Independent certification for Aker Wirth
Aker Wirth, a leading supplier to the tunnelling industry for more than a century, was recently audited by the accredited certification body DNV. As a result, the company was granted both re-certification in occupational health and safety under OHSAS 18001:2007 and initial certification in environmental protection under ISO 14001:2004. Aker Wirth is aware that customers are demanding high levels of reliability and sustainability, and that independent, verifiable certification is essential proof of the efforts made throughout their organization. For more visit www.akersolutions.com/akerwirth or contact simone.groenemeyer@akersolutions.com. 05/12.

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Tunnel Technology 2012 for Shanghai
The third Tunnel Technology Summit will be held 28th-30th May, 2012 in Shanghai, China organized by Shine Media and Shanghai Transportation Trade Association. The theme is new technology, equipment and construction methods for propelling tunnel design, construction and operation. More than 50 experts are lined up for presentations, including leaders of government agencies, tunnel operators, engineering companies, designers and programmers. Day 1 includes workshops on tunnel design and fire prevention; Day 2 topics are status and trends in tunnelling with case studies and engineering technology of major new projects, and Day 3 deals with equipment and materials. Download brochure at www.tunnel.shinemediaworld.com and for further information contract Frank Chen at Shine Media tel +86 21 523600-30, fax -29, e-mail frank.chen@shinemediaworld.com. 05/12.

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Final breakthrough for Sorbas tunnel
On 18.01.2012, excavation of the second tube of the 7.5 km-long Sorbas tunnel on the Sorbas-Barranco de los Gafarillos section on the Almeria-Murcia Region high-speed railway was completed. The job took just six months with monthly TBM advances of more than 1 km. For more click here and es/132. 05/12.

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CEVA rail link under construction
Work on the 16 km-long Cornavin-Eaux-Vives-Annemasse (CEVA) rail link commenced on 15.11.2011 to provide a 20 minute connection between Cornavin station (Geneva) and Annemasse municipality in France with five new stations at Lancy-Pont-Rouge, Carouge-Bachet, Champel-Hopital, Geneve-Eaux-Vives and Chene-Bourg. The line will run for 2 km in France and 14 km in Switzerland, and includes 3.6 km of covered trenches and the tunnels Pinchat (2,036 m) and Champel (1,630 m) let to Walo Bertschinger SA (Zurigo) and consortium Marti Tunnelbau AG/Marti Construction SA (Ginevra). The job will take six years, four for construction and two for equipping. Work is getting underway along the line in Switzerland with the exception of the Champel tunnel, which is suspended while complaints by local residents are resolved. The line is expected to be in service in 2017. Click ch/40. Visit www.ceva.ch. 05/12.

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Conceptual design for Feltre tunnel
On 18.01.2012 Anas Veneto presented the conceptual design to complete the SS50 Feltre bypass, which includes construction of a 3.5 km-long bi-directional tunnel under the Telva mountain. Planned investment EUR212 million. Visit www.lestradedellinformazione.it/acm-on-line/Home/ServizidInformazione/News/articolo8993.html. 04/12.

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Tender 053/2001 - First Stage - PQ for the Design Build of TBM tunnels contract for Tel Aviv metropolis RED and GREEN LINES
NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd is an Israeli government owned company in charge of the design and construction of the mass transit system in Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Israel. The red line - a 23 km-long Line is the first to be implemented, and includes a central 8.2 km-long section of bored underground tunnels. The green line - a 35 km-long line is the second to be implemented, and includes a central 6 km-long section of bored underground tunnels . NTA wishes to appoint a design build contractor(s) for the TBM bored tunnels for both lines. Submission of the PQ are invited by 27.03.2012. Click for details of this tender 053/2011 and download documents at www.nta.co.il/site/en/neta.asp?pl=464.

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Wayss & Freytag awarded Emscher sewer tunnel
W & F, a subsidiary of Royal Bam group, has been awarded the EUR420 million construction contract for a 35 km-long wastewater tunnel between Dortmund and Bottrup in Germany. The tunnel, which will vary in diameter between 1.6 m and 2.8 m, will run parallel to the river Emscher and will take five years to construct. More from www.wf-ingbau.de/en/home.html. 04/12.

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Xiushan rail tunnel completed
The 10,303 m-long Xiushan railway tunnel on the 141 km-long Yuxi-Mengzi line of the Pan-Asia Railway eastern line was completed on 10.01.2012, after six years' work. Located in a seismically active area in Tonghai County, Yunnan Province, the tunnel encountered complex geological conditions, frequent changes of surrounding rocks, and water and mud bursts. Total investment for the line is EUR551.26 million. The railway is expected to become operational later this year. Visit http://www.cncworld.tv/news/v_show/21314_Major_tunnel_for_asean_railway.shtml. 04/12

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Toven tunnel holing imminent
Construction of 13.5 km of dual carriageway from Brattlia in Drevja to Leirosen in the county of Nordland, Norway is underway as part of the new Fv 78 link between the E6 motorway in the east and Rv 17 county road in the west. The 10.6 km-long Toven tunnel was let by Statens vegvesen Region nord in Mosjoen to contractor Haere, who started work at site in January, 2010. Tunnelling of Toven, which will become the fourth longest road tunnel in Norway, commenced in March, 2010 using drill/blast. Muck loading has utilized Gjerstad sidedumping buckets. Holing is scheduled for January, 2012, with opening late-2014. For project details and history visit tunnelbuilder archive no/102. Visit Haere at www.akh.no. More from Kai Hauge at Gjerstad in Norway, tel +47 37119100/40400551 or visit www.gjerstad.com. 04/12.

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Jacobs Engineering awarded I90 contract
Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a contract by Washington State Department of Transport WSDOT to provide design services for fire and life safety systems improvement in the Interstate 90 Mount Baker and Mercer Island tunnels. Along with the revision of fire detection and suppression, ventilation, emergency egress, intelligent transportation and illumination systems, the design effort will also focus on provision of High Occupancy Vehicle HOV lanes and preparation for future extension of the light rail between Seattle and Bellevue/Redmond. More from www.jacobs.com. 03/12.

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Robbins opens office in Chile
The world presence of Robbins Company has increased with the opening of their 14th office, in Santiago, Chile. The new office will be the headquarters for Robbins South America, headed by Rolan do Justa. It will serve the emergent local market, offering close and constant support for Robbins' sales, and instant liaison with other Robbins facilities around the globe. Read the press release and visit www.robbinstbm.com. 03/12.

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Cairo metro breakthroughs
Despite a year of political upheaval in Egypt, on 10.01.2012 the 9.46 m-diameter NFM TBM on Line 3, Phase 2 of Cairo metro project broke through into Stadium station after a 1,579 m drive during which best production figures were 24 m/day and 109.5 m/week. Three days later, the 9.4 m-diameter Herrenknecht slurry TBM broke into Abbasia station to connect with Phase 1 after an 1,840 m drive with 30 m/day and 154.5 m/week top figures. Metro Phase 1 itself will be inaugurated this month, while prequalification of companies is underway for supervision and construction of Line 3, Phase 3 and of consultants for design of Line 4, Phase 1. More from Ashraf Abu-Krisha, e-mail ashamk66@hotmail.com and visit www.nfm-technologies.com. 03/12.

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Lai Chi Kok drainage tunnel breakthrough
Construction of Hong Kong's Lai Chi Kok drainage tunnel has entered its final stage following main tunnel breakthrough in December. The EUR1.3 billion project involves construction 3.7 km of 4.9 m-diameter tunnels to intercept and transfer stormwater from the uphill areas of Lai Chi Kok, Cheung Sha Wan and Sham Shui Po. Together with stormwater from Butterfly Valley, the combined flow will discharge into Victoria Harbour, near Stonecutters Island.
A number of challenges were met by contractor Leighton-John Holland JV, with the slurry TBM driving beneath four operational railway lines and through numerous foundations. Ninety construction operations were conducted under hyperbaric pressure up to 4.2 bar, which is unprecedented in Hong Kong. The supervising consultant is AECOM Asia Company Limited. Work is scheduled for completion by late-2012. For more click cn/19. Visit www.dsd.gov.hk, www.leightonasia.com and www.johnholland.com.au. 03/12.

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CIFA announces new shotcrete machine
CIFA will be unveiling its new CST 8.20 compact shotcrete jumbo at Intermat in Paris on April 16-21. The CST 8.20 joins the established CIFA shotcreting line-up alongside the CSS-3 Step 3, the CSS-3 Crawler, and the PCS 209. The CST 8.20 is designed for tunnels up to 10 m in height and for mining applications. Importantly, it is equipped with a Diesel EPA Stage 4/Tier 4 motor that fully complies with the new 2012 European standards. The pumping unit has a variable capacity between 2 and 20 cu m/h, and the remotely-controlled boom has two sections, one of which is telescopic. The onboard Mattei compressor has a capacity of 8,900 lit/min. The CST 8.20 features an electronically-operated Uniflux H1.0 automatic additives batching system. Visit www.cifa.com. 03/12.

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Sandvik jumbos on five-lane tunnel in Brazil
Four Sandvik drill jumbos are engaged in developing the widest tunnel in Latin America to house four conveyor runs and a service road. The 1.7 km-long, 20.5 m-wide, 11 m-high tunnel will convey iron ore to dockside ship loaders at a new port in Sepetiba Bay, close to Itaguai city in Brazil. Read the press release. 02/12.

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HS2 railway London-Birmingham approved
The second high speed railway line to be built in the UK will run 225 km from London Euston to Birmingham New Street. The first section out of Euston will require a 4.4 km tunnel at Ruislip, and a second new 2.25 km-long tunnel will be driven beneath the Chiltern hills at Amersham. Tunnelling will also be required at Turweston and Wendover in Buckinghamshire; Greatworth, Chipping Warden and Aston le Walls in Northamptonshire; and Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire. Links will be built to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1) and to Crossrail (under construction), and possibly a spur to Heathrow airport. More from www.hs2.org.uk and uk/65. 02/12.

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Big Chinese TBM for Yangtze crossing
The first independently developed compound slurry TBM has been presented by China Communications Construction Company Tianhe. At 14.93 m-diameter and weighing 4,500 t, it is claimed to be the largest in its class. The TBM, which has a driving capacity of 20 m/day, will be put to work on a Yangtze river crossing at Nanjing. 02/12.

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Odebrecht and Robbins triumph at Olmos
The Olmos aqueduct in the high Andes will transfer water from the Atlantic basin to the Pacific basin to irrigate one of the driest regions of Peru. Breakthrough of the final 12.5 km-long section was achieved by a 5.3 m-diameter Robbins main beam TBM on 20.12.2011 after an epic drive through bursting rock using novel support and operating techniques. Read the Robbins press release with video, review the complete history of the project from 2002 in tunnelbuilder archive pe/17, and visit www.robbinstbm.com and www.odebrecht.com. 02/12.

Luis Fernando Guauque Gomez of Robbins and Ildefonso Vilcahuaman of Odebrecht mark the historic Olmos breakthrough.

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Spain - Updates from Line 9 at Barcelona
The EPB/hard rock mixed-mode 11.95 m-diameter tunnelling machine known as Besi, supplied by NFM for the excavation of metro line 9 in Barcelona, has reached Lesseps station. Whilst waiting for restart, scheduled for the beginning of 2012, the machine will stay in its arrival shaft. Click es/48. Visit www.nfm-technologies.com/. 01/12.