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.