Arcadis has been selected to provide tunnel engineering expertise for the 681.4 million litre (180 million gallon) Upper Rouge River combined sewer overflow (CSO) rock tunnel for the Detroit Water and Sewer Department, a USD600 million construction project. Arcadis' fees for this project will be over USD12 million. Read E-News Weekly 13/2003. Visit www.arcadis-us.com and www.dwsd.org 49/05.Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced that a subsidiary company received a contract from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) to provide detailed design and construction management services for the Upper Rouge tunnel. The value of the 7-year contract will be USD73.5 million. The Upper Rouge CSO tunnel project involves 16 km of an approximate 9.15 m-diameter underground tunnel that will capture and store combined sanitary sewage and storm water flows from 17 Rouge River sewer overflow locations plus the cities of Redford and Dearborn Heights. It will significantly reduce the incidents of polluted waters flowing into the Rouge River and, therefore, reduce pollution to surface waters of the area. Visit www.jacobs.com and www.dwsd.org 09/06.The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is inviting contractors to tender, deadline 17th April, 2008 for construction of the south tunnel of the Upper Rouge tunnel CSO control project (contract PC-764). The work mostly includes excavation, initial support and final lining of a 61 m-deep 24 m-diameter pumping station work shaft that will be used to launch the TBM; 5,700 linear metres of tunnel, 46 metres below grade with a finished diameter of 9.14 m; six connecting adits/deaeration chambers ranging in finished internal diameter from 2.1 to 9.8 m and in length from 24 to 439 m; and the final lining of the DS-7 work shaft. The construction contract will last from September 2008 to December 2012. Bidding documents may be obtained from the DWSD, Contracts section, 1504 Water Board Building, 735 Randolph, Detroit, Michigan 48226 or contact Darryl Latimer, Contracts and grants manager, e-mail latimer@dwsd.org. Sealed bids have to be delivered to the Detroit Finance Department, Purchasing Division, Room 1008, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 2 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48226. Visit www.dwsd.org/procurement/pc-764.pdfThe Upper Rouge tunnel is designed to mitigate and control the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) from 17 outfalls in Detroit, three outfalls in Dearborn Heights and eight outfalls in Redford Township and provide a facility to capture and store these CSOs to the Upper Rouge river during wet weather events. The project will be divided into eight construction contracts: two tunnel contracts (south and north tunnels), five near surface facility contracts, and one pump station contract. The DWSD completed the design in December 2007. The tunnel system includes an 11.28 km 9.14 m ID tunnel, a 24.4 m ID pump station, two work shafts about 15.2 m ID each and 14 drop shafts with various IDs. At about 50 metres below ground level, the tunnel passes through three geologic formations: Antrim shale, Travers Group, and Dundee limestone. Presence of toxic and explosive gases like hydrogen sulfide and methane gases and artesin groundwater conditions can be expected during tunnelling. The tunnel will be built by TBM. The north tunnel will be tendered separately and built between March 2009 and July 2013. 13/08.Bids for the Upper Rouge Tunnel CSO Control Project - North Tunnel will be opened publicly at 14.00 h on 20.11.2008. Work includes excavation of: the 15.9 m-diameter x 56.3 m-deep DS-7 TBM launch shaft; 5.82 km of 9.55 m ID rock tunnel at 48 m-deep between shafts DS-7 and DS-11; the 24.2 m-diameter x 54.1 m-deep DS-11 shaft; and five substantial adits with de-aeration chambers to connect the north tunnel to proposed drop shafts. Full details at www.dwsd.org/procurement/PC-763.pdf. For archive click us/96. 47/08.

The Cobb County Water System (CCWS) selected Jordan, Jones & Goulding for the design of the South Cobb tunnel and influent lift station in Cobb County. Valued at some USD143 million, the project's design elements include some 9,150 m of 7.32 m-diameter tunnel, a 378.5 million-litres-per-day wet well/dry pit influent lift station at the South Cobb water reclamation facility and approximately 1,220 m of 1.8 m gravity sewer. It is anticipated that construction will begin in 2007 with construction funding to be provided through the Georgia Environmental Facilities Agency. The tunnel will pass through the same geologic formations (rock) as the south drive of the Chattahoochee tunnel. Visit www.jjg.com 47/05.The Cobb County Water System (CCWS) has given Parsons and its subcontractor Jacobs Associates the contract to supervise work on the USD200 million South Cobb tunnel. Parsons and Jacobs Associates will oversee construction activities, make independent cost estimates to validate those made by the engineering team, advise CCWS on contracting issues, enact a quality control plan, and assist with community outreach. Visit www.parsons.com and www.jacobssf.comThe South Cobb tunnel is a 9,150 m-long, 8.2 m-diameter tunnel with a concrete lining, construction and drop shafts, inlet structures and smaller connector tunnels. The project also includes a lift station to convey wastewater flows from the tunnel to the South Cobb water reclamation facility. When operational in 2013, the tunnel will replace existing wastewater infrastructure and provide conveyance capacity for build-out of the basin. Visit http://water.cobbcountyga.gov or www.cobbwater.org.The tunnel was designed by Jordan Jones & Goulding. A prequalification for construction will be advertised within the next six weeks. Bids will be taken in summer of 2007. The contract is to be awarded in October 2007. Tunnelling may begin around the end of 2008. A hard rock TBM will be used to bore the tunnel. Visit www.jjg.comThe project is located in the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States. In general, the geology of the Piedmont in the greater Atlanta area consists of medium-grade metamorphic rocks that have been intruded by granitic rocks in some places. A key characteristic of the Piedmont region is the thick mantle of residual soil and partially weathered rock that overlies fresh bedrock. This mantle commonly ranges from three to over 30 metres thick. The soil zone typically forms the upper 60 to 80% of this weathered mantle. The transition zone forms the remainder. The soil zone consists of residual soil plus any overlying alluvium, fill, or colluvium that might be present locally. The transition zone consists of highly fractured rock that is structurally degraded by chemical weathering that penetrates deeply into the rock matrix. The bedrock zone lies beneath this mantle and consists of both fractured and solid bedrock. 07/07.Contractors are invited to prequalify, deadline 12th April, 2007 for the South Cobb tunnel project. This project entails the construction of a large diameter, deep rock tunnel and a lift station to convey wastewater flows from the tunnel to the South Cobb water reclamation facility. The construction cost of the project has been estimated at USD200 million. The tunnel will be approximately 8,845 m in length with a 8.2 m excavated diameter and will be located in rock with depths ranging from 45.7 to 122 metres. Most of the tunnel will be excavated using a TBM with smaller drill and blast tunnels to connect five diversion/drop shaft structures to the tunnel. Approximately 75% of the tunnel is expected to be lined with cast-in-place concrete lining. The lift station will be approximately 58 m deep and will contain six vertical non-clog centrifugal pumps in a conventional wet well/dry pit configuration. The project also includes a separate electrical building. Contact Judy B. Jones, Cobb County Water System, Engineering & Records Division, 660 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, Georgia 30060. Tel. +1 770 4196339. E-mail jbjones@cobbcounty.orgThe owner anticipates advertising this project for bid in June 2007 and accepting bids in July 2007. Only contractors who have been prequalified through this process will be allowed to bid on this project. Click us/95. Visit http://purchasing.cobbcountyga.gov/documents/S3017_000.pdf 12/07.Cobb County on 11th March awarded a USD305 million contract to J.F. Shea and Traylor to build the 8.8 km 8.2 m OD South Cobb tunnel that will drain about 40% of Cobb. The tunnel will average 76 m in depth as it runs south through bedrock from near the boundary with Douglas County and then east to a treatment plant on the Chattahoochee River near I-20. Four smaller tunnels totalling 1.6 km and 1.8 to 3 m in diameter, are included. The contract contains about USD10 million in potential options that could be trimmed if necessary. The deep tunnel will cost USD38 million more than last spring's estimate and about USD105 million over projections from October 2006. Construction materials costs have gone up more than one would expect over the past year. Visit www.jfshea.com and www.traylor.comA supplemental agreement to Jordan, Jones & Goulding's original contract, the company that designed the tunnel project, was approved in the amount not to exceed USD7.5 million for providing construction engineering services (responding to RFIs, reviewing submittals, geological mapping, etc). Visit www.jjg.comThe tunnel will allow the county to avoid replacing 26 kilometres of aging sewer lines and two pumping stations. It will be the second tunnel for Cobb, which in 2004 opened a 15.3 km tunnel in East Cobb. Work is expected to begin this summer and be completed in 2014. Click us/95 for more details. 12/08.

Washington - us/94SeattleWastewater The lowest bidder for the 35.4 km (22 mile) Brightwater conveyance system, east contract in north King and south Snohomish County is the Kenny / Shea / Traylor JV with a bid price of USD130,648,750. The followers are the Jay Dee / Coluccio JV (USD144,765,000), the Impregilo / Healy JV (USD151,683,000), Obayashi (USD152,500,000), the Kiewit / Bilfinger Berger JV (USD174,224,000) and the Vinci / Parsons RCI / Frontier-Kemper JV (USD188,740,000). The contract is for digging one section of a 20.1 km (13 mile) tunnel from the future plant to Puget Sound. It will include a 4,270 m-long (14,000 foot) 5.5 m-diameter (18 foot) tunnel from the North Creek Business Park in Bothell to the plant site north of Woodinville next to State Route 9, two deep shafts for launching and removing the TBM, installing four pipes in the tunnel ranging from 68.6 cm (27 inches) to 213 cm (84 inches) in diameter and fibre-optic cables. The tunnel will be filled with concrete after those installations. In addition, the contractor will dig a smaller 732 m-long (2,400 foot) 1.83 m-diameter tunnel from the North Creek tunnel portal to the existing North Creek pump station and excavate a smaller shaft for a new Brightwater pump station. The project is scheduled to begin in early 2006. After tunnelling is completed, another contractor will build a pump station for sending wastewater to the Brightwater plant.King County will advertise two more tunnelling contracts in 2006. Total construction cost for the wastewater conveyance system is an estimated USD705 million. More in E-News Weekly 44/2005. Visit http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/brightwater and www.ecy.wa.gov 44/05.King County has awarded its first contract for the USD1.5 billion Brightwater wastewater treatment plant. The Kenny Construction / J.F. Shea / Traylor JV has received a USD131 million contract to build the eastern segment of the plant's sewer line system. The 4,270 m-long tunnel will extend from the North Creek Business Park in Bothell to the plant site at Highways 9 and 522 north of Woodinville. Construction is to begin in spring. A TBM will be used to create a tunnel about 5.5 m in diameter at depths of up to 80 m below the surface. The work will include excavating a 22.5 m-deep shaft that will be used to launch the TBM, installing four pipes in the tunnel ranging from 68 cm to 2.1 in diameter, and installing three fibre-optic cables for monitors. Click us/94. Read E-News Weekly 44/2005. Visit www.kennyconstruction.com, http://jfshea.com and www.traylor.com 02/06.The Kenny / Shea / Traylor JV has purchased a 5.8 m-diameter Lovat EPB TBM to be delivered in June 2007 to build a 4.3 km portion of King County's 23 km Brightwater tunnel from North Creek to the Brightwater treatment plant. The TBM RME229SE will be mixed-face with a dressing of 32 ripper teeth, interchangeable with 12" twin tip disc cutters. The cutting head will be powered by four 300 kW hydraulic drive motors which will provide the cutting head with 2,900 to 6,500 kNm of torque from 1.8 rpm to 4 rpm. The machine will have a maximum propulsion thrust of 4,100 tonnes at 340 bar and a stroke of 2.3 metres. Operating at up to 3 bar, the TBM will feature a two-stage 91 cm-diametre screw conveyor.The project involves construction of two 25 m shafts (for TBM launching and retrieval) and a 5.1 metre ID tunnel comprised of rings of prefabricated reinforced concrete segments (4 pieces + 2 keys per ring). The tunnel alignment will range from a depth of 12 to 82 metres and have water levels above the tunnel invert ranging from 9 to 32 metres. The TBM is expected to encounter sedimentary deposits comprised of fine to medium sands with organic silts, coarse sands and gravel with some clays and scattered boulders. Visit www.lovat.com 30/06.Invitation to tender, deadline 21st September, 2006 for the USD105.4 million west tunnel of the Brightwater conveyance system (section 4), which consists of the construction of approx. 6,430 metres of 3.96 m minimum diameter segment lined tunnel, 762 metres of which is secondarily lined to a 3.05 m minimum diameter, 165 metres of 1.52 m microtunnelled effluent sewer, and one portal structure 15.2 m deep for launching a TBM. Also in the contract is the construction of a sampling facility. Visit www.metrokc.gov/procurement/rfpdocs/2006/July/Construction/C00007C06/C00007C06.pdf or contact King County, tel. +1 2062633735, fax +1 2066841486, e-mail crystal.graham@metrokc.gov 36/06.French construction and concessions group Vinci Construction Grands Projets, in JV with Parsons RCI (20%) and Frontier-Kemper Constructors (20%), has won a USD209.7 million contract from King County to build two tunnels in south Snohomish and north King counties in the US state of Washington. The tunnels are part of the central portion of the 26 km Brightwater conveyance tunnel, the region's largest clean water project in 40 years. The scope of work on the central tunnel contract includes building two tunnels, one from Kenmore to the North Creek Business Park in Bothell and another from Kenmore to Ballinger Way Northeast in Shoreline. The combined length of the tunnels is about 9.6 km. The joint venture, based in Montreal, will dig up one 6.1 km-long tunnel and another 3.6 km, which will both connect a wastewater management centre north of Seattle. Visit www.vinci.com, www.parsons.com or www.rci-group.com and www.frontier-kemper.comConstruction of the 4.27 m-diameter tunnels, which will be lined with prefabricated concrete segments, begins 28th August, 2006 and will last 51 months. Crews will use two 5.3 m OD slurry TBMs and will also excavate two deep shafts of 28 m and 63 m deep - one near the intersection of 80th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 192nd Street in Kenmore, and another along Ballinger Way Northeast in Shoreline - to launch and remove the TBMs. Pressures will reach up to 7 bars.The contractor will install six pipes in the tunnel ranging from 36 cm to 3.2 m in diameter along with two fibre optic cables to monitor Brightwater facilities. Portions of the tunnel around the pipes will be filled with concrete after those installations.In addition, the contractor will trench a smaller 1,036 m-long pipeline from the Kenmore portal to connect the new Brightwater pipes to the existing local sewer system using a combination of open cut and approx. 500 metres of microtunnel construction. Construction on the central tunnel is scheduled to be completed in 2010.The county has already selected Jacobs Civil to provide construction management services for the conveyance facilities. MWH/Jacobs Associates is designing the system as a joint venture and CDM is providing geotechnical work as part of tunnel design. Visit www.jacobs.com, www.mwhglobal.com, www.jacobssf.com and www.cdm.com 36/06.The east segment of the Brightwater tunnel construction, from North Creek to the treatment plant site on State Route 9, has been awarded to a joint venture of Kenny, J. F. Shea and Traylor. The contract includes approx. 4.27 km of 4.89 m ID tunnel containing four pipes and three fibre optic cables, construction of launch and receiving shafts, pump station excavation and shoring, and 731 m of microtunnel. Click us/94. Read E-News Weekly 44/2005. Visit http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/brightwater/contracts/conveycontracts.htm 36/06.Three firms submitted bids for contract C00007C06 for the west segment of the 20.9 km USD1.62 billion Brightwater conveyance system. The apparent low bid submitted by joint venture Jay Dee/Coluccio/Taisei was USD102.1 million compared to King County's estimate of USD105.5 million. The other bids came from Kenny/Shea/Traylor JV at USD106.9 million and Kiewit/Bilfinger Berger at USD124.5 million.The contract includes a 6.4 km tunnel extending from Point Wells in unincorporated Snohomish County to Ballinger Way in Shoreline. The selected contractor will excavate a 15.2 m-deep portal at Point Wells to launch a tunnel boring machine. This machine will dig the 4 m-diameter tunnel and build the pipe underground without disrupting the surface.In addition, the contractor will microtunnel a smaller 164.6 m effluent tunnel about 1.5 m in diameter. Also included in the contract is the construction of a sampling facility in the portal at Point Wells to monitor treated wastewater going into Puget Sound. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2007. Click us/94. Visit http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/brightwater/index.htm 43/06.

  The California Department of Transportation is inviting bids, deadline 2nd September, 2006 for contract 04-1123U4, project plans for construction on state highway in San Mateo County near Pacifica from km 4.7 to km 1 south of Lindamar Boulevard, including construction of the Devil's Slide twin bore tunnel (1,220 m). The tunnel will be 9.15 m wide, with 2.45 m wide shoulders, and will cross the San Pedro mountains. Contact Department of Transportation, Plans and Bid Documents, Room 0200, MS #26, Transportation Building, 1120 N Street, Sacramento, California 95814. Tel. +1 9166544490, fax +1 9166547028, e-mail Duty_Senior_District04@dot.ca.govThe sequential excavation method (SEM) will be employed to excavate and support the mined tunnels of both standard and enlarged cross sections, cross passages, equipment chambers, access passages, shotcrete canopies at south portals, and niches. The SEM utilizes NATM principles, modified so as to predetermine the various support measures required, defined as support categories, along different parts of the tunnels. The support requirements are determined in advance to suite generalized conditions along the tunnel and support measures are changed to maintain stability and safety of the excavation. The SEM utilizes a set of support measures for each category including the following: lattice girders, ground water drainage, grouted steel pipes (pipe arch canopy), rock dowels of different types, spiles of different types, face bolts and reinforced shotcrete. Read E-News Weekly 40/2004 & 37/2004. For full details, visit www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/oe/project_ads_addenda/04/04-1123U4/pdf/04-1123U4sp.pdf and www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/construction/Inquiries/04-1123U4_inquiry.html. Visit also www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/dslide 31-32/06.The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) opened the bidding process on 21st November, 2006 for potential builders of a tunnel under Montara Mountain on the coast of San Mateo County that would serve as a bypass to the Devil's Slide area on state Highway 1. The department now has 30 calendar days to choose between two separate bids. One bid, proposed by Kiewit Pacific, would cost nearly USD272.4 million, USD32 million over what Caltrans predicted, and the construction work would take an estimated 1,500 days. Another bid was put up by a joint venture of three construction companies - Shea, Traylor and Atkinson. Their offer was nearly USD50 million more costly than the first and the companies estimate it would take 1,900 days to complete the tunnel. After a winning bid is selected, work on the tunnel could begin as early as summer 2007. Click us/93. Visit www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/dslide/index.html 49/06.

Request for Information, deadline 14th January, 2005 to seek statements of interest for the design, construction, improvement, maintenance and/or operation of a second Midtown tunnel under the Elizabeth River and approach roads between Portsmouth and Norfolk. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will consider responses and determine whether to solicit conceptual proposals.The proposed Midtown Tunnel Corridor Project is located between the Interchange of Martin Luther King (Route 58) and western freeways in Portsmouth and Brambleton Avenue in Norfolk. The new crossing would carry a 4-lane tunnel. The existing Midtown tunnel (1,280 m) opened in 1962. Contact Virginia Department of Transportation, Daniele J. Noland, Project Manager, Innovative Project Delivery Division, 1401 East Broad Street Richmond, Virginia 23219. Visit www.virginiadot.org/business/resources/rfi-mtcp.pdf 46/04.Solicitation for conceptual proposals, deadline 29th September, 2008 for improvements to the Downtown tunnel, the Midtown tunnel and the Martin Luther King (MLK) freeway extension between Norfolk and Portsmouth in the Hampton Roads area, as part of a plan to make an estimated USD1 billion. The project is comprised of a new two-lane tunnel under the Elizabeth river parallel to the existing Midtown tunnel, maintenance and safety improvements to the existing Midtown tunnel, minor modifications to the interchange at Brambleton/Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk, maintenance and safety improvements to the existing Downtown tunnel, and extending the MLK from LondonBoulevard to Interstate 264 (I-264), with an interchange at High Street. The project includes the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance. The entire project will be financed through tolls through a public-private partnership. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will award a contract by 2010 and complete construction by 2015. Visit www.virginiadot.org/projects/hamptonroads/downtown_tunnel-midtown_tunnel-mlk_extension.asp 25/08.

A joint venture between Skanska Infrastructure Development and Macquarie Group worth US$2.1 Billion was approved by Virginia Department of Transport to build a new Midtown Tunnel and to rehabilitate the existing Midtown tunnel in Virginia. The tunnels cross the main channel of the Elizabeth River in the South Hampton Roads area of Virginia, linking the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk. For more information please click here and here 49/11

USDOT has approved a loan of USD422 million for Virginia for an immediate start to construction of the new Midtown tunnel and rehabilitation of existing links. VDOT is in a PPP with Elizabeth River Crossings, a JV of Skanska and Macquarie, which will finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the tunnels under a 58-year concession. Visit us/92 and http://midtowntunnel.org/. 16/12.

Transdyn was selected to design, build, and maintain an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and Facilities Management SCADA System for the EUR1.11 billion (US$1.45 billion) Elizabeth River Tunnels Project in the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia. Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Elizabeth River Crossings (ERC) have partnered to construct a new Midtown Tunnel, rehabilitate the existing Midtown and Downtown tunnels, and extend the Martin Luther King (MLK) Expressway. Construction started last 10.01.2013. Click us/92. Visit http://driveert.com/ and www.transdyn.com. 15/13.

Black & Veatch has been awarded a contract by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) to perform an alignment study and detailed design for the Bi-County Water Supply Main Project. The approximately 9,150 m-long, 2.1 m-diameter supply main will help WSSC meet increasing water consumption needs in Prince George's County and provide reliable system pressure in Montgomery County. The study phase of the project includes assessment of social and community impacts and an extensive community outreach programme, as well as geophysical testing to define rock profile and subsurface characteristics. The study requires careful consideration and balancing of technical, economic, public, political and environmental factors to identify the preferred alignment and best method of construction. Construction alternatives under consideration are cut-and-cover pipeline, hard rock tunnel and a combination of methods. The alignment study is scheduled for completion in mid to late 2005, and the detailed design will be completed approximately one year later. When construction is completed (estimated 2008) , the new supply main will provide reliable conveyance of drinking water and help maintain pressure in the distribution system. Visit www.bv.com and www.wsscwater.com 42/04.

  While the West Side CSO tunnel is under construction to reduce sewage into the Willamette river, the 9.15 km East Side CSO tunnel is under design. Currently, the planned interior diameter of the tunnel is approximately 6.7 m while the outer diameter of the tunnel is approximately 7.6 m. The final size of the tunnel and the liner are still being evaluated and have not been finalised yet. The tunnel is planned to be excavated through the use of a pressure face TBM to maintain face stability and minimise ground losses in the soft ground conditions. Two types of closed face TBMs were identified for potential use on this project: slurry face and earth pressure balance machines. It is currently assumed that two TBMs would be used to complete the project. The two TBMs that are being used for the West Side CSO tunnel would not be used on the East Side due to their different diameters. The lining is expected to consist of bolted precast reinforced concrete segments. The mucking-out technique has not yet been evaluated and will be dependent on the selected tunnelling equipment. Options for discharge and transport of excavated material include conveyor, truck, barge and/or rail. The five shortlisted JVs are Bouygues / Traylor / J.F. Shea; Flatiron / Wayss & Freytag / Fluor; Impregilo / S.A. Healy / Obayashi; ESCSO Tunnel Constructors which consists of Morgan Est, Arup and Soletanche Bachy; and Kiewit / Bilfinger Berger. A Notice to Proceed to begin construction of the project is anticipated to be issued to the selected contractor in January of 2006. It is currently estimated that tunnelling would begin on May 2007 and end on July 2010. More in E-News Weekly 40/2004. Visit www.portlandonline.com/cso 40/04.The City of Portland will negotiate with a JV of Kiewit and Bilfinger Berger for a contract to build the East Side Big Pipe. Construction will start in 2006 on the final project in the city's combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The East Side Big Pipe will be a 9 km 6.5 m-diameter tunnel to capture sewage and stormwater on the east side of the Willamette River and carry it to the wastewater treatment plant. The Portland City Council will consider approving the pre-construction contract in late March. Construction is estimated to cost approximately USD500 million and will be finished in 2011. Visit www.portlandonline.com/cso, www.kiewit.com/eastsidecso and www.bilfinger.de 06/05.

  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.

  The Baumgartner Tunnel JV, including Frontier Kemper and Gunther-Nash, is to begin boring a 6,184 m-long 3.66 m-diameter gravity tunnel for the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, as part of the Lower Meramec River System Improvement project. Under an agreement with the state of Missouri, the district must close the overloaded Baumgartner lagoon by 31st December, 2006 or face a penalty for each day the lagoon operates after the deadline. The USD45 million tunnel is part of a USD217 million project which includes also a sewage treatment plant on Fine Road. Sewage will travel in a reinforced concrete pipe inside the tunnel. The pipe will be 2.44 m in diameter. The space between it and the rock will be filled with grout.A reconditioned Wirth TBM 350-400E will be used about 58 m below ground. The tunnel will cross the Meramec River twice. Three major shafts will be constructed, namely a lift station approximately 30 m in diameter and 61 m deep, the 10.4 m-diameter exit shaft and the 11 m-diameter screen shaft. The cutting head is driven by 24 pressurised cylinders. Conveyor belts will haul the bored rock to a shaft at the treatment plant. The tunnel is slated to be finished by November 2005. Visit www.wirth-europe.com and www.frontier-kemper.com 33-34/04.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has been named construction manager for two interceptor tunnels being built on the Sacramento River by Affholder. PB is responsible for providing complete construction management services, including contract administration, quality assurance, schedule, cost control, inspection, construction staking, and materials testing for the County of Sacramento. Visit www.pbworld.comThe USD44 million tunnels are part of the lower northwest interceptor project being undertaken by the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District in Sacramento. The project consists of two bored tunnels of approximately 4.6 m excavated diameter. The Northern Sacramento River Crossing is 598 m-long while the Southern Sacramento River Crossing (SSRC) is 631 m-long. The tunnels will be inclined downwards at 6% from deep shafts on either side of the river. The geology consists of alluvial sand, silt and silty sand associated with recent Sacramento River channel deposits, overlain outside the river levees by clayey soils representing river flood deposits. Two Lovat EPB TBMs will be used, equipped with a screw conveyor at the bottom of the cutter head. Method of muck transport on 6% grade as yet not defined. Lining with gasketed, precast concrete segmental linings installed behind the TBMs, while the twin steel carrier pipes will be installed inside the excavated tunnels and shafts, and the tunnels backfilled with low density cellular concrete. Other underground structures at the NSRC include a 10.6 m-wide x 45.4 m-long x 8.5 m-deep launching shaft and a 7.6 m-wide x 15.2 m-long x 14.8 m-deep receiving shaft. At the SSRC, a 10.6 m-wide x 45.4 m-long x 8.8 m-deep launching shaft and a 7.6 m-wide x 15.2 m-long x 8.8 m-deep receiving shaft. Notice to proceed for work start on 23rd July, 2004 with expected end in September 2006. Visit www.lowernorthwest.com and www.lovat.com 29/04.A USD19.3 million construction contract was awarded to Affholder on 13th October, 2004 for construction of a 2,379 m 1.83 m-diameter gravity pipeline, a project known as Bradshaw Interceptor, section 8. Depth of installation averages 10.7-12.2 m to the invert of the pipe. The entire pipeline will be installed in a tunnel (two-pass tunnel in soft ground construction). Excavated diameter for the initial lining is 3.07 m diameter. Much of the area along the Bradshaw 8 alignment has been dredged for gold. Local dredging operations varied between 6.1-9.15 m in depth. Geotechnical data indicated the presence of coarsed-grained soil mixture, typically containing cobbles (7.62 to 30.5 cm in diameter) with occasional boulders up to 45.7 cm in size. The tunnel boring zone, which is below the dredged areas, is consisted of fined-grained soils with medium dense to very dense combination of sands, silts, and clays. The ground water level is much deeper at about 19.8-21.3 m below ground surface. However, perched water was found at the tunnel boring zone during soil borings. Notice to proceed with construction is set for 15th November, 2004. Because of mobilisation and construction of a launching shaft, approximately 9 m in diameter and 14 m deep, tunnelling will not start until January or February 2005. The contractor has 560 calendar days to finish the project in June 2006. Designer is Montgomery Watson Harza. Visit www.srcsd.com/prj-bradshaw-8.html and www.insituform.com/corporate/corp_affholder.html 47/04.