Twin bore, four-lane, subaqueous road tunnel in design to connect Port of Miami Dodge Island to Route I-95 beneath part of the Intracoastal Waterway. Probable EPB job requiring one machine. Moving to final design and awaiting funding. Visit www.mrtunnel.com for more detailed information. March 2000.  Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) has been awarded the contract to act as owner's representative in the development of a cost-effective programme to link the Port of Miami with interstate highways I-395 and I-95. The project, which will provide improved port access for trucks and cruise passengers, consists of roadway approaches and two 3,000 ft-long (915 m) two-lane tunnels crossing under the main shipping channel between the MacArthur Causeway on Watson Island and the Port of Miami on Dodge Island, all located in Biscayne Bay.The tunnel will take heavy traffic off the streets of downtown Miami, thereby eliminating a source of congestion. Watson Island is a rapidly developing island in Biscayne Bay that is crossed by the MacArthur Causeway connecting downtown Miami to Miami Beach. Dodge Island is the home of the Port of Miami's cruise and cargo terminals. The cruise terminal is the largest, busiest cruise port in the world, serving over 3.6 million passengers in 2002.The project will be performed in several phases, the first of which is to re-evaluate the original study completed in 2000, including the alternatives of immersed tube or bored tunnel. Visit www.pbworld.com 51/03.Request for qualifications (RFQ), deadline 17th March, 2006 for a public-private partnership (PPP) concession sought by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to develop, design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the Port of Miami tunnel project. A shortlist of no more than four qualified bidders will be selected by FDOT in April. Those shortlisted will receive the Request for Proposals in mid June. Award of the project to the winning bidder is expected in December 2006. This is believed to be the first attempt at using PPP financing in the US market for this class of transportation infrastructure. FDOT is using Jeffrey A Parker & Associates and Asesores de Infraestructuras as joint financial advisers. Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas is the appointed consulting engineer. The project will link Interstate 395 and the MacArthur Causeway on Watson Island with Port of Miami facilities on Dodge Island. Read E-News Weekly 46/2004, 45/2003 & 13/2003. Visit www.portofmiamitunnel.com/Documents/06-0216-RFQ-Final.pdf 10/06.The Florida Department of Transportation is extending the deadline to 12th April, 2006 for submission of Requests of Qualifications (RFQ) for its Port of Miami tunnel project, through which it intends to select a candidate that will design, finance, build, operate and maintain the Port of Miami tunnel. The Florida Department of Transportation is also releasing a supplement to its Project Information Memorandum (PIM) which has been provided to help prospective bidders understand the project as well as the state transportation agency's approach to it. The PIM is not a binding document and information within it may change as aspects of the project become further refined. Prospective bidders can obtain the RFQ, RFQ addenda and PIM supplement on the project website www.portofmiamitunnel.com 14/06.The three shortlisted consortia by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for the Port of Miami tunnel are FCC Construccion and Morgan Stanley, including FCC, Morgan Stanley, Hatch Mott MacDonald and Edwards & Kelcey; Miami Access Tunnel, with Bouygues Travaux Publics and Dutch bank ABN Amro; and Miami Mobility Group, including Dragados Concesiones de Infraestructuras and its subsidiary Dragados USA, Brazil's Odebrecht Investimentos em Infra-Estructura, its subsidiary Odebrecht Construction, and US companies Parsons Transportation Group and DMJM Harris.The three consortia will be requested to submit their financial and technical bids next June. The winner of the tender will be disclosed in December. The project, estimated at USD1 billion, is to design, build, finance and operate the tunnel, which will provide a direct access between Dodge Island and interstate highways I-395 and I-95 and offer an alternative to the port bridge which is currently the unique connection. The project, which is expected to be completed in 2012, will be developed using a public-private partnership (PPP) concession. Click us/43. Visit www.portofmiamitunnel.com/Documents/Shortlisted-firms.pdf 19/06.Technical bids from the three construction firms competing to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the tunnel connecting Watson Island to the Port of Miami-Dade were unveiled on 3rd April, 2007. The lowest of the three ''maximum availability payments'' (MAPs) - maximum yearly costs based on the construction firm meeting specific goals - was USD33.2 million a year from Miami Access Tunnel including Bouygues Travaux Publics and their Canadian financing partners, Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group US, which said it would take 47 months to build the tunnel. That was followed by a 50-month construction plan with yearly payments of USD39.7 million from Miami Mobility Group including Spain's ACS Infrastructure Development, Dragados USA, Brazil's Odebrecht Construction, Parsons Transportation Group, and DMJM Harris. The high MAP came from Spain's FCC Construccií³n, Morgan Stanley investment bank, Hatch Mott MacDonald and Edwards & Kelcey at USD63.2 million. That company said it could complete the project in 42 months.The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will pay the winning team USD100 million based on milestones during the 42 to 50-month construction phase and the remainder after completion, when the first truck rumbles through the tunnel. The winning firm will be required to finance the project, then be repaid by FDOT and the Miami-Dade County over a 35-year period.The tunnel project would run from the west end of the MacArthur Causeway, burrow under Watson Island, cut across Government Cut and pop up at the port. The plan still needs Miami-Dade County commission approval to move forward. Construction could begin as early as next spring. Read E-News Weekly 11/2007, 35/2005 & 46/2004. Visit www.portofmiamitunnel.com 16/07.The Florida Department of Transportation selected on 2nd May, 2007 Miami Access Tunnel, a consortium headed by the French construction giant Bouygues Publics Travaux, global investment bankers Babcock & Brown, Jacobs Engineering and Australian transport operators Transfield Services to finance, design, build and operate the Port of Miami tunnel. The team will be repaid by the state of Florida and local governments under a 35-year concession agreement that could be negotiated later this year. The tunnel is designed to improve access to the port from the expressway and remove thousands of trucks from the street grid near the downtown core where high-rise condos, museums, parks and cultural centres are emerging.A lot of variables still need to be hashed out, especially local governments' part in the financing, but under a couple of best-case scenarios, the tunnel could be under construction by next year and open in 2012. The state is waiting for Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami to firmly guarantee they will cumulatively pay around USD450 million for their half of the construction and a major contingency fund out of existing gas and growth-management taxes, bonds and port fees. Click us/43. Visit www.portofmiamitunnel.com 19/07.The consortium Miami Access Tunnel was chosen in May, 2007 by Florida Department of Transportation to finance, design, build and operate the Port of Miami tunnel, a project that has been mooted since March, 2000, see tunnelbuilder archive us/43. On 12.12.2008 DBOT decided not to close this deal after consortium member Babcock & Brown failed to raise the necessary finance, visit www.portofmiamitunnel.com. This project will now probably be rebid. 08/09.