Halfway to PingluAlpine Bau, a subsidiary of Spanish construction giant FCC, has reported that its Robbins hard rock double shield TBM excavating a EUR47 million section of the north main line of the Yellow River diversion project has reached the Daliang chamber, some 13 km through the 25 km alignment. The tunnel has an internal diameter of 4.8 m and is lined with orthogonal segments manufactured at site, where some 55,000 of the required 83,450 have already been produced. Average advance over the year has been 750 m/month, despite crossing a number of fault zones, and coal seams up to 12 m-thick. The TBM is being refurbished in the Daliang gallery ready for the final drive. More from Mag Karin Keglevich, tel +43 1 532 2545-10, e-mail keglevich@spa.co.at. For more background on this huge project visit tunnelbuilder archive cn/15. 52/08.