Tunnels & Tunnelling Weekly
Tunnels and Tunnelling International
The official magazine of the British Tunnelling Society at Business Trade Media International
Welcome to this week's Tunnels and Tunnelling International newsletter.
Some great highlights and milestones in the last week.
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We hope you enjoy it.
See our highlights below:
FERROVIAL SECURES ￡230M NATIONAL GRID TUNNELLING CONTRACT IN UK
Ferrovial, through its British construction business, has secured a new ￡230m tunnelling contract in the UK for National Grid.
Under the contract, Ferrovial Construction will work on the Grain to Tilbury electricity infrastructure upgrade project, which will start in early 2025 and finish by Q1 2029.
The Grain to Tilbury project involves upgrading electricity infrastructure by replacing the 1960s Thames Cable Tunnel beneath the Thames between Tilbury and Gravesend.
The project is part of National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade, the UK’s largest electricity network overhaul in generations that involves a range of infrastructure upgrades and reinforcements.
Ferrovial Construction and BEMO Tunnelling will deliver the project through their integrated joint venture, Ferrovial BEMO JV.
GDC AWARDS $1.18BN CONTRACT FOR MANHATTAN TUNNEL PROJECT
The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) has awarded a contract worth $1.18bn to a joint venture between Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc. and Tutor Perini Corporation (Frontier-Kemper-Tutor-Perini JV) for the Manhattan Tunnel Project.
GDC, which authorised the notice to proceed with the construction, also approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the project labour agreement with the unions that will be working on the project.
The Manhattan Tunnel Project will build a part of the new Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP), with construction expected to begin in the coming months, and completion anticipated in 2029.
It includes building tubes from the Manhattan Bulkhead in the Hudson River to the cut-and-cover Hudson Yards Concrete Casing east of 12th Avenue.
According to a preliminary estimate by EY, the project would create 15,800 new jobs.
TERRATEC TBM TO START WORK ON CIDCO WATER TUNNEL PROJECT IN INDIA
Terratec has announced that the Open Tunnel Boring Machine is set to begin work on the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) Fresh Water Tunnel Project in Maharashtra, India.
The INR 5.19bn ($59m) project involves the construction of a 6.7km long treated water tunnel in Raigad district, Maharashtra.
Terratec’s 3.2m diameter Open TBM is operated by Mumbai-based contractor Patel Engineering Ltd, which secured the letter of acceptance (LOA) for the contract in June 2023.
The TBM is designed to perform across diverse geologies along the project route. Its modular structure allows for easy launch and retrieval through shafts or potential disassembly within the tunnel.
BIRMINGHAM FC CHAIRMAN PROPOSES ￡20M TUNNEL FOR NEW STADIUM
The proposed ￡20m project involves building a 1.5-mile (2.5km) tunnel beneath existing railway lines, and includes a connection to the HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd rail line, which will link Birmingham and London.
The proposed tunnel project entails a ￡20m investment, a part of a broader ￡3bn investment for establishing a sports and entertainment hub in East Birmingham.
It will connect the New Street station, a central hub of the British railway system, with the new sports complex, planned to be built in the Bordesley Green area.The club would use electric buses in the tunnel to transport large numbers of fans between the city centre and the stadium.
Birmingham City FC (FC) chairman Tom Wagner co-owns the club with former NFL player Tom Brady.
领英推荐
BREAKTHROUGH ON SAO PAOLO LINE 6
In Sao Paolo, Brazil, ACCIONA have seen a breakthrough of one of their tunnel boring machines (TBM) within the Brasilandia station.
This finishes the tunnelling for the infrastructure’s north section, marking one of the S?o Paulo metro’s Line 6-Orange project key milestones.
With this breakthrough over 60% of the project is now complete.
The execution of Line 6 involves a committed investment of more than R$19 billion (€1.97 billion) and it is the largest construction project currently underway in Latin America.
The line will connect Brasilandia, in the north of S?o Paulo, with S?o Joaquim station, in the city center. As a result, commuting time on this route, which now takes about an hour and a half by bus, will be reduced to just 23 minutes.
UK’S LOWER THAMES CROSSING TARGETS 70% LESS CARBON FOOTPRINT
The Lower Thames Crossing project has announced an ambitious target to reduce its construction carbon emissions by 70%, to become the greenest road crossing in the UK.
The new target, as mentioned in the project’s second annual sustainability report, reflects the project’s commitment to the local community and environment.
Lower Thames Crossing is a proposed road and tunnel project, designed to address the congestion and boost economic growth by enhancing road capacity east of London.
It aims to establish a reliable route linking the north and midlands with the south-east ports.
Lower Thames Crossing is a carbon pathfinder project that aims to pioneer and scale up low-carbon construction approaches.
WESTERSCHELDETUNNEL AWARDS CONTRACT FOR SLUISKIL TUNNEL MAINTENANCE
N.V. Westerscheldetunnel, the entity operating the Westerschelde tunnel and Sluiskil tunnel, has awarded a multi-year contract for the maintenance and renovation of the Sluiskil tunnel.
The contract was awarded to a consortium comprising Dutch construction and infrastructure company BAM Infra Nederland and the TBI companies Croonwolter&dros and MOBILIS?.
The maintenance contract, valid from 23 May 2025 to 13 March 2033, involves both daily maintenance and end-of-life replacements to maintain the tunnel safe and accessible.
It includes both preventive and corrective multi-year maintenance on the Sluiskil Tunnel complex, including the surrounding aerial.
TM COTU BREAKS OLD DYKE ON ANTWERP’S LEFT BANK FOR SCHELDT TUNNEL
The TM COTU consortium has breached the old Scheldt dyke on Antwerp’s Left Bank, for the construction of the Scheldt tunnel, which is a part of the Oosterweel project.
The consortium comprises Belgian construction companies BESIX, STADSBADER CONTRACTORS NV, DEME Group, and Jan De Nul Group.
The breaking of the Scheldt dyke represents an important step forward in the Oosterweel link project and will complete the Antwerp Ring Road construction.
TM COTU has excavated 400m of the existing structure to facilitate the first tunnel element, which is planned to be transported from Zeebrugge to Antwerp later this year.
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Until next week.
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