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.
Another week full of stories, achievements and milestones. See our highlights below:
WORK STARTS ON GENOA’S IMMERSED TUNNEL
Construction works have started in Genoa on Italy’s first undersea road tunnel, set to become Europe’s largest immersed tunnel.
The Undersea Road Tunnel is designed to improve access between the city and the Port of Genoa. Demolition work has commenced near the planned western entrance.
The 3.4km-long tunnel will comprise two tubes, each 16m wide, and will lie 45m below sea level. It is scheduled to open in 2029.
The new tunnel is part of a €1bn urban regeneration project for the Ligurian capital. Under a masterplan created by RPBW Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the tunnel surface will provide 10ha of new urban parks and cycle lanes.
The client is Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) and Italian construction company Amplia Infrastructures will carry out the first stage of the planned works.
TUNNELLING COMPLETED ON PARIS METRO LINE 16
Webuild and its French partner, NGE - BTP, have completed excavation on Lot 2 of Paris’s new metro line.
The breakthrough at Mare au Chanvre marks the end of tunnelling on the 29km-long tunnel for Line 16.
Lot 2 also includes four of Line 16’s 10 new stations: Aulnay-sous-Bois, Sevran-Beaudottes, Sevran-Livry and Clichy-Montfermeil.
Webuild said the Lot 2 works should be completed by the autumn.
Société des grands projets said excavating the 29km tunnel was challenging, with complex geology and “numerous water tables”, and the alignment navigated existing rail lines.
SUBSIDENCE HALTS TUNNELLING ON SYDNEY’S M6
Tunnelling has halted on Sydney’s M6 Stage 1 project after a second sinkhole developed.
Workers were about 12m below the surface, excavating the face of the south-bound tunnel, when the hole developed on Saturday, March 9. The workers were evacuated and none was injured.
SafeWork NSW has been notified, and an exclusion zone has been established around a 20m2 area, while geotechnical and engineering assessments are undertaken.
Transport for NSW said initial remediation work, including securing the area, had commenced.
LOWER THAMES CROSSING AWARDED CARBON LITERACY GOLD
Lower Thames Crossing has been awarded Gold level accreditation by The Carbon Literacy Project, the first major UK infrastructure project to achieve the level.
The Lower Thames Crossing, the proposed new road and tunnel across the River Thames east of London, is a Pathfinder project exploring low carbon construction. It is committed to raising awareness amongst its workforce of the costs and impacts of carbon dioxide, and motivating them to reduce emissions in their professional and personal lives.
The Carbon Literacy Project has awarded the Lower Thames Crossing its Gold award and accredited the project as being “culturally Carbon Literate” after more than half of staff completed Carbon Literacy training, and collectively completed over 2,500 hours of carbon training.
DISMANTLING GANTRY FOR HS2 PASSES FAT
A service dismantling gantry for HS2 has completed its Factory Acceptance Test at KERN Tunneltechnik’s facility in Switzerland.
The gantry is designed for multipurpose activities, including the dismantling and collection of ventilation ducts, and the removal of pipes using a magnetic lifting system.
Engineered for multiple situations, the gantry features rubber wheel drive units and rotatable legs that allow for reconfiguration to navigate obstacles in tunnels.
领英推荐
This feature was developed in collaboration with Kern’s client and HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd main works contractor, Align JV – a joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick Ltd.
NORTH EAST LINK TBM ASSEMBLY UNDER WAY
The first TBM is being assembled for Melbourne’s North East Link twin road tunnels.
Components of the first of two Herrenknecht AG TBMs are being lowered into the 200m-long launch box in Watsonia by a 550-tonne gantry crane.
The TBMs have a diameter of more than 15m and are among the largest in the southern hemisphere. Each is 90m long and weighs 4000 tonnes.
They will start digging the 6.5km tunnels in the middle of this year. They will work their way south from Watsonia toward Bulleen, installing around 44,000 concrete segments.
Work has also started on the underground box structures where the TBMs will end their journeys.
BROADWAY SUBWAY PROJECT TBMS ON FINAL LEG
Preparations are under way on Vancouver’s Broadway Subway Project to disassemble the two TBMs.
The project is a 5.7km extension of the Millennium Line from VCC-Clark Station to West Broadway and Arbutus Station, providing a SkyTrain service along the Broadway corridor.
TBM Phyllis, operated by Broadway Subway Project Corporation, an Acciona Ghella Joint Venture (AGJV), will arrive at the future Arbutus Station soon.
TBM Elsie broke through at South Granville Station on February 9 and, following scheduled maintenance, departed from the South Granville Station on March 6 on the final leg of her journey to Arbutus Station.
BTS MARCH 2024 MEETING - HARDING PRIZE PRESENTATIONS
?? Thursday 21st March 2024 at 18:00 hrs
?? Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) - One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA
This month's British Tunnelling Society meeting will feature the annual Harding Prize presentations.
The Harding Prize competition is named in honour of Sir Harold Harding, the founding Chairman of the British Tunnelling Society.
The competition is open to young engineers aged 33 or under.
ITACET LUNCTIME LECTURE SERIES: APRIL 2023
?? April 9th- 13:00 CET
The next ITACET Foundation for Continuous Education and Training on Tunnelling and Underground Space Use lunchtime lecture will focus on 'New developments in BIM.'
The lecture will consist of 5 presentations in total with Q&A at the end:
Thanks for reading; we hope you enjoyed it.
Until next week.
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