Chagnaud/Desquene et Giral jv to use refurbished Lovat 3.84 m-diameter TBM with triple roller main bearing and 4 bar seals for 2.45 km-long tunnel at the Lire-Sud SAGEP project in heavily fractured and weathered chalk with flints of UCS below 10 MPa. Concrete segmental lining rings 1.2 m-long and 250 mm-thick with o.d. 3.645 m. Visit www.lovat.com October 2000. Porte des Thernes shaft diaphragm wall completed and ground injection underway to excavate TBM launch chamber to commence boring in March, 2001for $25.3 million, 2.4 km-long Lire-Sud project. Alignment includes several 300 m-radius curves. Visit www.sagep.fr and www.lovat.com December 2000.
