Further to a massive rockfall (4,000 cubic metres) on 21st February, 2003, the Grands Goulets road on local road RD 518 in the Vercors Gorges is closed, obliging motorists to do a 30 km detour. A 1.7 km-long single-tube tunnel must be urgently bored. Preliminary studies have been undertaken by CETU (Centre d'Etudes des Tunnels) and Scetauroute. Public hearings will be held from September and the project should be approved at year-end. The tunnel will be blasted in marls and limestone. Support with rockbolts, shotcrete and steel arches. Gradient 4%. One ascending drive with a possible second drive to speed up the project. Civil works to be divided into three calls for tender with first portal in June 2004, then second portal and tunnel later on. Visit www.drome.equipement.gouv.fr 18/03. Preinformation notice for engineering studies for the Grands Goulets (1.7 km) and Petits Goulets (200 m) tunnels on local road RD 518 between Sainte-Eulalie en Royans and Les Baraques en Vercors. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=076060-2003, OJ S 85, or contact DDE de la Drôme, Valence, fax +33 475797565. 19/03. Open call for bids, deadline 30th June, 2003 for engineering studies for the Grands Goulets (1.7 km) and Petit Goulets (200 m) tunnels on county road RD 518. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=085703-2003, OJ S 95, or DDE de la Drôme, Valence, fax +33 475428754. 21/03. Open call for bids, deadline 23rd June, 2003 for core drills, data logging and laboratory testing as part of the construction of the Grands Goulets tunnel (1.7 km) and Petits Goulets tunnel (200 m) on county road RD 518. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=088881-2003, OJ S 99, or contact DDE de la Drôme, Valence, fax +33 475797565. 23/03.Restricted call for tenders, deadline 6th August, 2004 for construction of the 1.7 km two-way dual-lane Grands Goulets tunnel on county road RD 518 in southeast France. Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=110363-2004, OJ S 130, or contact Departement de la Drome, Valence, fax +33 475797565 or 475428754. 29/04.Bouygues TP secured the contract to build the 1.7 km Grands Goulets tunnel, a single bore on local road RD 518 in Drome county. There will be one drive from downhill (1.6 km) using the drill/blast method and 100 m from the uphill entrance with a hydraulic breaker. Visit www.bouygues-construction.com 15/05.Bouygues Travaux Publics is currently building the 1,650 m Grands Goulets tunnel in Drome department. The contract includes utility relocation, civil works, the carriageway, painting of the walls and outside access to the valley and mountain portals. The Grands Goulets is a Natura 2000 listed site, at the heart of the Vercors national park. At the valley portal, a 40 m-long cut-and-cover portion and a water basin in case of emergency intervention of fire fighters will be built. There will be also six unlined rescue galleries, 10 sq m of cross section for a total length of 850 m. Visit www.bouygues-construction.comThe geology is mainly limestone (800 m of Barremian type and 600 m of Uronian type) and 100 m of sandstone sands. Twelve faults will be crossed (5 to 50 m). The drill/blast method is used in the limestone. A Robofore three-boom automatic jumbo supplied by Robodrill is used to excavate upwards the 1,550 m-long valley drive. Steel arches will be placed when the faults are encountered. A two-boom manual Robofore is employed for back-up to bore the rescue galleries. The explosives are supplied by Kinsite-Nitro Bickford (solution Morse). Visit www.robodrill-sa.com and www.nitrobickford.frThe mountain drive is executed downwards in a top heading and bench sequence with a Paurat roadheader, able to provide a 200 kW power at the rotary head. As the machine excavates the 100 m of sandstone sands, steel arches are placed every 1-1.5 metres and shotcrete is sprayed in between. The roadheader is used on that section of the tunnel because the sandstone sands cannot be blasted. In the presence of water, they turn into a modelling clay before becoming mud. Two Normet shotcreting robots are operated at the worksite. Visit www.wirth-europe.de/roadheaders/paurat.htm and www.normet.fiFor the drill/blast section, support consists of HA 25 bolts and Expanbol bolts supplied by Emcorsa, HEB 180 steel arches supplied by Arcane and shotcrete prepared with Meyco 170 admixture of MBT-Degussa. Concrete is produced by Béton Rhône-Alpes from a plant at the Auberives jobsite. Visit www.emcorsa.com and www.degussa-cc.frMuck haulage by DTP Terrassement, a Bouygues Construction affiliate, using a loader equipped with side-dump bucket and three to five dump trucks. At the valley worksite, the limestone material is stored at the spot, crushed and recycled as part of another contract. At the mountain site, the sand spoil is stored permanently on a dedicated area which will be modelled at the end of the project.On the valley side, earthworks and construction of the portal are finished. Twenty metres of the cut-and-cover tunnel is completed and work is nearing end. Drill/blast tunnelling of the top heading at the mountain drive had reached 90 m at the end of 2005.Breakthrough is anticipated for end 2006-early 2007. The final blast (rescue galleries) is programmed for July 2007. Completion of the project is foreseen in end 2007. 05/06.Restricted call for tenders, deadline 6th November, 2006 for equipment of the 1.7 km Grands Goulets tunnel (five lots). Click fr/55. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=199608-2006, OJ S 188, or contact Conseil general de la Drome, Valence, fax +33 475759299 or 475428754. E-mail catherine.gerard@equipement.gouv.fr or sg-m.dde-drome@equipement.gouv.fr 41/06.A joint venture led by ETDE with Clemessy, Seitha and SEE SR as partners concluded a EUR4.9 million contract to equip the 1.7 km Grands Goulets single bored tunnel with power supply, lighting, ventilation, radio communication and fire protection. Click here. Visit www.etde.fr, www.clemessy.fr and www.seitha.fr 31/07.