Tunnels & Tunnelling Weekly

Welcome to this week's Tunnels and Tunnelling International newsletter.

Some great highlights and milestones in the last week.

Don't forget to check out all the new daily content on our updated website: www.tunnelsandtunnelling.com

We hope you enjoy it.

See our highlights below:

RFP ISSUED FOR EGLINTON CROSSTOWN WEST EXTENSION STATIONS, RAIL AND SYSTEMS

Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx have issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Stations, Rail and Systems package for Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.

Three teams have been prequalified and invited to bid on the package, which is being delivered using a progressive design-build delivery model.

A team will be selected to sign a Development and Master Construction Agreement to begin working collaboratively with Metrolinx through the development phase, expected to start in summer 2025.

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SUCCESSFUL FACTORY ACCEPTANCE TEST FOR NORTHSIDE INTERCEPTOR

There was a successful Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at the Herrenknecht AG facility for tunnel boring machine (TBM) Elaine.

Elaine is a 5.8m single shield TBM destined for the Northside Interceptor Tunnel in Akron, Ohio.

Lead contractors Granite Construction were onsite for the FAT and will be using the TBM to help protect the Cuyahoga river and the Cuyahoga River AOC

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ARUP PROVIDES TUNNEL DESIGN WORK FOR CARBON CAPTURE HUB

Arup has completed the front-end-engineering design (FEED) for technical tunnelling work on a carbon capture and storage (CCS) pipeline in The Netherlands.

The Aramis project aims to contribute to the reduction of CO? emissions for hard-to-abate industries. It will transport CO? and store it in depleted offshore gas fields under the North Sea. Its location on the Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam makes the CO? transport and storage service accessible to various industrial clusters.

Energy services company Petrofac has overall responsibility for the FEED for the 81cm diameter CO2 trunkline, including onshore, landfall and offshore sections, together with the offshore CO2 distribution hub platform.

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SECOND TBM STARTS WORK ON NORTH EAST LINK

Spark North East Link Tunnels D&C Consortium has launched a second TBM on Melbourne’s North East Link tunnels project.

TBM Gillian – named after local pioneering neonatal paediatrician Dr Gillian Opie – is following TBM Zelda which launched in August and has already progressed over 200m. The two TBMs will dig approximately 10m per day and up to 45m underground as they help build the tunnels that will pass traffic under instead of through local suburbs.

The two Herrenknecht AG TBMs will install approximately 44,000 concrete segments along the 6.5km-long tunnels. They are among the biggest TBMs used in the southern hemisphere. Each has a 15.6m diameter, is 90m long and weighs more than 4,000 tonnes.

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GATEWAY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION EXECUTES US$3.8BN FEDERAL GRANT

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) has executed the US$3.8bn Federal-State Partnership (FSP) Grant agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), completing the US$12bn federal contribution for the Hudson Tunnel Project.

The action also immediately obligates the initial US$1.9bn from the grant.

Together with the $US800m in New Starts Capital Investment Grant Program funding that has already been obligated, GDC now has US$2.7bn in grant funds available for the project. In addition, the local share of the Hudson Tunnel Project comprising US$4bn is available to advance construction.

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA PROJECT INCREASES TBM TALLY

Up to twice the number of TBMs previously anticipated will now be used on South Australia’s River Torrens to Darlington Project (T2D).

The South Australian government and the T2D Alliance have signed a contract to purchase three initial TBMs from Herrenknecht AG and infrastructure and transport minister Tom Koutsantonis confirmed plans to purchase two additional, smaller TBMs – with another likely to follow – to excavate the cross-passages between the main tunnels. The total cost of all TBMs is expected to be around A$180m (￡93m).

The purchase of the three initial TBMs comes just two weeks after the main construction contract was officially signed by the T2D Alliance of John Holland, Bouygues Construction, Arcadis Australia, Jacobs and Ventia.

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DRAGADOS WINS ELEPHANT & CASTLE TUNNELS CONTRACT

Transport for London (TfL) has appointed Dragados UK & Ireland to design and build the new passenger tunnels for the Elephant & Castle station upgrade.

The tunnels will link the new station box to the existing Northern Line platforms and overbridge. The project will increase the London Underground’s station by more than 30% and meet the increase in demand for services from the station, which is expected to rise by 25-40% by 2041.

Work on excavating approximately 135m of new passenger tunnels will start next year and is due to be completed in 2027.

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TBM ARRIVES FOR FIRST SECTION OF SALERNO-REGGIO CALABRIA HIGH-SPEED LINE

The first of four TBMs for Lot 1A (Battipaglia-Romagnano) of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed rail line has arrived in the Port of Salerno.

The TBM, delivered for the Xenia consortium comprising Webuild, Ghella, Tunnel Pro and Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A., will excavate 3km of the Saginara tunnel, located between Campagna and Contursi Terme. It will take two to three months to reassemble the TBM.

The 13.46m-diameter machine is 130m long and weighs 4,000 tonnes. It is equipped with 18 motors generating a total of 10MW of power. It is the largest TBM ever to be used by Webuild in Europe.

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OCTOBER’S ITACET FOUNDATION LUNCHTIME LECTURE SERIES

The next edition of the ITACET Foundation for Continuous Education and Training on Tunnelling and Underground Space Use Lunchtime Lecture Series (LLS) will focus on 'Practical Aspects of Segmental Tunnel Lining Design' in collaboration with the ITA-AITES.

Taking place on Tuesday October 8th at 13:00 CET.

The lecture will feature the following speakers and topics:

? Basic Principles of Tunnel Segmental Liner Analysis and Design – Dr. Verya Nasri, PhD, PE

? Technology challenges to meet sustainability goals of concrete used for tunnel segmental linings – Prof. Barzin Mobasher

? Use of Fiber for Tunnel Segment Reinforcement - Benoit De Rivaz

Register to attend here

Thanks for reading; we hope you enjoyed it.

Until next week.

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