Second Tomei highway 320 km-long from Tokyo to Nagoya under construction in hard mudstone and sandstone by jv of Hazamagumi, Toda and Fujita. Specialist subcontractor Kibe is using four large Rammer hydraulic hammers on the 1.18 km-long x 18 m-wide Shizuoka tunnel in parallel with drill/blast techniques. 3,700 kg G100T hammer mounted on a Komatsu PC400ST hydraulic excavator is used for face excavation and G80N City and S83 hammers are used for scaling with exceptional levels of productivity and reliability. Project is on schedule for completion in March 2003. Further information from www.rammer.com and www.fujita.com June 2000. Construction of third Shimizu tunnel under way in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture by Japan Highway Public Corp. (JH) on expressway linking Tokyo with Nagoya. Twin tubes, 1,120 m-long each 15 m-wide with three 3.75 m-wide lanes plus 2.5 and 1.25 m-wide shoulders. Pilot tunnel driven by 5 m-diameter TBM prior to drill/blast enlargement. Excavated cross section of about 200 sq m. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is debating whether to suspend construction work on the expressway expected to cost at least ¥10 trillion. 47/01.