Northern end of line 5 being extended under Plaza Baquendano and then turning west following Calles Merced, Monjitas and Cathedral to an intersection with Santa Ana station on line 2 downtown. Two stations on new route, both cut-and-cover with platform and mezzanine levels. Bellas Artes station in cramped situation where vertical piles cannot be installed. Instead, 130 x 1.2 m diameter piles have been installed to depths of 15 - 21 m by foundation specialist Pilotes Terratest. Main contractor Neut Latour excavating 16 m wide x 140 m long x 15 m deep station box in stages to allow for pile anchoring using cables of lengths 13 m to 20 m. Ground conditions alluvial deposit of gravel, sand, and coarse cobble beds with boulders.   Consultant Geoconsult, Salzburg, Austria fax +43 662 6596510, E-mail office@gcs.co.at contact F L Jansky. Mar 1999.   4.3 km continuation of northern end of Line 5 under Plaza Baquendano and in a westerly direction following Merced, Monjitas and Cathedral Streets to intersect with existing Santa Ana station on Line 2 in downtown Santiago. Two stations being constructed using cut and cover with platform and mezzanine levels at Bellas Artes Museum and Plaza de Armas, and station boxes at Baquendano and Santa Ana will also be extended. Running tunnels are 60m2, 10 m wide x 9 m high in alluvium comprising coarse cobbles, boulders and fines at depths of 12 m to 17 m accessed by 20 m-diameter shafts at intervals. Work by ByC jv commenced in January, 1998 and is scheduled for completion in 2000. April 1999.   Constructora Internacional reports progress with Plaza de Armas station walling at two pours/week for straight walls and 3 pours/week for curved walls using Efco forms. October 1999.  A 1.9 km westbound extension from Santa Ana to Matucana is under construction by Constructora Internacional, DPS, Inela and Mendes Junior. Cost of US$108 million, including two stations, Ricardo Cumming y Quinta Normal. The 476 m Santa Ana-Cumming tunnel has been completed end of April. Opening first quarter 2004. Visit www.metro-chile.cl or www.metrosantiago.cl 24/02.Invitation to tender, deadline 21st February, 2007 for sale of tender documents and 22nd March, 2007 for submission of bids, for detailed civil engineering design for the Quinta Normal-Lo Prado section on the extension of Line 5 to Maipu of the Santiago metro. All companies or consortia shall obligatorily participate along with a specialized foreign company, either member of the consortium or subcontractor, with expertise in urban tunnel design in soft ground, monitoring and control of strength and deformations. This is the first of four sections to be tendered. Line 5 to Maipu is a project to connect Quinta Normal with Plaza de Maipu, of a length of 14.2 km and 11 stations. It is expected to operate at the end of 2010. The line will run through tunnels and on elevated viaducts as follows: 7 km in tunnel from Quinta Normal to General Bonilla / Teniente Cruz, 4 km on viaduct from General Bonilla / Teniente Cruz to Avenida Pajaritos / Avenida Vespucio and 3.2 km in tunnel from Avenita Pajaritos / Avenida Vespucio to Plaza de Maipu. The project cost totals USD670.1 million. Visit www.metrosantiago.cl/files/licitaciones/ing_detalle_trramo_1.doc or contact Carlos Mercado, Secretarí­a de la Gerencia Lí­nea Maipíº, Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins, 1414, 3°, Santiago. Tel. +56 22503921, fax +56 26725235, e-mail cmercado@metro-chile.cl 08/07.The deadline for sale of tender documents expired on 19th January, 2007 for the detailed civil engineering design of the stations, tunnels between stations and associated works, based on the conceptual designs and detailed designs of the shafts and connecting galleries between these shafts and the tunnel, and on-site supervision during construction of the 3.8 km extension to Line 1 to Oriente. This extension under Avenida Apoquindo will serve three stations in Manquehue, Hernando de Magallanes and Plaza Los Domí­nicos. Section N is 1.96 km long. Section O is 1.81 km long. Contestants will submit their bids no later than 23rd February. Visit www.metrosantiago.cl/files/licitaciones/detalles_obras_civiles_linea1_oriente.doc or contact Osvaldo Richards, tel. +56 22503904, fax +56 22526050, e-mail orichards@metro-chile.cl 08/07.The deadline for sale of tender documents expired on 18th January, 2007 for construction of the shafts and connecting galleries between these shafts and the future tunnel of section N from Escuela Militar to Esteban dell Orto on Line 1 to Oriente of the Santiago metro. Contestants will submit their bids no later than 6th March. Visit www.metrosantiago.cl/files/licitaciones/piques_galerias_tramo_n_linea_1_oriente.doc or contact Fernando Gonzí¡lez, tel. +56 22503906, fax +56 22526050, e-mail fgonzalez@metro-chile.cl 08/07.CIL has been contracted to build the preliminary works (shafts and connecting galleries between these shafts and the tunnel) of section O on Line 1 to Oriente. In addition, President Michelle Bachelet attended on 25th January, 2007 the groundbreaking for the preliminary works (shafts and connecting galleries to the future tunnel) on the Riesco-Maipu section on the Line 5 extension to Maipu. The contractor is also CIL. Visit www.metrosantiago.cl and www.cil.cl 08/07.