Soumagne Tunnel Breaks ThroughBelgium's longest tunnel, between Chênée and Soumagne in Liege province, has holed through on 20th October, 2004 joining the Bay-Bonnet and Vaux-sous-Chèvremont drives. This 6,530 m dual-track tunnel, at a depth ranging from 24 to 127 m, is on the Liege-Aachen-Cologne high speed line which is due to open in 2007. The contract was awarded in March 2001 by the owner, the Belgian national railway company (SNCB) to a JV comprising four partners, each holding 25% of the deal: Bouygues; Vinci and its local affiliate CFE; Eiffage and Duchêne; Wayss & Freytag and its Belgium branch Galère. Construction started in May 2001. The lead engineering firm is Tuc Rail. The main works are scheduled to end in May 2005. The tunnel will cost EUR142.5 million. Trains travel between Brussels and Cologne in 2 hours 27 minutes. In 2007, trips will only take one hour and 40 minutes.The bored length measures 5,940 m. The portals have been constructed in cut-and-cover (177 m and 388 m). The Soumagne tunnel follows a consistent gradient (17‰). The maximum cover is 130 m. The excavated section is 110 sq m for a headroom of 69 sq m. A total of 670,000 cubic metres of rock and soil has been extracted, 200,000 cu m of concrete has been poured throughout the phased tunelling process and 80,000 Swellex bolts will be installed. Visit www.swellex.comFrom west to east, there are four drives: one ascending attack from Vaux-sous-Chèvremont, two drives - one ascending and the other descending from an intermediate shaft in the Bay-Bonnet valley with slight overburden -, and a fourth descending drive from Ayeneux. In June 2003, the junction was made between the Ayeneux and Bay-Bonnet drives. The geology comprised Westphalian carboniferous schists (3.3 km), the Magnée fault (50 m), Viséen limestone (650 m), and sandstone-bearing schists (1.9 km).Drill/blast excavation was processed in full face or sequenced method, with the top heading first tunnelled and then the benches. The invert was the last stage. Four fully computerised Robofore jumbos have been used to drill the blast holes. For the subsequent tasks, four loaders, 17 dump trucks, six bolting robots, six shotcreting robots and 13 concrete mixers have been used. Tunnelling takes place in three shifts, 24 hours round the clock. Weekends are earmarked for ground investigation and treatment and maintenance of the machinery. Visit www.robodrill-sa.com. To view a video of the breakthrough, click here. Click be/11. 44/04.