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.