Extension to North Shore requires 6.7 m-diameter twin tunnels under the Allegheny River to be mechanically excavated 12.7 m-deep with thick prefabricated concrete segmental lining and waterproof gaskets. Project includes separate underground spur to new convention centre downtown with two-thirds of the total 2.6 km to run underground. Overall project cost estimated at $390 million. Visit www.portauthority.org 42/01. Federal approval is expected within ten weeks for the light rail extension to the North Side. The line would extend from the Gateway Center station under Stanwix Street, tunnel twenty metres under the Allegheny river, rise to a subway station near PNC Park, swing west, emerge above ground and end at a station near Heinz Field. Design will be finished by July 2003 and construction will begin late-2004. The extension could be running from the Golden Triangle to the North Shore by late 2006 at the earliest. Visit www.portauthority.org 10/02. North Shore extension has been placed by the FTA on a federal funding list, positioning it to receive up to 80% of the estimated $390 million construction cost. Dual 22-foot-diameter tunnels will be bored under Stanwix Street to Penn Avenue, where a cut-and-cover will be used to build a new Gateway Center Station and connect the tunnels and Downtown subway. One tunnel will be bored at a time under the Allegheny river. Depth of 25 feet below 10th Street Bypass. Estimated cost of $119 million for the tunnels. The Final EIS has been made available for public review until 3rd June. Project could be ready for opening by spring 2007. Visit www.portauthority.org 19/02.The EIS for the light rail extension project to the North Shore has been approved by the federal government. The plan calls for a 2.6 km extension including twin tunnels, 6.7 m in diameter, under the Allegheny River. Final design to be approved in late August 2002. Bids planned by late 2003, allowing construction to start in 2004. Opening scheduled in 2007. Visit www.portauthority.org 29/02.The North Shore Connector project is a Light Rail Transit extension totalling 2.4 km. The project has been listed as recommended in a federal report, positioning it to receive up to 80% of its estimated USD363 million cost in federal money. The first extension, called Gateway Line, runs from Gateway Center station, underneath Stanwix Street and the Allegheny River. On the North Shore, the line will travel adjacent to Bill Mazeroski Way to a North Shore station near PNC Park. Continuing below grade adjacent to Reedsdale Street, the line will climb to the surface and become elevated near Art Rooney Avenue, connecting to a new Allegheny station along Allegheny Avenue near Heinz Field before terminating near the West End Bridge. Plans include dual tunnels bored under the Allegheny River. The first piece will be boring the tunnels 12 to 14 m below the water, starting on the North Shore. The cut-and-cover method will be used to build the new Gateway Center station and connect the tunnels with the existing network.The Convention Center Line is the second planned extension, 480 m in length, from Steel Plaza station to a new subway station at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, with an underground station at 11th Street and Penn Avenue.The Port Authority plans to finish final design for the project by June 2004. If the project gets final approval, construction could start late this year or early next year and the lines could be put in service in 2008. Visit www.portauthority.org 09/04.Twin tunnels, each with an approximate length of 670 m, will be built beneath the Allegheny River to carry an extension of the light rail system to the North Shore. Basically, the line will be extended from a new Gateway Center station north under Stanwix Street and then the Allegheny River. It will emerge from underground at a point northwest of PNC Park. The excavated outer diameter is approximately 6.65 m. Lined inner diameter is approximately 5.8 m. The geology will vary across the alignment and includes, but is not limited to various combinations and concentrations of silts, gravels, sands, clays, fills, boulders, shales, limestones, clay stones, siltstones, sandstones, and rock fragments. A shield TBM, either an earth pressure balance or slurry pressure balance machine, will cut through earth and rock.The nine prequalified bidders for the EPBS method are Frontier-Kemper / AECON; Impregilo; Kenny Construction; Kiewit Construction; McNally; Morgan EST; Obayashi; Traylor / Shea; and Traylor / Shea / Wayss & Freytag. The four prequalified bidders for the slurry shield method are Impregilo; Morgan EST; Obayashi; and Traylor / Shea / Wayss & Freytag. Precast gasketed segmental liner initial support with a membrane waterproofing system and cast in place concrete with invert and arch liner. Spoil removal behind the trailing gear will be at the contractor's option. The type of TBM selected will determine the method of spoil removal between the head of the TBM and the end of the trailing gear.The Allegheny River tunnel contract NSC-003 also includes the construction of the launch pit, receiving pit, removal of retaining wall foundations, exploration of a railroad viaduct foundation, soil stabilization grouting at the portals, jet grouting in Stanwix Street, compensation grouting, instrumentation installation and monitoring, and the construction of approximately 82 lineal metres of cut-and-cover cast in place reinforced concrete tunnel construction. It is estimated the cost of boring the twin tunnels will range from USD50 million to USD60 million. Work is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2004 or the first quarter of 2005. Completion should occur in the third quarter or fourth quarter of 2007. Visit www.portauthority.org 30/04.The USD87.8 million lowest bid for the North Shore Connector project, a 1.9 km light rail extension from the existing Gateway Center Station to North Shore in Pittsburgh, has been submitted by Kenny Construction. The bid, which is 25% above the Port Authority's latest engineering estimate of USD70.7 million, is for twin bored tunnels under Stanwix Street, the Allegheny River and the North Shore, a launch shaft next to PNC Park, where digging under the river would start, and a receiving shaft under Stanwix Street, where digging would end. A JV of Trumbull Corp. and Obayashi submitted the USD119.8 million high bid and the Traylor / Shea JV a bid of USD112.9 million. The overall USD393 million project also includes building four stations and a 500 m subway spur to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Visit www.portauthority.org/grow/capital/northshore/index.asp and www.kennyconstruction.com 36/05.The Port Authority of Allegheny County is inviting bids, deadline 11th January, 2006 for the North Shore Connector, North side tunnels and station shell (contract No. NSC-003/006). The work of this project includes the construction and equipment of twin tube bored tunnels underneath the Allegheny River, cut-and-cover tunnel including station shell, and launch and receiving pits for the TBM. The work will also include utility removal, relocation, support, and replacement, excavation, shoring of the excavated tunnelling pits, cut-and-cover tunnel and station pits, soil stabilisation, monitoring of buildings adjacent to the alignment, tunnelling using the TBM, placement of the precast tunnel lining, placement of cast-in-place (secondary) liner, controlled fill, and replacement of sidewalks and streets. The TBM will be assembled in the north launch pit and will bore the first tunnel underneath the Allegheny River to the receiving pit in the Central Business District. The TBM will then be disassembled and transported back to the launch pit to bore the second tunnel.To maximise the opportunity for bidders to be able to participate in the North Shore Connector project, the Port Authority is structuring the NSC-003/006 bid documents to allow bidders to submit bids for one or more of the following scenarios: the NSC-003 work, consisting primarily of the bored tunnel construction, and/or the NSC-006 work, consisting primarily of the North Side cut-and-cover tunnel and station shell and S.R. 0065 bridge viaduct underpinning, and/or the NSC-003/006 work (the combined work of both NSC-003 and NSC-006). A pre-bid conference will be held on 15th November, 2005. This is a re-bid. Click us/66. Contact Port Authority of Allegheny County, Purchasing and Materials Management Department, 345 Sixth Avenue, Third Floor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15222-2527. Contact Darla Hembree, tel. +1 412 5665145, fax +1 412 5665359, e-mail dhembree@portauthority.org 45/05.The North Shore Connector project includes boring twin tunnels under the Allegheny River and constructing 360 metres of cut-and-cover tunnel along the western side of PNC Park. Extending the light rail system from Downtown to the North Shore is considered a key to continuing development between PNC Park and Heinz Field. After the bids received in September were rejected because they were too high, the Port Authority deferred a proposed convention center spur and station in an effort to make the project affordable and rebidded it in November. Contract 003 is the bored tunnel. Contract 006 is the cut-and-cover part on the North Shore. Contract 003/006 is both sections.The bid results are as follows: Kenny Construction, USD106,457,029 (contract 003); Walsh/Traylor/Shea JV, USD163,210,054 (contract 003/006); North Shore Constructors, USD105,800,000 (contract 003), USD59,100,000 (contract 006) and USD156,500,000 (contract 003/006); Brayman Construction, USD59,889,430 (contract 006); and Jay Dee-Brayman JV, USD99,692,623 (contract 003) and USD158,165,604 (contract 003/006).The lowest bid offered for the package contract 003/006 was offered by North Shore Constructors, a joint venture including Trumbull Corp. and Obayashi. The authority has 120 days to review and consider the low bid. Click us/66. Visit www.portauthority.org 07/06.The Port Authority of Allegheny County awarded on 13th July a USD156.5 million contract to North Shore Constructors, a joint venture between Trumbull Corp. and Obayashi, to build the North Shore Connector. The contract includes construction of a light rail transit twin tunnel under the Allegheny River, that would connect downtown Pittsburgh to the North Shore, through a 1.9 km extension. The contract is the first of 16 to be awarded for the USD435 million project, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. The Port Authority has lined up USD348 million in federal money and another USD72.5 million in state funds for the connector project. Work is scheduled to begin in early fall. One of the first tasks will be to build a 14 m-deep launch shaft on the North Shore near the stadiums that will prepare the way for the drilling of the twin tunnels, one inbound and one outbound. That work probably will start next summer. A similar receiving shaft will be built on Stanwix Street near Penn Avenue. Click us/66 for details. Visit www.trumbullcorp.com, www.obayashiusa.com and www.portauthority.org 30/06.