Heavy going in AlbaniaBechtel-Enka, the US-Turkey consortium building the 57 km-long motorway between Rreshen and Kalimash, has reported its experience on the 5.5 km-long NATM twin tube tunnel at Thirre on this section. The tunnel passes beneath Mount Runes with an altitude of 1,850 m. The four ends have been worked 24 h/day using five Atlas Copco computerized drilling rigs on a crown heading and bench system to produce 6.4 m headroom. Rock classes 3-5 have been encountered, worse quality than expected, but conditions are dry. Support has ranged from 6 m-long rockbolts to heavy steel arches, with reinforced shotcrete. For more background on this project, visit tunnelbuilder archive al/13. Both www.enka.com and www.bechtel.com have further information. 32/09.