Tendering for 1.5 km-long twin-tube Sitina D2 tunnel in faulted granite due year 2000. Consultant Terraprojekt for Slovak Roads Administration. August 1999.  A Skanska / Taisei Corporation joint venture has won the contract to build the Sitina twin tunnel in Bratislava for Slovenska sprava ciest, the Slovakian road administration. The tunnel will link the highways D1 to Brno and D2 to Vienna. The two tunnel tubes will each be 1,450 m in length. The project also includes three multi-level interchanges, connecting roads and six bridges. The contract is valued at SKr770 million. The project will be carried out by Skanska's Czech subsidiary, Skanska CZ, in a 50/50 consortium with Taisei. The tunnel construction is being financed through loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Work will begin in April, with completion scheduled for March 2007. NATM to be used. Visit www.skanska.com, www.taisei.co.jp/english/index.html and www.ssc.sk 14/03.Twin-tube Sitina tunnel being driven as top heading and bench in tectonically disrupted crystalline rocks consisting of biotite and mica granodiorites with some granite and pegmatite veins by subcontractor Bespa. Full excavation sections up to 100 sq m with 25-54 m between axes. Five crosspassages to be excavated. False tunnels well advanced at north end. Atlas Copco drillrigs and Meyco Potenza shotcrete jumbos. Visit www.banske-stavby.sk and www.boomer-rig.com 49/04.Contracting jv of Skanska and Taisei, with Banske Stavby subsidiary Bespa as subcontractor driving 1.4 km-long twin-tube Sitina tunnel on motorway D2 on curved alignment at up to 100 sq m section in crystalline rock. NATM techniques in five classes, using drill/blast for classes 1-3 and mechanical excavation with invert arch for classes 4-5. Umbrella drilling throughout alignment using Boodex and Symmetrix systems due to shallow overburden and blocky ground. Visit www.banske-stavby.sk and www.atlascopco.com 18/05.