Three contracts awarded worth over $160 million: Teerag-Asdag/Baresel/Locher for two caverns and two shafts; Dragados/SELI for two caverns; and Taylor Woodrow/Amec/Spie Batignolles for two tunnels total length 5 km and several caverns. Completion for 2005. February 1998. Work progressing well at three projects involving six shafts, 32 caverns and 6 km of tunnels. At point 1, the larger of two new experimental halls is UX15 with a span of 35 m. The second is USA15 with a span of 23 m which will be supported by 36 anchor tendons, each with 235 t breaking strain. At point 5, the 70 m-deep shafts are being sunk through 45 m of waterbearing moraine by freezing using recirculating brine at -25 degrees C. There are also two large caverns of widths 26.5 and 18 m with 250 m of connecting tunnels. In the vicinity of point 1 the first of two 2.5 km-long, 12 sq m tunnels is under construction as part of package 3 using an Alpine Westfalia WAV 50 roadheader with 100 t/h conveyor with best day performance of 12.5 m and average of 6 m. The second tunnel will be driven using a 3.8 m-diameter TBM. The rest of package 3 work is spread throughout the 27 km-long circular LEP ring and includes 700 m of minor tunnels, two shafts and 15 chambers. Total value $220 million. The existing LEP collider will close in October, 2000 to facilitate the upgrading work and will reopen as LHC in 2005. The new ring will then carry out some of the experiments for which the ill-fated Supercollider in the U.S. and the Protvino collider in Russia had been designed. Visit the world's first website, opened in 1989 at www.cern.ch May 2000.  Spie Batignolles/Sotrabas has purchased a SM 130-C roadheader from IBS of Germany with cutting performance 150kW, machine-integral slewing belt conveyor, and attachments for rockbolting. The machine will join the two modified AM 50 roadheaders already supplied. Visit www.cern.com July 2000.