Design and construction contract value $430 million awarded to Bouygues/Koop for 8 km-long, 14.9 m-diameter single-bore, twin-track tunnel below the water table in sand and alluvium using NFM Slurry TBM to be delivered in 2001. This will probably be the largest TBM built to date. Contract duration 5.5 years for railway commissioning in May, 2005. Visit www.framatome.fr January 2000. NFM has described its 14.87 m-diameter slurry TBM with installed power of 8 MW of which 3.5 MW will be for rotation of the cutterhead. The machine will be 12.2 m long and will weigh 1,900 t. The segments will weigh 15 t apiece and the lining will have internal diameter of 13.3 m. The drive will be in sand with clay lenses and peat at depths of 16-30 m with a maximum water table of 35 m. Maximum advance rate will be limited by the slurry plant capacity at 4 cm/min. The forward backup trailer will weigh 700 t and the rear backup 450 t. A 70 m-long beam between the gantries will allow space for backfilling of the invert. Manufacture will be completed by December, 2000 and commissioning should take place in Spring, 2001. Visit www.framatome.fr Sept 2000.