Contract value $5 billion. Wayss & Freytag ordered two 6.52 m Lovat EPBs with mixed face cutterheads for delivery August and September, 1998. April 1998.   Due to open 2002, 20 km line runs entirely underground with 16 stations linking World Trade Centre to Punggol and will interchange with existing MRT at Outrani Park on East-West line and Dhobi Ghaut on North-South line. Eleven contracts along line and a twelfth for the depot. Sept 1999.   Meyco reports it is supplying Fix SLF foam admixture for soil conditioning on the 5 km x 6.56 m-diameter EPB tunnels and Fix TSG for tailshield sealant. For annulus grouting Rheocell/Rheofill, a special foam admixture, was used to prevent bleeding and segregation and overcome problems with locally available coarse sands. More information at www.mbt.com February 2000.Lovat reports machine 257/18000 broke through to Kovan station on 30th August and 257/17900 on 4th September. They will be internally disassembled in the tunnel with sacrificial skins to be left in situ because Kovan station works are at an advanced stage with no vertical access, and the permanent eye is in place and smaller than the TBM diameter. Visit www.lovat.com Sept 2000.

  Two large tunnels at depths of 20 m to 50 m. Value $5.2 billion. October 1998.    Concept is to use link sewers to intercept flows from existing gravity sewers upstream of the existing pumping stations and channel them by gravity through deep tunnels to centralised STWs at the south coast and thence to discharge via deep sea outfalls. With up to 45 m water pressure, tunnels will be driven by EPB or slurry TBM with sealed, bolted, grouted precast concrete segmental lining. Final lining will be cast-in-place concrete with corrosion-resistant membrane.   North tunnel from Changi East to Kranji comprises five contracts. T-01 is for 5.9 km of 6.0 m i.d. tunnel with 5 shafts; T-02 is for 7.7 km of 6.0 m with 7 shafts and an odour control facility (OCF); T-03 for 5.2 km of 6.0 m with 10 shafts, 3 ODFs, and a 250 m lateral connector; T-04 is for 7.2 km of 4.3 m i.d. with 9 shafts, 2 ODFs, and an 800 m lateral connector; T-05 is for 12.5 km of 3.6 m i.d. with 11 shafts and one ODF. Eastern two-thirds of the North tunnel is in Old Alluvium, a competent tunnelling medium. Western one-third in granite.   Spur tunnel T-06 connecting Tanglin and Holland Road areas comprises 9.7 km of 3.3 m i.d. tunnel with 8 shafts. Alignment is in fractured sedimentary rock, dense soil and faulted ground requiring shielded TBM with hard and soft rock capability.   Tendering process complete and award imminent. Visit www.gov.sg/gitis/ for full information about tendering contractors and amounts. October 1999.   Design and construct contract for T-02 Bedok tunnel awarded to Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Ltd value S$75.6 bn plus Y1.3 trillion. Design and construct contract for T-05 Kranji tunnel awarded to jv of Philipp Holzmann/Sembcorp value S$139.5 bn. Visit www.hlzm.de January 2000.   Contract T-04 for the Ang Mo Kio tunnel of the Singapore Deep Tunnel Sewerage System has been awarded to Samsung Corporation of 83 Clemenceau Avenue, #09-01 UE Square, Singapore 239920 in the value of $45 million by the Ministry of the Environment, Sewerage Dept, tel +65 731 9591. Source www.gov.sg/gitis/ March 2000. Remaining contract awards as follows: T-01, Changi tunnel value $47.4 million to jv of WohHup and Shanghai Tunnel Engineering; T-03 Paya Lebar tunnel value $40.5 million to jv of Kumagai Gumi and Sembcorp; T-05 Kranji tunnel value $83 million to jv of Sembcorp and Philipp Holzmann. All contracts include shafts. Contract for T-06 tunnel between Tanglin and Holland Road awaiting award. Visit www.gov.sg/gitis/ for more information. May 2000. T-06 contract for 9.6 km x 3.3 m-diameter section between Tanglin and Holland Road value $60 million awarded to Zueblin Queensway who will use two Herrenknecht TBMs for completion May, 2004. On the other five contracts the shafts are under construction at 1.8 m and 3.0 m diameter for access and 10 m to maximum 16 m for working, with depths of 20 - 50 m. First TBM arrives December, 2000 to start early 2001. T-01 will use Herrenknecht TBM; T-02 NKK TBM; T-03 Mitsubishi TBM; T-04 Mitsubishi TBM; and T-05 two Herrenknecht TBMs. Visit www.herrenknecht.com and look out for www.dtss.gov.sg under construction. Sept 2000.  Braddle Road in Singapore is reported as having been lowered by a few centimetres. The event occurred shortly after the drilling of a probe hole. Contractors are working in the vicinity on contract T03 of the deep sewer scheme. Their TBM was awaiting an unsealed launch from the adjacent shaft, when sand and water entered the chamber. Local correspondents have noted the spatial juxtapositioning of the three events. Visit www.lta.gov.sg 19/01.Invitation to tender, deadline 16th September, 2005 for civil engineering for River Valley Link Sewers Contract 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System. The tender is for the laying of 3 km of reinforced concrete sewer pipes of 1,800 mm and 2,100 mm diameter by pipejacking/microtunnelling method. The contract, when awarded, will have a period of 30 months. Visit www.gebiz.gov.sg, click on Tender Notice and enter PUB000ETT05000138 as ITT No. or contact Public Utilities Board, Singapore, tel. +65 67319567, fax +65 67319699 or e-mail cheng_lay_beng@pub.gov.sg 35/05.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 15/06/2020, for the construction of the R2 Roznava Jablonov nad Turnou highway, including the 4248 m single tube Soroska tunnel, with an escape gallery. Value of the contract is EUR243.15 million, excluding VAT. The duration of the contract is 1825 days. For tender documents click here where tender must be sent. Contact Narodna Dianicn Spolocnost, attn Lukas Vitek, Bratislava, tel  +421 258311048, email lukas.vitek@ndsas.sk.  For further tender information please  click here, here, here, here and here. Ref.n. 5934. 20/20.

  Tendering for 1.5 km-long twin-tube Sitina D2 tunnel in faulted granite due year 2000. Consultant Terraprojekt for Slovak Roads Administration. August 1999.  A Skanska / Taisei Corporation joint venture has won the contract to build the Sitina twin tunnel in Bratislava for Slovenska sprava ciest, the Slovakian road administration. The tunnel will link the highways D1 to Brno and D2 to Vienna. The two tunnel tubes will each be 1,450 m in length. The project also includes three multi-level interchanges, connecting roads and six bridges. The contract is valued at SKr770 million. The project will be carried out by Skanska's Czech subsidiary, Skanska CZ, in a 50/50 consortium with Taisei. The tunnel construction is being financed through loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Work will begin in April, with completion scheduled for March 2007. NATM to be used. Visit www.skanska.com, www.taisei.co.jp/english/index.html and www.ssc.sk 14/03.Twin-tube Sitina tunnel being driven as top heading and bench in tectonically disrupted crystalline rocks consisting of biotite and mica granodiorites with some granite and pegmatite veins by subcontractor Bespa. Full excavation sections up to 100 sq m with 25-54 m between axes. Five crosspassages to be excavated. False tunnels well advanced at north end. Atlas Copco drillrigs and Meyco Potenza shotcrete jumbos. Visit www.banske-stavby.sk and www.boomer-rig.com 49/04.Contracting jv of Skanska and Taisei, with Banske Stavby subsidiary Bespa as subcontractor driving 1.4 km-long twin-tube Sitina tunnel on motorway D2 on curved alignment at up to 100 sq m section in crystalline rock. NATM techniques in five classes, using drill/blast for classes 1-3 and mechanical excavation with invert arch for classes 4-5. Umbrella drilling throughout alignment using Boodex and Symmetrix systems due to shallow overburden and blocky ground. Visit www.banske-stavby.sk and www.atlascopco.com 18/05.

Award of contract number JN8208/2008 to construct 2.14 km-long twin-tube Markovec tunnel to CPM of SI-2000 Maribor, value EUR53,752,785 compared to engineer's estimate of EUR82,932,000, both sums excluding VAT. More from Oto Rubinic at DARS in Celje, tel +386 130682-04, fax -06, e-mail oto.rubinic@ddc.si. For project history visit tunnelbuilder archive si/17. More at http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=337389-2009. 50/09.

Prequalification, deadline 5th December, 2006 for contract CED 0034/EM for the proposed Braamhoek pumped storage scheme. The contract is for the underground works contract to construct the construction adits, water transfer tunnels and powerhouse complex. The proposed scheme is situated some 23 km northeast of Van Reenen, within the Little Drakensberg mountain range, on the border between Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. The scheme comprises two dams, underground waterway tunnels, an underground powerhouse complex, access tunnels, and access and site roads. Read E-News Weekly 40/2006 for details. Click here or contact Mr. Edwin Mathibe, tel. +27 118004099, fax +27 118004353, e-mail edwin.mathibe@eskom.co.za 46/06.CMC, in joint venture with the South African contractor PG Mavundla, has been awarded the main underground works contract for the construction of Ingula (previously Braamhoek) pumped storage scheme, a 1,340 MW capacity hydroelectric plant, situated western of Durban, within the Little Drakensberg mountain range, worth approximately EUR600 million. The project mainly includes the construction of an intake canal, two headrace tunnels with a total length of two kilometres, an underground powerhouse which will house four 335 MW Francis turbines, a transformer cavern, a 2,450 m tailrace tunnel, ventilation and surge shafts, a tailrace outlet canal and the intake and outlet structures. Click here to read more. Visit www.cmc.coop 32-33/08.

  Planning for the construction of two 4.5 m internal diameter cross harbour tunnels under the entrance to Durban Harbour is well advanced, with invitations to contractors to prequalify for the job about to be issued by Ethekwini Water & Sanitation, the client.The first tunnel, about 530 m long, will carry services (sewage mains, 33 kV cables, etc.). It has to be commissioned by mid-2006 to allow the existing utility tunnel (an immersed tube, constructed some 50 years ago) to be demolished to make way for the widening and deepening of Durban Harbour by the National Ports Authority.The second tunnel (provisional at this stage) is intended to serve as a people mover tunnel between new tourist and residential developments on the north and south sides of the harbour. It will be between 750 m and 1,000 m long depending on final design, and coupled to long cut-and-cover moving walkway (or light rail) declines, and/or lift shafts.Both tunnels are foreseen to be driven at a maximum depth of about 35 m below sea level, primarily through marine sediments (dense, fine-to-medium sands and silty clays, with some soft clayey sandstone on the south bank for the last 150 m or so) using a slurry-type or EPB pressurised face TBM, with a precast concrete segmental lining, 4.5 m ID. No secondary lining is envisaged. The project will also include the construction of terminal structures and temporary and permanent access shafts, varying from 10 m to 20 m deep according to the grade of the north and south bank declines, which are envisaged to vary between 12% and 20% depending upon the capability of the TBM and associated segment and muck transport systems. Equipping of the new utility tunnel and demolition of the old one (after decommissioning and stripping out) also form part of the project.Interested contractors may get more information from consulting firm Goba Moahloli Keeve Steyn (GMKS), who prepared prequalification documents, tel. +27 312071525, fax +27 312071080, e-mail jamesm@gmks.co.zaPrequalification documents may be obtained as from 10th August, 2004 from Ethekwini Water & Sanitation, 3 Prior Road, Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Contact Ian Duncum, tel. +27 313024645, fax +27313024549, e-mail iandu@dmws.durban.gov.zaNon-compulsory project briefing to be held on site at the Durban harbour entrance on 16th August, 2004. Documentation return date is 7th September, 2004. Formal tender documents will be issued to prequalified consortia at the end of October. Work is expected to start in January 2005. 31-32/04.

  BOT proposal for $500 million, 80 km-long line linking Pretoria, Johannesburg, Airport and Sandton under discussion for construction start in 2002, commissioning 2006 for Gauteng provincial government. Feasibility studies conducted by Khuthele Projects, Argus-Gibb and Lebone Engineering proposed 8 km-long bored rock tunnel. Visit www.gibb.co.za 16/01. Notice for request for prequalification, deadline 5th April, 2002 published by the European Investment Bank for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link between Johannesburg, Tshwane and Sandton and the Johannesburg international airport. Eleven kilometres of tunnel are considered. Project to be built on Public Private Partnership. The concessionaire will be required to firstly design, construct and finance the rail infrastructure, and secondly to operate and maintain the rail system for approximately 15 years. Value about R7 billion. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int/ojs/en/frame.htm, OJ S 45, document 34850-2002 or E-mail Lungile Mazwai lungile@gautrain.co.za. Also visit http://www.gautrain.co.za/rfq.htm 11/02.The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project will link Pretoria, Johannesburg and the Johannesburg International Airport. The following double-tube tunnels are planned, each tube with a single track: 9,330 m from Park Station to Rosebank Station; 8,200 m from Rosebank Station to Sandton Station; 4,930 m from Sandton Station to Marlboro Station; 960 m from Rhodesfield Station to Johannesburg International Airport; and the 1,540 m Salvo Hill tunnel in Pretoria. In all, this represents a total length of 24,960 m. The tunnel diameter is 7 m. In addition, there will be five underground stations: Rosebank, Sandton, Rhodesfield, Johannesburg International Airport, and Pretoria. Other underground infrastructure include ventilation shafts and possible tunnel cross connections as would be required for normal operational and safety requirements. The expected geology is complex, comprising andesitic lava, quartzites, shales, granite, grandiorite and greenstone shist. The rocks dip 30 to 40 degrees to the south and are intersected by numerous faults and dolerite dykes and sills. Water can be expected in the quartzites and shales in minor quantities and is likely to occur on fault planes. In the granites, minor water ingress is likely within the more weathered rock or in fissures in the fresh rock. Regarding the excavation method, both drill/blast and TBMs are considered. In poor ground conditions, explosives will be supplemented by mechanical excavators and breakers. Support by means of sprayed concrete with fibres and bolts, and permanent cast concrete lining. For mucking-out, loco and muck cars behind the TBM and loaders and dumper trucks at drill/blast sections. The concession contract is expected to be awarded in November 2004. The expected start date for construction is second half of 2005 and expected end date is 2009. Read E-News Weekly 46/2003, 18/2003, 44/2002 & 19/2002. Visit www.gautrain.co.za 37/04.The Bombela consortium has been selected by the Gauteng provincial government as the preferred bidder for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project. The infrastructure works in the design-build contract will be delivered by Bouygues, Murray & Roberts, and Loliwe Rail Contractors, a company which consists of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) contractors including Blackstone, ZMK Construction, Biyana, Realeka, LET Property Developers, Powerhouse and Tiespro. For the electrical and mechanical system, which represents approximately 35% of the design-build contract, the consortium includes Bombardier and Loliwe Rail Express, a new BEE company. Bombela will establish a maintenance company, which will be owned by the Loliwe companies, Murray & Roberts and RATP Developpement, whose parent company operates the Paris transport system. The Bombela consortium is 50% owned by its international partners and 50% by Murray & Roberts and the Loliwe companies, which represent the consortium's Black Economic Empowerment.The Gautrain consists of an 80 km rail system linking Johannesburg, Sandton, Tshwane and Johannesburg International Airport. The civil works will take 4.5 years. It will include construction of 10 stations (3 of which are underground), 20 km of tunnel section, 9 km of viaducts and bridges and 10 million cu m of earthworks. The project is to be implemented as a Public Private Partnership and includes financing, design, build, operation and maintenance. Gautrain will be transferred back to the Gauteng provincial government at the end of the concession period (4.5 years for construction followed by a 15-year operating period). The project will be complete just before the Football World Cup in 2010. Click za/11. Visit www.gautrain.co.za and www.bouygues-construction.com 27/05.Request for prequalification, deadline 28th October, 2005 for Independent Certifier for the Gautrain project. The IC will perform an independent review, monitoring and audit function during the implementation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project. The IC's duties will include issuing of interim payment certificates, multi-disciplinary monitoring and inspection services relating to the design, construction, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the Gautrain system, and completion services relating to the issuing of the operating commencement certificate and certificate of final completion. The railway, which will link metropolitan areas of Johannesburg and Tshwane (Pretoria) and the Johannesburg international airport, will be made up of two routes totalling around 80 km with 10 stations and a depot. Construction will include approx. 27 km of mined and cut-and-cover tunnels. Visit http://corporate.gautrain.co.za/index.php?cid=916&pid=796&ct=1 or contact Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project Office, 12th Floor, Ten Sixty Six, 35 Pritchard Street, Johannesburg. Contact: Nico Wolmarans and Bruce Evans, fax +27 112984916, e-mail priscillam@gautrainpo.co.za 42/05.Scetauroute and Jean Muller International have won three lots of the Gautrain project, awarded by the Bombela consortium. Lot 1 deals with the optimisation of the tunnel route. Lot 2 is for the geotechnical studies. Lot 6 is for earthworks, drainage and structures. This lot will pose major technical difficulties due to the presence of dolomitic areas and possibly underground cavities. Click za/11. Visit www.scetauroute.com 48/05.

  Five lines totalling 102 km to be built by 2021. Construction of the first 11.9 km section of Line 1 from Sotae to Maruk with 14 stations started in August, 1996 with 9.6 km of cut and cover and 2.3 km by TBM. Expect 43% completion by end-2000 with opening planned for June, 2002. Sept 2000.

  KNR has awarded a $290 million design/build contract for the 17.8 km-long Young Dong Railroad Relocation project to a consortium led by Daewoo Corporation. Project includes 16.3 km of new, mixed-traffic, single-track rock tunnel to be driven by drill/blast on a large-radius loop to provide the required gradients between Dong-Baek Mountain station and Do-Ge station in the eastern mountains. Construction period of eight years. Design by Yooshin Engineering Corporation with specialist consultancy services provided by Halcrow/HBI Haerter includes a rescue station at a crossing loop complete with emergency ventilation through a deep shaft. More information from Dr Rudolf Bopp at hbi.bern@bluewing.ch January 2000. Longest rail tunnel in Korea 16.5 km to be ventilated using Shinhan axial flow fans and ducting. Visit www.shinhan-tunnel.com 20/01.Construction of Youngdong Line from Dongbaek to Doghe underway for completion 2007, value $240 million. 16.24 km-long Doghe NATM tunnel at Samcheok City awarded to contracting consortium of Daewoo 40%, Hyundai 30%, SK 20%, others 10%. Visit www.hyundai.com 24/01.