Negotiated contract for technical consulting to complete the 16 km Hallandsí¥s tunnel. Work was stopped in 1997 while 5.5 km had been bored. Tunnelling planned to resume in autumn 2002 and to last 5 years. Banverket considers TBM excavation as the best option due to less water leakage but final decision to be made by the contractor that will be chosen early 2002. Whatever the method is, Banverket demands the remaining 11.5 km to be lined. Cost estimated at SKr4-4.5 billion. Visit http://ted.eur-op.eu.int, document S 218-150308 or contact Banverket, Bí¥stad, fax +46 431 442027. Also visit www.banverket.se/hallandsas 48/01. Cowi has signed a DKK10 million contract to supervise the TBM which will drill under high water pressures through the Halland Ridge. Cowi will also supervise the concrete segmental lining to keep the tunnel waterproof and dry. The first attempt in 1993 ended when the TBM was stopped because it had stuck in soft rock. The second attempt, using the drill/blast method, resulted in water ingress and a serious groundwater contamination by a poisonous chemical grout used to prevent water ingress. The project expects to receive environmental approval before the summer. The tunnel will cost about SEK6.5 billion. Visit www.cowi.dk and www.banverket.se 24/02.The Swedish Rail Administration has awarded the contract to complete construction of the 8.6 km tunnel through the Hallandsí¥s Ridge between Bí¥stad and Förslöv to a consortium of Skanska and Vinci. The contract is valued at approximately SEK3.7 billion (€406 million). Skanska's share is 60% and Vinci's 40%. One-third of the 8.6 km tunnel has already been built.The contract is conditional on the Swedish environmental court approving a water leakage request and a building permission from the municipality of Bí¥stad. Skanska began work on the tunnel in 1992 but the project was stopped in 1997 after some 2,000 tons of a caulking product containing acrylic acid leaked and contaminated the groundwater. Skanska and two of its executives were found guilty of negligence by a Swedish court in January. Since 1997 however, Skanska has worked intensely to develop its environmental expertise and quality work. This has resulted in Skanska being the first international construction group to be certified in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard. Construction will be carried out using a TBM and lining with precast concrete segments, a method not used previously in Sweden. It is expected to start in spring 2003. Visit www.banverket.se, www.skanska.se/projekthallandsas and www.vinci.com 46/02.The inner diameter of the Hallandsas tunnel is 9.04 m and outer diameter is 10.12 m. Very varied geology, mainly gneiss but also amphibolites and dolerites. The weathering and fracturing scales are going respectively from fresh to completely weathered and from low to highly fractured. High water inflow is expected. The maximum allowed average water inflow, during 30 days, is 100 l/sec. The Skanska / Vinci JV will use an Herrenknecht hard rock TBM with two different operating modes, open and closed mode (slurry mode). The diameter of the cutting head is 10.6 m. The shield weighs 1,200 tons and is 12 m long. The back-up is 200 m long. 19,000-ton thrust available. Designed to withstand 15 bar water pressure and to excavate under 8 bar and exceptionally under 13 bar pressure. The TBM is equipped with pre-drilling equipment to do probe drilling and grouting through the shield or the cutter head. The tunnel will be lined with 54 cm-thick concrete rings consisting of eight 2.2 m-long segments. Backfilling with mortar or pea gravel. Belt conveyor working during open mode excavation and a slurry system for the closed mode operation. The TBM will be assembled within an assembly chamber, 16 m wide x 18 m high x 30 m long, to be excavated by the drill/blast method. Cross passages at every 500 m maximum, also excavated by drill/blast. There will also be a disassembly chamber at the end of the tunnel. Half way on the alignment, there is a 900 m-long access tunnel built in the nineties by the former contractor to speed up the drill/blast progress used then. This access will be used for maintenance of the TBM. The TBM is planned to start in the late summer 2005 and completion is August 2010. Visit www.banverket.se/templates/NyheterTH____2835.asp and www.herrenknecht.com 26/04.Negotiated invitation to tender, deadline 26th June, 2008 for a TBM inspector for the Hallandsí¥s project. Click here. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=154895-2008, OJ S 116, or contact Banverket, Gävle, fax +46 26144042. E-mail upphandling.gavle@banverket.se 26/08.Sweco Infrastructure pocketed a contract to be TBM inspector for the Hallandsí¥s project. Visit www.swecogroup.com 38/08.The Skanska-led consortium Skanska-Vinci HB's contract to construct the dual-track Hallandsí¥s railway tunnel on the west coast line has been extended. Skanska's share of the increased contract amounts to SEK600 million. The customer is Banverket, the Swedish railway administration. The new contract is due to the complicated rock structure at Hallandsí¥s, which could not be foreseen. As a result, tunnel drilling equipment is wearing more than anticipated, while progress is taking longer. Approximately 57% of the main tunnel is now constructed and Skanska-Vinci's portion of the work is expected to be completed in 2014. The Skanska-Vinci joint venture considers to have a functioning technical solution and that the project can be executed in an environmentally safe manner. Click here. Visit www.banverket.se/hallandsas 42/08.