Municipality of Amsterdam announced plans for 9.5 km line with 7 stations to connect World Trade Centre in the south of the city with Buisklotermeerplen in the north with possible extensions south to Schiphol airport and Hoofdorp and north to Purmerend and Zaanstad. Some 6 km of the initial project will be underground with 4 km in bored tunnels, some beneath buildings with wooden piles. Nov 1998.   Project now divided into 15 contracts and tenders invited for contract 4 which comprises 3.8 km in 5.8 m i.d. bored tunnels to intersect four underground stations at Centuurban, Vijzelgracht, Rokin and Centraal where a connection will be made with the East/West line. Second contract will be for supply of two shields to a design requiring a choice of cutterheads, face stabilisation by slurry, EPB or compressed air, and muck removal by screw or belt conveyor. June 1999.   Invitation to tender for 2 x 3.8 km bored tunnels with 5.8 m internal diameter and supply of two TBMs. August 1999. Deadline 18th May for new invitation to prequalify for Contract 4.2 for bored tunnels and contracts 5.2, 6.2, and 7.2 for three cut-and-cover stations to be built within diaphragm walls at Rokin, Vijzelgracht and Ceintuurbaan. The twin-tube tunnels are 3.8 km-long x 5.6 m-diameter, requiring two TBMs from list of four prequalified manufacturers. Tender deadline for prequalified contractors will then be 15th October this year with a view to award in Spring, 2001. Tenders should be mailed to the project bureau, PB 95089, 1090 HB Amsterdam, Netherlands. Fuller picture at http://ted.eur-op.eu.int select 45 221 240. May 2000. Prequalified contractors for $960 million, 3.8 km x 6.5 m-diameter north-south line, contract 4, invited to bid by mid-December are Bouygues/Koop; BTC; Comol; HBN; Saturn; and Tubicon. Award should be mid-2001, with construction starting September, 2001. Preferred suppliers of TBMs are Herrenknecht, IHI, Kawasaki and Mitsubishi. 9.5 km-long project includes 2.5 km at grade plus 3.5 km cut-and-cover and 350 m immersed tube across IJ river. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int November 2000.   Open invitation to tender, deadline 4th October, 2001, for construction of 420 m-long immersed tube, 300 m-long cut and cover, and three stations. Award expected end-2001 for start of work early 2002. Contact North-South Line Project Bureau, fax +31 204 167335. Visit www.nzlijn.amsterdam.nl 32/01.  €26.8 million award to Heijmans of contract 3.3 consisting of three tunnel caisson pieces totalling 250 m to be built above ground and then sunk below ground in the sand. One of these tunnel caissons will be the start shaft for the bored tunnel. Visit www.heijmans.nlContract 2.2 worth €54.2 million has been won by Heijmans and Strukton Betonbouw for building four tunnel elements totalling 800 m. Three of these elements will be sunk on the Ij riverbed. One of these elements is for contract 3.1/3.2. It will be pushed under Centraal Station. Visit www.struktonbetonbouw.com Contract 3.1/3.2 has been scooped by Strukton Betonbouw and Van Oord ACZ for €177 million for constructing a complex underground station under Centraal Station. Visit www.voacz.com Contracts 5.2, 6.2 and 7.2 for the construction in cut-and-cover of the Rokin, Vijzelgracht and Centuurbaan stations awarded to Max Bögl Nederland for €223.2 million. Visit www.max-boegl.de and www.nzlijn.amsterdam.nl 13/03.The north-south line's contract 4.2, which will be built by consortium Saturn, including Dura Vermeer, Walter Bau/Dywidag and Zueblin, includes a 2 x 3.2 km tunnel. The inner diameter is 5.82 m and the excavated diameter is 7.12 m. Two new Herrenknecht TBMs will be used, capable to work in slurry and EPB mode. The tunnel will be segmentally lined. In slurry mode, the spoil will be transported by pipe conveyor to the separation plant on a platform in the Ij river where the bentonite will be separated from the ground. Then, the spoil will be transported by boat to a dump site. In EPB mode, the mucking-out equipment will consist of a screw conveyor behind the cutting head and probably a pipe system. The stations are about 200 m long. Tunnelling start in September or October 2006 for completion in February 2008. Visit www.ivv.amsterdam.nl/nzlijn, www.herrenknecht.com, www.duravermeerinfra.nl, www.walter-bau.de and www.zueblin.de 25/04.Open call for bids, deadline 8th June, 2005 for construction of RAI / Europaplein station (contract 8.2), a 180 m-long underground station and its adjacent dual-track tunnels (240 m and 260 m). Visit http://ted.publications.eu.int/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=057174-2005, OJ S 59, or contact Gemeente Amsterdam, Amsterdam, fax +31 204167335. Also visit www.noordzuidlijn.amsterdam.nl 13/05.