque of 1,040 kN. Located in the stationary shell is a two stage, two chamber integral airlock which is outfitted with an oxygen breathing system, pressure regulation system for maintaining a fixed set point of pressure to a maximum operating pressure of 4 bar. The 2.92 m-diameter mixed face TBM will bore a total of 2,088 metres with a maximum slope of 0.12%. The entire tunnel alignment is below the groundwater level where heights above the invert vary from 9 m to 11 m. Geology along the tunnel alignment consists of formations of Quaternary age collectively known as the Yarra delta group underlain by sequence of Tertiary formations. The basement geology of the site comprises folded Silurian sedimentary rock. These rocks generally occur well below the proposed tunnel alignment depth. The depth of cover above the tunnel crown level varies from 8 m to 12 m. The TBM is scheduled for delivery during the first part of 2009. Visit www.lovat.com and www.johnholland.com.au 28/08.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx have awarded a fixed-price contract of EUR 512.90 million (CAD757.1 million) to Strabag to design, build and finance the tunnels for the Scarborough Subway Extension project.  The Strabag team includes Strabag Inc (Construction Team), Arup Canada Inc and Brian Isherwood & Associates Ltd (Design Team) and Strabag Inc (Financial Advisor). Construction is expected to begin in spring 2021, with major tunnel boring works to start in spring/summer of 2022. 

The  Scarborough Subway Extension Advance Tunnel scope of work includes tunnelling works for the 7.8-km subway extension, from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road/Sheppard Avenue; design and construction of launch and extraction shafts, tunnel, as well as headwalls for emergency exit buildings and stations; supplying the TBM and installing segmental precast concrete tunnel liners; activities necessary to build the tunnel (e.g. utility relocations, supports for shaft and headwalls, temporary power supply, lighting, ventilation, and drainage). Visit https://www.infrastructureontario.ca/ . 21/21. 

Ontario - ca/13HydroOntario Power reports that the 10 km-long, 14 m-diameter Sir Adam Beck power station tunnel project to divert water from the Niagara river, shelved following award to Obayashi/Kenaidan jv in 1998, will now go ahead in 2002. The alignment through limestone and shale will require a double gripper hardrock TBM to drive from the power station upgrade to a cofferdam in the centre of the river. The $320 million design/build project bid was prepared by Acres/Bechtel. Harza Engineering is consultant to the contractor, with sub-consultancy services provided by Parsons Brinckerhoff. April 2000. Request for proposals for a feasibility study of the Beck 3 generating project to be issued before the end of March 2003. The study is expected to be completed by fall. The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will proceed with a 10.5 km-long 12.5 m-diameter tunnel project, an expansion of the existing Sir Adam Beck generating station at Niagara Falls. The Beck 3 project would have a maximum generating capacity of just under 1000 MW. Visit www.energy.gov.on.ca and www.ontariohydroenergy.com. Read E-News Weekly # 47. 07/03.Further to the Ontario government's endorsement of the project, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is about to seek requests for proposal (RFP) in an open, competitive and international bidding to select who will construct the third Niagara Falls tunnel. The successful bidder will be required to construct the tunnel as a turnkey project. The tunnel project will expand the capacity at Sir Adam Beck 1 and 2 hydro generating stations by about 15% by boring a new 10.5 km-long 12.5 m-diameter tunnel under the city of Niagara Falls to divert more water from the Niagara River to the station complex. During construction, approximately 8 million tonnes of material will be moved and 1 million tonnes of concrete will be poured. Construction could begin as early as next year, with completion of the project expected in 2009. When completed, the new tunnel will deliver about 1.6 TWh of electricity every year.To run the Niagara Falls generating stations, water is diverted from the river above the falls and channelled through two tunnels to power stations at Queenston. A treaty with the United States sets a limit on the amount of water each country can divert to its power stations. The two existing tunnels cannot carry all the water Canada is allowed to use. The new third tunnel will allow Canada to use all the water the country is permitted. However, a study undertaken in the wake of August 2003's blackout by Klohn Crippen and Stone & Webster concluded that there is not enough water on the Canadian side of the Niagara river to justify building a third Beck plant. The Niagara third tunnel project is expected to cost an estimated CD600 million. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 47/2002. Visit www.opg.com and read the study at www.energy.gov.on.ca/english/pdf/electricity/040616_Beck3%20Report.pdf 28/04.Call for expressions of interest, deadline 26th August, 2004 for design and construction of the third Niagara Falls tunnel. The objective of the project is to provide at least 500 cu m of water per second to the generating stations. The contractor will be responsible for finalizing a design to meet this objective. It is expected that a single tunnel 10.5 km will be constructed. The internal diameter of the finished tunnel will be at least 12.5 m. Intake and discharge structures will be included in the contract. Geology is sedimentary rock with the bulk of the excavation in shale. A single TBM is most likely. Support system will be designed by the contractor. A conveyor belt system is most likely for the mucking-out. A single design/build contract will be released for bid by year end 2004, to those parties who have been prequalified. Contract award in mid 2005. Construction work to begin in mid 2005. Cost estimates are under review. This information is based on early conceptual work and are subject to change during the design process. Documents available on 21st July, 2004. For further info on the prequalification process, contact Harry Charalambu, tel. +1 9054034210, fax +1 9058552607, e-mail hcharalambu@hatch.ca. Visit www.opg.com/info/ads/OPG_NiagaraAd_Globe.pdf 30/04.The four prequalified companies invited to submit their detailed proposals for the design and construction of a new 10.5 km tunnel to carry water from the Niagara River above the falls to the Adam Beck generating plant located at Queenston Heights are Niagara Tunnel Constructors (Aecon Constructors, Hochtief Construction AG, J.F. Shea Construction Inc., Traylor Bros. Inc.); Niagara Tunnelers (Obayashi Corporation / Kenaidan Contracting); Peter Kiewit Sons Co.; and Strabag. The successful bidder will be required to construct the tunnel as a turn-key project. Construction activities are expected to start in the summer of 2005, with completion of the tunnel expected in 2009. Visit www.opg.com 03/05.Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has awarded a CAD600 million contract to Strabag to design and build a new 10.4 km-long 12.7 m ID tunnel to supply additional water from above Niagara Falls to the Sir Adam Beck 2 generating plant at Queenston Heights. Strabag will be supported by ILF of Austria, Morrison Hershfield of Toronto, Dufferin Construction of Oakville and several other local subcontractors. A 14.4 m-diameter TBM will be used to excavate the tunnel about 140 m below ground level. The TBM will cost between CAD75 million and CAD80 million and will take up to a year to build. Preparation work will start in September. The site construction work force is expected to average about 230 workers, with peaks of up to 350 workers. The tunnel will supply 500 cu m/sec of additional water to the power plant and will enable energy output to increase by an average of about 1.6 Terawatt hours/year. It is expected to be producing new clean electricity for the Ontario market by late 2009. Visit www.opg.com and www.strabag.at 35/05.The largest hard rock TBM in the world (14.4 m in diameter) will be designed and manufactured by Robbins for the Niagara Falls tunnel project. The project is to bore a third tunnel at the famous waterway that flows between the USA and Canada, providing water flow of approximately 500 cu m/sec and ultimately increasing power production by 14% - enough to meet the annual needs of a city of 700,000 people. The 10.4 km tunnel will have a finished diameter of approximately 12.5 m.The Robbins TBM will be an open, hard rock, main beam TBM that utilises the proven Robbins floating gripper design. The TBM will be manufactured with a state-of-the-art ground support system. The cutterhead will be powered with a 4,725 kW variable frequency drive system that can be increased to 5,040 kW. For optimum tunnelling performance, Strabag elected to utilise Robbins 20-inch cutters mounted in a back-loading cutterhead. Alternately, Robbins 19-inch cutters can be used without modification of the cutterhead. The geology is varied consisting of limestone, dolostone, sandstone, shale, and mudstone. The rock strength ranges from 15 to 180 MPa, with most of the rock in the 100 to 180 MPa range. With the exception of the sandstone, the geology is largely non-abrasive. The Robbins TBM will be delivered in 12 months and is scheduled to begin boring in the autumn of 2006. The TBM excavation is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2008. Click here for more. Visit www.robbinstbm.com 43/05.

CMC of Italy has signed a EUR42.5 million contract for the execution of Tunnel #9, which is part of the Yintao water supply project, comprising more than 200 km of tunnels. Tunnel #9 has a length of 18.3 km, an excavation diameter of 5.75 metres and a finished diameter of 4.96 metres. The contract has been awarded to the Gansu Zhongyi joint venture formed by CMC and Sinohydro Engineering Bureau No. 4. The tunnel will be executed in 65 months using a TBM for the excavation and the subsequent lining made up of precast segments. The project is located in the province of Gansu, 130 km from the town of Lanzhou, where CMC already executed, at the end of eighties, the Yindaruqin irrigation project. Visit www.cmc.coop 37/07.

  Invitation to tender expected August, 2001 for three drill/blast, concrete-lined tunnelling contracts totalling 21.5 km for Zhangjiuhe project, supervised by Electrowatt. Contact wangdi@minmetals.com or visit www.electrowatt.com 28/01. Construction began on 28th November, 2001 to drive one of the tunnels through mountains to channel water from Zhangjiu River to Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China as part of the US$476 million Zhangjiuhe River Water Division & Water Supply Project, the largest in China. Contract CW-BID1 includes the 7,797 m-long Kangle tunnel, and the 13,733 m-long Shanggongshan tunnel. Both will be excavated by a TBM and lined by precast concrete segmental lining, filled with gravel and grout. Electrowatt Engineering, a subsidiary of Finland's Jaakko Pöyry Group, has been appointed to supervise construction of these two tunnels, of 3.6 metres in diameter. Visit www.poyry.com. Contract CW-BID5 includes the 8,237 m-long Pingdi tunnel. Contract CW-BID6 includes the 3,595 m-long Qingshuitang tunnel, the 11,163 m-long Changkou tunnel, and the 1,465 m-long Huanghuipo tunnel. Contract CW-BID7 includes the 9,045 m-long Wulaoshan tunnel. All these tunnels will be excavated using the drill/blast method, and lined with cast in-situ concrete. The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has granted US$173.2 million in loans for the project. When the project is completed in 2005, it will provide 250 million cu m of water annually to Kunming, doubling the city's present water supply. Visit www.minmetals.com.cn 06/02.Award to CMC of a contract for a water supply programme in Kunming, Yunnan Province's capital. The contract is worth €37 million. Two tunnels totalling 21.6 km will be excavated. CMC will use a full-face TBM and the tunnel will be segmentally lined. Financing by the Japanese government. Time frame of four years. Visit www.cmcra.com 17/02.Electrowatt Infra, which is part of the Jaakko Pöyry Group, has been awarded an extension of the services contract in the Kunming water supply tunnel project by the Zhangjiuhe River Water Diversion and Water Supply Project Administration Bureau. The contract is a continuation to the assignment commenced in 2001 which now will continue until March 2007. The value of the contract now awarded is about EUR1 million. The project is located in Kunming and comprises two tunnels of 13.7 and 7.8 km and a headwork complex. Electrowatt Infra's services include technical and financial bid evaluation, construction supervision, settlement monitoring, quality control and project management. Visit www.poyry.com 06/06.The last section of the Zhangjihe river water diversion and water supply project in Kunming constructed by CMC in Yunnan province broke through on 17th November, 2006. The event enables to meet and anticipate the contractual date for the end of work scheduled for 31st March, 2007. The contract mostly includes the construction of two pressure tunnels (1.7 bar) of a comprehensive length of 21.5 km (contract CW-BID1). These water transfer tunnels for irrigation are the 7,808 m Kangle tunnel, inner diameter of 3 m, and the 13,769 m Shanggongshan tunnel, inner diameter of 3 m. A big part of the excavation of the tunnels, lined with prefabricated bolted concrete segments, has been performed using a Robbins double shield TBM. The overall amount of the works is about EUR95 million. Visit www.cmc.coop and www.robbinstbm.com 49/06.

  Double-stack container 30.5 km West Rail link through northwest New Territories with 3.6 km tunnel at Ching Cheung Road/Wing Shun Street and 5.7 km tunnel at Castle Peak Road/Kam Tin Valley. Five design/build contracts expected September, 1998. Bored and cut/cover. Expected start 1999 with completion 2003. Second phase to extend route 20 km to Shenzhen border for completion 2011. Client: Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation. April 1998.   Five original design packages split into 12 contracts worth HK$30 bn and tenders imminent. Two of these are for Tai Lam tunnel. Nov 1998.   1.8 km x 8.75 m diameter twin-tube Kwai Tsing/Tsing Tsuen tunnel to be driven in mixed ground by jv of Dragages & Travaux Publics (Bouyges) and Zen Pacific using NFM EPB/hardrock TBM with semi-automatic segment erector to be delivered end-1999. Also incuded in this contract is the 1.7 km Ha Kwai Chung tunnel and a short cut-and-cover section. 5.5 km Tai Lam tunnel between Tsuen Wan and Kam Tin awarded to jv of Nishimatsu and Dragages & Travaux Publics. All tunnels scheduled for completion December, 2002. February 1999.   Nishimatsu/Dragages-Bouygues jv to use two new generation Atlas Copco WL 3C drillrigs with full drilling automation for 5.5 km Tai Lam tunnel. Contract involves drill/blast excavation of 700,000 cu m for tunnel and stations. December 1999. NFM reports its 8.75 m EPB with automatic segment erection on KCRC has completed 1 km to date in 200 MPa gneiss and recorded 300 m in August, comfortably meeting planned progress rates. Visit www.framatome.fr October 2000.Drill/blast excavation completed on 24th March, 2001 when Dragages et Travaux Publics (H.K) junctioned with Nishimatsu Construction on programme and within 25 mm at the mid point of the 5.5 km-long Tai Lam Tunnel. Visit www.nishimatsu.co.jp 14/01.Tenders have been invited by the Hong Kong government for the Kowloon Southern Link (KSL) of the West Rail. This is a 4.5 km underground rail section that will link up the West Rail terminus from Nam Cheong station to the East Rail at Tsim Sha Tsui station. The stretch from Nam Cheong to West Kowloon and another section underneath Salisbury Road will be mainly constructed by the cut-and-cover method. The tunnel along Canton Road will be bored to mitigate traffic disturbance. Estimated cost is HKD $8.3 billion. Construction start in early 2005 for completion in early 2009. Visit www.info.gov.hk and www.kcrc.com 19/04.The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) has combined contracts KDB-300 and KDB-400 into a single contract as part of the northern section of the 3.8 km Kowloon Southern Link (KSL). The northern section includes 1.9 km of tunnel using cut-and-cover, drill/blast or a TBM from Jordan Road to the West Rail terminus at Nam Cheong station. The five groups invited to bid for the building of contract KDB-300/400 (northern section) are: Balfour Beatty Gammon; China State Construction Engineering Corp. / Costain; Kier; Paul Y / Penta Ocean; and Maeda / Barbican Construction.The project also includes a southern section, as part of contract KDB-200, which includes 1.2 km of twin tunnels between Canton Road and Jordan Road, using a TBM, and West Kowloon station. The four groups invited to bid for the design and building of contract KDB-200 (southern section) are: Nishimatsu and Ove Arup as designer; Leighton, Balfour Beatty Gammon, Kumagai Gumi and John Holland with Mott Connell and Meinhardt as designers; Dragages, China State and Leader with Maunsell, Black & Veatch and Coffey as designers; and Paul Y, SELI and Maeda with Atkins China and Parsons Brinckerhoff as designers. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 48/2004 & 35/2004. Visit www.kcrc.com 53/04-01/05.The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) announced the award of three major civil construction contracts for Kowloon Southern Link at a combined value of about HKD3.1 billion. The contracts to design and build the northern section from Nam Cheong station to Yau Ma Tei ventilation building (contract KBD-400) and from Yau Ma Tei ventilation building to West Kowloon station at Jordan Road (contract KBD-300) were both awarded to China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Ltd. at a price of about HKD636 million and HKD447 million respectively. The northern section comprises the construction of 1.9 km of tunnel, using cut-and-cover or drill-and-blast techniques from the West Rail terminus at Nam Cheong station to Jordan Road. Visit www.cscechk.com/main_e.htm 33-34/05.Contract KBD-200 to design and build the southern section from West Kowloon station to East Tsim Sha Tsui station and West Kowloon station was awarded to a JV which comprises Leighton Contractors, Balfour Beatty, Gammon, Kumagai Gumi and John Holland, at a price of about HKD2,018 million. The southern section involves the excavation of 1.1 km of twin tunnels, of which 740 m between Jordan Road and Canton Road using a massive mixed ground TBM, and the cut-and-cover method along Salisbury Road. The civil, structural, geotechnical and mechanical and electrical design has been commissioned to Mott Connell and Meinhardt. Visit www.leightoncontractors.com.au, www.balfourbeatty.com, www.mottconnell.com.hk and www.meinhardt.com.au 33-34/05.The 3.8 km-long rail section will connect Nam Cheong station, the southern terminus of West Rail, with East Tsim Sha Tsui station of East Rail, with an intermediate station at West Kowloon. Upon its completion in 2009, passengers will only take 30 minutes to travel from Tin Shui Wai to Tsim Sha Tsui East. Read E-News Weekly 48/2004, 35/2004 & 40/2002. Click cn/21. Visit www.kcrc.com 33-34/05.Invitation to tender, deadline 14th October, 2005 for supply and installation of a tunnel ventilation system to support the railway operation in the Kowloon Southern Link project, and modifications to the existing tunnel ventilation control systems across the West Rail and Tsim Sha Tsui extension. Visit www.kcrc.com/eng/corporate/business/tender.asp?ref=16028 or contact Johnny Tam, Senior Manager - Procurement & Contracts, Project Support Department, Capital Projects Division, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, KCRC Hung Hom Building, 8 Cheong Wan Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel. +852 21636186, fax +852 27661093. 35/05.The Link 200 JV including Leighton Contractors, its affiliate John Holland, Balfour Beatty, its affiliate Gammon Construction, and Kumagai will use a Herrenknecht mixshield/slurry TBM to bore a twin 1 km-long tunnel from Jordan Road to East Tsim Sha Tsui Station on the Kowloon Southern Link (contract KBD-200), which will connect the West Rail with the East Rail. The owner is Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC). Excavated diameter is 8.05 m and internal diameter is 7 m. Visit www.herrenknecht.comThe tunnels encounter a full range of ground conditions including completely decomposed granite (CDG), mixed face of CDG and granite, full face of granite, potential for encountering two faults and mixed face of CDG, alluvium and marine deposit.The TBM components are being manufactured in Germany and China. Final assembly will take place in Canton. The machine is due for delivery in June. It is about 80 metres long and weighs around 800 tonnes. The supplier of the laser survey equipment for guidance is VMT. Visit www.vmt-gmbh.deSegmental precast concrete lining (6 + 1, universal taper, two types, a 1.5 m-long ring and a 1.2 m-long ring). The segments will be manufactured in China at an existing precast plant using CBE moulds and shipped to site. The segments will be produced by subcontractor Redland Precast Concrete Products. Slurry transport and separation plant by Pigott Shaft Drilling of Preston (UK). Visit www.cbe-tunnels.com, www.redlandprecast.com.hk and www.mudcleaning.comWest Kowloon Station is 336 m long x 28 m wide x 20 m deep below ground and 20 m above ground. Contract KDB-200 also includes a 100 m cut-and-cover tunnel to North (connecting to KDB-300) and a 150 m cut-and-cover tunnel to South (connecting to bored tunnels). Also, approx. 50 m of cut-and-cover tunnel connecting the existing East Rail tunnels with the new tunnels. Click cn/21. Visit www.leightonasia.com/data/pdf/LeightonNewsJan06.pdf and www.kcrc.com/eng/corporate/project/index.asp?page=KSL 16/06.

  Impregilo using 4.94 m-diameter NFM double-telescopic hardrock TBM in Shanxi province. Machine manufactured mainly in China, cutterhead at Le Creusot. Delivery July, 1998. March 1998. Wan Long JV reports excellent progress at the Wanjiazhai Yellow River diversion project. The joint venture comprises Impregilo (48%) and Cooperativa Muratori Cementisti Ravenna (42%) with local partner The China Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering Bureau No 4 (10%). The project consists of five primary lots. Wan Long JV won contracts for lots II & III in international tender. Lots II & III require 88.9 km of tunnel located 50 to 300 m below the surface. Of this, 1.5 km is being excavated by road header, and the remainder by three double-shield Robbins TBMs and one NFM TBM. Three of the machines were designed and produced specifically for this project. All are erecting honeycomb segment lining. Boring started on 3rd December, 1998 and by the end of March this year, more than 40 km of tunnel (45% of the total) was complete. Overall monthly production reached a new record in January, with the four machines excavating and lining 4,871 m of tunnel. The Robbins TBM working on contracts T4 and T5 has achieved the best figures to date with 99.4 m in one day, 1,822 m in one month, and an average monthly performance of 863 m. Wan Long JV has also produced record numbers of concrete lining segments with a maximum 653 segments manufactured in a single day. Visit www.robbinstbm.com May 2000. Robbins reports that the four 5 m-diameter double shielded machines have recorded 1.826 km excavated and lined in a single month. Visit www.robbinstbm.com Sept 2000.  High-Point Rendel appointed as special advisor for 90 km of the 370 km of tunnels, internal diameters from 4.2 m to 5.4 m, being excavated with TBMs and lined with 25 mm thick hexagonal prefabricated concrete segments by a jv of Impregilo, CMC and the China Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering Bureau No. 4. Visit www.hprendel.com 44/01.Alpine Mayreder received a EUR47 million contract to build the 25 km Pinglu tunnel in Shanxi province, to be driven from one side only by a TBM. The 4.8 m-inner diameter tunnel will be lined with precast concrete segments. The tunnel will supply water to the provincial cities of Pinglu, Shuozhou and Datong, located in water-deficient regions. This project will represent a substantial component for the further economic development of the region. The start date of the tunnel drive is middle of June 2006. Construction to end in February 2009. The project is part of the north main line of the Yellow River diversion project. The client is Shanxi Wanjiazhai Yellow River Diversion Corporation, based in Taiyuan. Visit www.alpine.atThe tunnel passes through sedimentary rock, such as sandstone, mudstone, limestone and through coal. The tunnel site is located next to the largest open pit coal mines in China. The overburden is up to 430 m high.A Robbins hard rock double shield TBM will be used. The TBM is provided by the client and was already used at the south main line of the Yellow River diversion project. The segment moulds, used already at the south line, are also provided by the client. New moulds were purchased from Kawasaka Heavy Industries (Shenzhen City). Concrete rings of orthogonal segments. Mucking-out by locos and muck cars. Other underground structures include an underground cavern after 13 km for TBM refurbishment. The dimensions are 35 m x 11 m x 15 m. Visit www.robbinstbm.comThe south main line to Taiyuan was already completed some time ago. It was financed by the World Bank and Alpine Mayreder was involved in Lot I (1997-2001), including in particular two underground pump stations. Lots 2 and 3 were executed by Impregilo, CMC and the China Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering Bureau No 4 with four Robbins double shield TBMs. Click cn/15. 13/06.

  Design study under way by National Authority for Tunnels for new metro to cross city east-west from Salah Salem to Embaba. June 1998.   Will include crossings of the Nile on either side of Zamalek Island and will interchange with Line 1 at Attaba and Line 2 at Nasser.   Invitation to prequalify, deadline 1st October, 2002 for phase 1 Attaba-Abbasia, 4.5 km in length. Group 1 is for signalling and driving modes, centralized control systems, and telecommunication systems. Group 2: heavy civil works and engineering including bored tunnelling, construction of five underground stations with the relevant arrangement works, and annexed structures. Group 3: power supply including the construction of a high voltage station, electro-mechanical equipment, toll equipment, and a light repair workshop at Abbasia. Group 4: track works including both unballasted and ballasted tracks with power third rail as well as the track connection with the railway network. Group 5: rolling stock. The 33 km Line 3, 26 km of which underground, will be built in four stages at a cost of €4.5 billion. Studies have been undertaken by Systra. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=104683-2002, OJ S 135, or contact National Authority for Tunnels, Cairo, tel. +20 202 5742968 or fax +20 202 5742950. 30/02.  Prequalification notice for consultancy services for construction supervision for the 4.3 km first phase of Line 3 between Attaba Square and Abbasia. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=150995-2002, OJ S 192, or contact National Authority for Tunnels, fax +202 5742950. 41/02.Systra is currently analysing the bids received for the first phase of Line 3, a 4.5 km section from Attaba to Abbasia. The three bidders for contract 1 (signalling and telecommunication) are Alcatel / Alstom, Siemens and Citic (China). The two bidders for contract 2 (civil engineering) are Bouygues / Spie / Vinci / Arab Contractors / Orascom (France / Egypt) and OHL / ECTTP (Spain / Egypt). The five bidders for contract 3 (E&M equipment) are Alstom / Spie / Thales / Arab Contractors (France / Egypt), Siemens, Citic, FCC Construccion / ECTTP (Spain / Egypt), and Mitsubishi. The two bidders for contract 4 (track equipment) are Cogifer / Orascom (France / Egypt) and TSO (France). The contracts will be awarded next month. 24/06.The competition for building the first phase of Cairo's metro Line 3 project reached a crucial point with the opening of the financial offers for civil engineering (contract 2) on 12th September, 2006. The group led by Vinci Construction and Bouygues, made a cheaper offer (EUR125.5 million) compared to its main competitor Spanish construction group OHL allied with Egypt's ECTTP. The official outcome for the contract and three others (signalling and telecommunication, E&M equipment and track equipment) will be announced on 5th October. Click eg/12.According to the valuation, the two competitors have been prequalified for the civil works project as well as for the combined project including power supply, electromechanical work, toll equipment, rolling stock maintenance facilities and maintenance management system. However, for the joint work project, the French companies and their partners (namely Arab Contractors and Orascom) are the only ones which have submitted an offer. The ambitious project, promoted by the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), aims to connect important urban centres, extending from the northwest of greater Cairo at Imbaba, to the north east at Heliopolis, also serving the Cairo International Airport. The entire line will cross under the two branches of the Nile River, with a total length of approximately 33 km, most of which runs though an underground tunnel. Slurry TBM technology will be used. 27 of the 29 stations will be constructed by the cut-and-cover method. 38/06.A group of companies led by Vinci Construction Grands Projets (28.5%), with partners Arab Contractors (27.5%), Bouygues (26%), and Orascom (18%) has just been awarded the civil engineering contract 2 for phase 1 of Line 3 of the Cairo metro. This EUR248.1 million deal is for the construction of 4.3 kilometres of tunnel and five underground stations. Line 3 of the Cairo metro will stretches 33 kilometres to serve 29 stations and will cross the Egyptian capital from east to west, linking the airport, situated 22 km to the northeast of the city centre, to the Mohandessin neighbourhood in Giza. The second phase, 6.2 km long, will be awarded to the same companies, without new invitation to tender. Visit www.nat.org.eg, www.vinci.com, www.arabcont.com and www.bouygues-construction.com 03/07.Contract 1 for signalling and driving modes, centralized control systems, and telecommunication systems has been awarded to Alstom, Alcatel, and Orascom for EUR29.2 million. Visit www.alstom.com, www.alcatel-lucent.com and www.orascom.com 03/07.Contract 3 for power supply including the construction of a high voltage station, electro and mechanical equipment, toll equipment, and a light repair workshop has been awarded to Spie Rail, Alstom and Thales, in partnership with Orascom and Arab Contractors, for EUR121 million. Visit www.spie.com and www.thalesgroup.com 03/07.Vossloh and Cogifer bagged contract 4, worth EUR14.9 million, to lay tracks including both unballasted and ballasted tracks with power third rail as well as the track connection with the railway network. Visit www.vossloh.de and www.cogifer.com 03/07.Contract 5 for rolling stock is not awarded yet. The competitors are Alstom, Mitsubishi, Citic and CAF. Site supervision has been awarded to Systra for EUR5 million. Visit www.systra.com 03/07.