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1www.TunnelTalk.com TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2013

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Salvage team recoversJapan disaster TBM

A police investigation into the death of fi ve workers who drowned during a subsea tunnel collapse in

Japan has taken a step forward following recovery of the TBM and sets of concrete segmental lining.

A specialist salvage team has raised the 4.82m diameter TBM from the 800m wide sea channel where it has been buried under a combined 26m depth of water and sand for more than 18 months since the 7 February 2012 accident.

“The cause of the collapse is still not clear at this moment, which is why Okayama Prefecture Police, who are carrying out the investigation, ordered us to get the machine out of the water,” said Sei Yokote, spokesman for the project’s main contractor Kajima Construction. “The Kajima company paid for the recovery operation,” he told TunnelTalk from Japan.

The collapse is currently the subject of an ongoing police investigation into an allegation of possible corporate negligence, and neither Kajima, nor the client, petrochemical refi nery company JX Nippon, would speculate about possible causes.

JX Nippon, the largest petrochemical company in Japan, contracted Kajima to construct the tunnel for an undersea pipeline between two of its refi neries on opposite sides of a sea channel at Mizushima Port in Kurashiki, west Japan (Fig 1, right). A spokesman for the company said JX Nippon was not part of the investigation adding that “the police are handling this with Kajima. Whether we decide to build another tunnel depends on the outcome of this investigation. We cannot consider it at this moment, it is out of our control.”

Kajima spokesman Yokote said any decision about whether to continue on the existing heading, which was approximately

150m complete before the collapse, would be “made by the Client, but I don’t think the same tunnel will be used.”

Yokote also confi rmed the thickness of concrete segments used for the heading was 160mm for a tunnel i.d. of 4.5m.

Recovery of the TBM was via a barge on the water surface. Recovery back through the fl ooded tunnel was considered too great a risk. A large-scale sinkhole above the accident site was identifi ed by a Japanese Coast Guard survey vessel shortly after the accident took place. The existence of the sinkhole raised fears that the surviving part of the inundated tunnel might also be at risk of collapse. The exact location of the TBM was mapped prior to dredging using magnetic survey equipment.

The recovery operation was completed on 24 August 2013 and involved dredging silt and sand from around the sinkhole that formed on the seabed as a result of the tunnel collapse. Dredging progressed to a depth of 10.5m below the seabed and to within a vertical distance of approximately 2m of the top of the TBM (Fig 2, right). Tunnel contractor Kajima said a total of 23,000m3 of material was dredged by salvage crews working to free the TBM, and that the operation was made more complicated by the proximity of a pipeline encased in a similar tunnel structure that was constructed in 2002 and is currently in service.

The next operational phase involved sinking 62 x 700mm diameter steel piles to a depth of 13.5m into the seabed and around the site of the buried TBM (Fig 3, right).

Divers were then able to remove the remaining silt and sand around the TBM to a depth of approximately 7m below the upper height of the steel piles. All fi ve

Peter Kenyon, TunnelTalk

bodies of the workers lost in the accident had been recovered within a week of the 2012 disaster. Sedimentary material from around the TBM was removed using a compressed airlift suction dredging system (Fig 4, right), leaving part of the fl ooded tunnel and the TBM clear of all silt and sand and surrounded by only water (Fig 5, right). Tunnel segments that may hold clues as to the possible cause of the accident were lifted fi rst, using a ship crane. Once exposed by water on all sides, divers were able to secure cables and a platform for the TBM to be hoisted out of the water and onto a barge for transportation away for further investigation. The outcome of those investigations is yet to be reported, and neither the Kajima nor JX Nippon spokesmen were able to confi rm to TunnelTalk that the conclusions will be made public.

One worker survived the tragedy. He was working at the bottom of the 33m launch shaft when the inundation occurred, and the force of the water raised him to the

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Salvage team recoversSalvage team recovers

AJapan has taken a step forward following recovery of the TBM and sets of concrete segmental lining.


not clear at this moment, which is why Okayama Prefecture Police, who are carrying out the investigation, ordered us to get the machine out of the water,” said Sei Yokote, spokesman for the project’s main contractor Kajima Construction. “The Kajima company paid for the recovery operation,” he told TunnelTalk from Japan.


JX Nippon, the largest petrochemical company in Japan, contracted Kajima

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TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2013

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4

A second Crossrail link for London

incorporating a 27km underground

section from Wimbledon in the south-

west of the UK capital to Tottenham Hale

in the north-east has been backed by the

transport agency Transport for London (TfL).

The support, from Michelle Dix,

Managing Director for Planning for TfL,

follows the release of a fi nal report into the

link from infl uential business lobby group

Transport First, chaired by former UK

Transport Minister Lord Adonis.

Key recommendations include exploring

fi nancing models and design options with a

view to beginning construction in the 2020s.

Also on the panel that reported on

possible route options for the estimated £12

billion line are Duncan Wilkinson, a Director

at infrastructure and engineering consultant

Arup, and Roy Hill, a Director at CH2M-Hill.

The proposals also include an 8km

spur tunnel between Angel in Islington and

Alexandra Palace.

“In order to meet the demands that

are going to occur in the next decade we

have to start planning for Crossrail 2 now,”

said TfL MD (Planning) Dix. “Crossrail 2 has

been justifi ed, there is a policy statement for

it, there is a need for it, there is support for

it from businesses. We welcome the report

by London First today (6 February, 2013), so

that is acknowledging support for it because

if we do not London will grind to a halt in 20

years time.” In addition to the 27km long

underground section, the proposal includes

a new super-station at Kings Cross, Euston

and St Pancras that would connect with

the east-west Crossrail 1, which is currently

under construction, the High Speed 1 rail

link connecting London with the Channel

Tunnel, and the proposed 400km/hr High

Speed 2 London-Birmingham-Leeds-

Manchester rail link, which is moving

towards Parliamentary approval.

There would also be a further eight

underground stations along the route,

plus four more on the Angel (Islington) to

Alexandra Palace spur.

The main route broadly follows one

that has been safeguarded for potential rail

development since 1991. This was more

recently confi rmed in 2008 and is due to be

looked at again later this year.

Analysis of the corridor has reduced

various options to two main routes with

London First strongly supporting the more

expansive and more expensive Option B.

Option A, estimated at £9.5 billion would

be a ‘closed’ underground system between

Clapham and Alexandra Palace whereas

Option A would, like Crossrail 1, allow for

heavier through trains that can connect with

existing commuter services at either end.

The cost difference is accounted for mainly

by the need for larger diameter tunnels and

longer station platforms required under

Option B. TfL has commissioned an engineering

feasibility and cost study of the core

tunnelled elements of both options and

concluded that both are feasible. Further

Task force identifi espreferred Crossrail 2 route

London First report on Crossrail 2

From left: Crossrail 2 - Option B; Safeguarded route for Crossrail 2; Crossrail 2 - Option A



www.TunnelTalk.com

58

Meeting commitments on ground-

borne noise is a critical element

of underground construction.

UK-based Anderson Acoustics is currently

providing noise and vibration monitoring

services on a number of tunnel and

station contracts. Technical Director

Steve Summers reports on progress and

methodology for TunnelTalk.

As excavation continues on the

running tunnels for Crossrail under London,

contractors must at all times ensure their

underground operations remain within

strict and predefi ned vibration parameters.

Anderson Acoustics Ltd has been

commissioned to carry out vibration

measurements on Crossrail’s western

tunnels. Consultants from Anderson

Acoustics Ltd and their sub-consultants

Accon UK are the fi rst acoustics

professionals to have worked within one of

the Crossrail tunnels. Measurements have

been carried out at two locations, one at

Royal Oak and the second near to Hyde

Park. The commission forms part of the C300/

C410 Western Tunnels & Caverns contract,

with Anderson Acoustics appointed as

noise and vibration consultants to the joint

venture contractor BAM/Ferrovial/Kier

(BFK). Anderson Acoustics manages and

monitors all aspects of noise and vibration

associated with tunnelling and other

construction activities at the contract’s

numerous worksites.

Crossrail noise limitsVibration readings have been taken at the

surface and within the tunnel to measure

levels resulting from the passage of the

narrow gauge loco that carries concrete

segments and other materials to service

the TBM. Crossrail has to meet strict

undertakings that control the levels of

ground-borne noise from the construction

railway. This is noise that occurs when the

structure of a building re-radiates ground

vibration, causing airborne noise within that

building. Crossrail’s undertakings include

internal noise limits set for residential

buildings and other building uses, as

well as specifi c undertakings for certain

commercial properties which have uses

that are particularly sensitive to noise, such

as recording studios. Crossrail’s standard

adopted criteria for ground-borne noise

are 40 dB LAmax,S within residential

buildings, 30 dB LAmax,S for recording

studios and 25 dB LAmax,S for theatres.

The LAmax,S index is a measure of the

maximum noise level caused by an event

such as loco movement. In the surveys

carried out, vibration velocity results have

been converted into estimated ground-

borne noise levels by using a standard

relationship. This has been derived from

measurements relating vibration to noise

levels within buildings above rail tunnels.

The vibration measurements have two

main purposes. First, to provide a direct

indication of ground-borne noise levels

for different track types for the temporary

construction loco within the tunnel.

Second, to provide data to validate the

prediction model used to calculate ground-

borne noise levels at specifi c locations.

This data has been used to confi rm

the track types required to achieve the

relevant undertakings. Different temporary

construction railway track options have

been designed incorporating varying levels

of vibration isolation.

Accelerometer mounting

The vibration monitoring involves a

measurement and analysis process that

is complex and requires close attention

to detail. The sensors used to detect

the vibration were accelerometers,

and these were connected to a multi-

channel data acquisition device used to

make digital recordings of the vibration.

The measurements in the tunnel, where

vibration levels are relatively high, required

standard, low sensitivity, accelerometers.

Conversely, for measurements at the

ground surface, very high sensitive

accelerometers were required, which were

some of the highest sensitivity devices

used to measure environmental vibration.

These are capable of measuring vibration

down to less than 0.001 m/s2.

The mounting of accelerometers

had to be considered carefully to ensure

effective coupling to the vibrating surface.

For example, accelerometers within the

tunnel were mounted magnetically to

purpose-built 20mm thick steel angle

brackets, bolted to the tunnel segment. For

the surface measurement at Royal Oak,

man-holes approximately 1.5m deep were

constructed in order to bypass the local

ground surface and couple instead with

the underlying sub-soil. Smooth concrete

fl oors to the man-holes provided a level

surface to support a heavy stainless steel

plate on which the accelerometer was

mechanically fi xed. At Sussex Square,

near Hyde Park, steel ground spikes were

used. The accelerometers were fi xed using

magnetic mounts to the spikes which were

350mm long. The digital vibration recordings from

the cleanest construction train pass-by

events were identifi ed and analysed on a

PC using signal processing and analysis

software. The acceleration recordings were

integrated to give velocity results in 1/3

octave bands using FFT analysis.

Two main vibration surveys were

carried out. The fi rst survey at Royal Oak

involved measurements on the standard

track type used by BFK for the temporary

construction railway in the Western tunnels.

Keeping underground noisewithin limits

Narrow gauge construction loco track at the Royal Oak portal

Steve Summers, Technical

Director, Anderson Acoustics

Vibration monitoring equipment in

man-hole

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Organisers report that preparations are moving along at high speed for the World Tunnel Congress

(WTC) gathering for 31 May to 7 June in Geneva, Switzerland. Convened to host also the 39th General Assembly of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, the congress is said to be taking shape nicely.

As the programme takes shape, it is becoming clearer that the WTC2013 event will differ from previous congresses in several ways. There is to be a considerably greater number of sessions in the technical programme and specifi c committees of the ITA will conduct independent events to further their work. More social events are also planned to ensure an enjoyable time for delegates and their partners during their stay in the cosmopolitan yet charming lake-side city.

The venue for the event is the Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG), which is located close to the Geneva airport, the main railway station, and near Lake Geneva and the historic Old Town. Built by the Building Foundation for International Organisations (FIPOI) in 1973 and completely renovated in 2004, the building is also close to the UN Place des Nations, where a number of major international organisations and permanent missions of the United Nations organization are located.

In the context of the Opening Ceremony on Monday, 3 June, three keynote lectures will address the motto of the event: Underground - the way to

the future. The fi rst, by Walter Thurnherr, General Secretary of the Swiss Ministry of Environment, Traffi c, Energy and Communication, will discuss the manner in which underground construction in Switzerland has contributed in the past to a sustainable and environmentally sound development in the areas of traffi c and energy and the measures to be employed for continuing this policy in the future.

In recent years, Singapore has invested signifi cantly in the expansion of its underground infrastructure and its future development for an even greater utilisation of underground space. Mr Chong Kheng Chua, Vice Director of the Singaporean Land Transport Authority, will explain the strategic initiative of the Government of Singapore, which has as its aim to deliver the foundation in terms of planning and technology required to make this possible.

The utilisation of underground space is only possible if the scientifi c and technical prerequisites for this are established. Prof Dr Georg Anagnostou, Head of the Institute of Geotechnics at ETH Zurich, will discuss current state-of-the-art methods based on current examples from Switzerland and will also demonstrate the importance of a comprehensive body of standards.

Monday will also host the presentation of the Sir Alan Muir Wood Memorial Lecture, which this year is to be delivered by Dick Robbins, President of The Robbins Company from 1958 to 1994 and an engineer who stays committed to the company and the international tunnelling industry as a whole. His long career in

the development of mechanized TBMs and tunnelling systems together with the many projects he has been involved with across the decades and across the globe will provide a wealth of knowledge and experience to fulfi ll the criteria for being invited to deliver a lecture in the memory of the ITA’s founding President and life-long Honorary President.

Once into the schedule of the technical presentations, papers selected from a high number of submissions will be presented across 15 sessions. Together with these, there will be sessions by the ITA Committee on Underground Space (ITACUS) to advance its Global Perspective programme on the planning, design and delivery of more resilitent and sustainable cities as urbanisation of the world’s population continues and the impact of climate change is felt.

COSUF, the ITA Committee on Operational Safety of Underground Facilities, will conduct a workshop on Tuesday morning (4 June) to discuss the safety challenges and solutions associated with complex underground multipurpose facilities. As part of the ITA and supported by PIARC, the World Road Association, ITA-COSUF covers the safety issues of all types of underground facilities and conducts the workshops as important means of communication. The workshop is open to all participants of the WTC congress one-day registration is available for those who wish to attend the workshop only.

ITA-TECH, the Association’s

Geneva rolls out theWTC red carpet

TunnelTalk reporting

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Entrance and main hall of the congress venue

www.TunnelTalk.com

also planned to ensure an enjoyable time for delegates and their partners during their stay in the cosmopolitan yet charming lake-side city.

The venue for the event is the Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG), which is located close to the Geneva airport, the main railway station, and near Lake Geneva and the historic Old Town. Built by the Building Foundation for International Organisations (FIPOI) in 1973 and completely renovated in 2004, the building is also close to the UN Place des Nations, where a number of major international organisations and permanent missions of the United Nations organization are located.

In the context of the Opening Ceremony on Monday, 3 June, three keynote lectures will address the motto of the event: Underground - the way to

strategic initiative of the Government of Singapore, which has as its aim to deliver the foundation in terms of planning and technology required to make this possible.

The utilisation of underground space is only possible if the scientifi c and technical prerequisites for this are established. Prof Dr Georg Anagnostou, Head of the Institute of Geotechnics at ETH Zurich, will discuss current state-of-the-art methods based on current examples from Switzerland and will also demonstrate the importance of a comprehensive body of standards.

Monday will also host the presentation of the Sir Alan Muir Wood Memorial Lecture, which this year is to be delivered by Dick Robbins, President of The Robbins Company from 1958 to 1994 and an engineer who stays committed to the company and the international tunnelling industry as a whole. His long career in

Entrance and main hall of the congress venue

www.TunnelTalk.com

(BFK). Anderson Acoustics manages and

monitors all aspects of noise and vibration

associated with tunnelling and other

construction activities at the contract’s

Vibration readings have been taken at the

surface and within the tunnel to measure

levels resulting from the passage of the

narrow gauge loco that carries concrete

segments and other materials to service

well as specifi c undertakings for certain

commercial properties which have uses

that are particularly sensitive to noise, such

as recording studios. Crossrail’s standard

adopted criteria for ground-borne noise

are 40 dB LAmax,S within residential

buildings, 30 dB LAmax,S for recording

studios and 25 dB LAmax,S for theatres.

The LAmax,S index is a measure of the

maximum noise level caused by an event

such as loco movement. In the surveys

carried out, vibration velocity results have

been converted into estimated ground-

borne noise levels by using a standard

relationship. This has been derived from

measurements relating vibration to noise

levels within buildings above rail tunnels.

The vibration measurements have two

main purposes. First, to provide a direct

indication of ground-borne noise levels

for different track types for the temporary

construction loco within the tunnel.

Second, to provide data to validate the

prediction model used to calculate ground-

borne noise levels at specifi c locations.

This data has been used to confi rm

the track types required to achieve the

relevant undertakings. Different temporary

construction railway track options have

been designed incorporating varying levels

of vibration isolation.

Accelerometer mounting

The mounting of accelerometers

had to be considered carefully to ensure

effective coupling to the vibrating surface.

For example, accelerometers within the

tunnel were mounted magnetically to

purpose-built 20mm thick steel angle

brackets, bolted to the tunnel segment. For

the surface measurement at Royal Oak,

man-holes approximately 1.5m deep were

constructed in order to bypass the local

ground surface and couple instead with

the underlying sub-soil. Smooth concrete

fl oors to the man-holes provided a level

surface to support a heavy stainless steel

plate on which the accelerometer was

mechanically fi xed. At Sussex Square,

near Hyde Park, steel ground spikes were

used. The accelerometers were fi xed using

magnetic mounts to the spikes which were

350mm long. The digital vibration recordings from

the cleanest construction train pass-by

events were identifi ed and analysed on a

PC using signal processing and analysis

software. The acceleration recordings were

integrated to give velocity results in 1/3

octave bands using FFT analysis.

Two main vibration surveys were

carried out. The fi rst survey at Royal Oak

involved measurements on the standard

track type used by BFK for the temporary

construction railway in the Western tunnels.

1

www.TunnelTalk.com TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2013

The JCM Northlink JV of Jay Dee/

Collucio/Michaels emerged as the

apparent low bidder when six bids

were opened for the 3.4 miles (5.5km) of

twin tube light rail tunnelling for extension

north of the Seattle Sound Transit LRT

from the University of Washington and to

the Northgate Mall.

At US$440.3 million, the bid was

close in value to four of the fi ve competing

bids and all six bids were well below the

Engineer’s Estimate of $594 million. The list

of the competing bids is:

• Shea/Kenny - $443.5 million

• Southland FCC - $464.7 million

• Dragados - $464.8 million

• TFK (Traylor, Frontier Kemper) - $465.5

million• Healy - $517 million

JCM submitted the bid for the

Northgate Link after recently completing

excavation of the light rail tunnels between

downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill Station

as part of the University U-Link project.

“We are very pleased with the

competitive response from the contracting

community on this important contract for

the Agency that could save taxpayers

millions of dollars,” said Ahmad Fazel,

Sound Transit Executive Director of

Design, Engineering and Construction

Management. Sound Transit will now evaluate the

bids to determine the lowest responsive

and responsible bidder. This process

ensures that the low bidder meets all

contract requirements. After that has

been determined, staff will bring a

recommendation to the Sound Transit

Board to award the design-bid-build

contract in late July. Construction work

is then scheduled to begin late this year

(2013) and take a little more than four years

to complete. The contract is the largest single piece

of work on the US$2.1 billion Northgate

Link Extension project. In addition to the

twin tunnels, it includes excavating the

underground stations in the Roosevelt and

U District neighborhoods.

Sound Transit set a goal of eight

percent of the contract amount to be

performed by small businesses and four

percent to be performed by disadvantaged

business enterprises (DBE).

The winning contractor will launch two

tunnel boring machines from the Roosevelt

Station site to excavate the tunnels to the

U District Station and on to the University

of Washington Station at Husky Stadium.

A third tunnel boring machine will be

launched from the Maple Leaf Portal near

NE 94th Street and will bore two tunnels,

one after the other, to the Roosevelt

station. The work is scheduled to begin

late this year and last just over four years.

Different Sound Transit contractors

began preparing the Roosevelt Station site

last summer and recently began demolition

of existing buildings at the U District station

site. The Northgate Link project is

scheduled to open in 2021 and will

connect with the University Link tunnels

to downtown Seattle. The University Link

section is scheduled to open in 2016.

The Northgate Link Extension is

a key part of the regional mass transit

system approved by voters in 2008. The

line will provide a fast, reliable option for

commuters through one of the region’s

most congested traffi c areas.

Most of the line will be underground,

with the track transitioning to the surface

at a tunnel portal site along I-5 at about

NE 94th Street. The above-ground light rail

guideway will travel alongside I-5 before

crossing over First Avenue NE, south of

NE 100th Street, and connecting to the

elevated Northgate Station.

When the Northgate Link Extension

opens in 2021, it will be part of the 36 miles

of new light rail lines running north, east and

south from Seattle and is expected to add

more than 60,000 daily boardings to the

system by 2030. A ride from Northgate to

downtown will take about 15 minutes. n

References• Construction management for Northgate

LRT - TunnelTalk, November 2012

• Seattle pushes on with LRT extensions -

TunnelTalk, August 2012

• Success in Seattle as TBM holes through -

TunnelTalk, March 2012

• Seattle LRT breakthroughs - TunnelTalk,

November 2011

• Owner’s approach to Seattle’s U-Link

extension - TunnelTalk, July 2010

Seattle Northgate LRT Linkbid result

ST News Release

Sound Transit’s LRT route north

A PREVIEW OF THE TUNNELTALK 2013 ANNUAL REVIEW


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Salvage team recoversJapan disaster TBM

A police investigation into the death of fi ve workers who drowned during a subsea tunnel collapse in

Japan has taken a step forward following recovery of the TBM and sets of concrete segmental lining.


“The cause of the collapse is still not clear at this moment, which is why Okayama Prefecture Police, who are carrying out the investigation, ordered us to get the machine out of the water,” said Sei Yokote, spokesman for the project’s main contractor Kajima Construction. “The Kajima company paid for the recovery operation,” he told TunnelTalk from Japan.


JX Nippon, the largest petrochemical company in Japan, contracted Kajima to construct the tunnel for an undersea pipeline between two of its refi neries on opposite sides of a sea channel at Mizushima Port in Kurashiki, west Japan (Fig 1, right). A spokesman for the company said JX Nippon was not part of the investigation adding that “the police are handling this with Kajima. Whether we decide to build another tunnel depends on the outcome of this investigation. We cannot consider it at this moment, it is out of our control.”

Kajima spokesman Yokote said any decision about whether to continue on the existing heading, which was approximately

150m complete before the collapse, would be “made by the Client, but I don’t think the same tunnel will be used.”

Yokote also confi rmed the thickness of concrete segments used for the heading was 160mm for a tunnel i.d. of 4.5m.

Recovery of the TBM was via a barge on the water surface. Recovery back through the fl ooded tunnel was considered too great a risk. A large-scale sinkhole above the accident site was identifi ed by a Japanese Coast Guard survey vessel shortly after the accident took place. The existence of the sinkhole raised fears that the surviving part of the inundated tunnel might also be at risk of collapse. The exact location of the TBM was mapped prior to dredging using magnetic survey equipment.

The recovery operation was completed on 24 August 2013 and involved dredging silt and sand from around the sinkhole that formed on the seabed as a result of the tunnel collapse. Dredging progressed to a depth of 10.5m below the seabed and to within a vertical distance of approximately 2m of the top of the TBM (Fig 2, right). Tunnel contractor Kajima said a total of 23,000m3 of material was dredged by salvage crews working to free the TBM, and that the operation was made more complicated by the proximity of a pipeline encased in a similar tunnel structure that was constructed in 2002 and is currently in service.

The next operational phase involved sinking 62 x 700mm diameter steel piles to a depth of 13.5m into the seabed and around the site of the buried TBM (Fig 3, right).

Divers were then able to remove the remaining silt and sand around the TBM to a depth of approximately 7m below the upper height of the steel piles. All fi ve


bodies of the workers lost in the accident had been recovered within a week of the 2012 disaster. Sedimentary material from around the TBM was removed using a compressed airlift suction dredging system (Fig 4, right), leaving part of the fl ooded tunnel and the TBM clear of all silt and sand and surrounded by only water (Fig 5, right). Tunnel segments that may hold clues as to the possible cause of the accident were lifted fi rst, using a ship crane. Once exposed by water on all sides, divers were able to secure cables and a platform for the TBM to be hoisted out of the water and onto a barge for transportation away for further investigation. The outcome of those investigations is yet to be reported, and neither the Kajima nor JX Nippon spokesmen were able to confi rm to TunnelTalk that the conclusions will be made public.

One worker survived the tragedy. He was working at the bottom of the 33m launch shaft when the inundation occurred, and the force of the water raised him to the

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Rail transportation chiefs in Saudi Arabia confi rm the ambitious 1,065km Landbridge mega-project

will be entering a construction procurement phase within the next few months. The combined freight and passenger link will see, for the fi rst time, a rail connection across the Arabian peninsula from the busy international Red Sea port of Jeddah on the west coast, through to the Persian Gulf port of Dammam on the east coast via the capital city, Riyadh. Scope also includes construction of an additional 115km of new line to connect Dammam with Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial city, the petrochemical port of Jubail. Peter Kenyon of TunnelTalk explores new developments on a project with a stop-start history that has been identifi ed as requiring up to 28km of twin-running tunnels.

For more than 20 years Saudi Arabia, a country with a relatively underdeveloped railway system, has dreamed of a connection that spans its busy eastern and western container ports – the so-called Landbridge that will allow coast-to-coast movement of millions of tonne of freight in a matter of 10 hours instead of the 5-7 days it currently takes via ship.

In fact, feasibility studies and a provisional alignment have already been completed by US engineering, design and transportation planning consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) as part of a project brief in the late 1990s to look at the entire rail infrastructure of the Kingdom. The then-client, the Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO), got as far as selecting in 2008 a consortium that would deliver the Landbridge element on a Build Operate Transfer procurement model. This followed

a protracted series of prequalifi cation and bidding rounds that involved competing civil engineering companies including Bouygues (France), Engeocom (Russia), Mitsui (Japan), OHL (Spain), SNC Lavalin (Canada) and Samsung (Korea), as well as numerous international consultants and locally based construction companies.

It all came to nothing - SRO could not agree fi nancial close with the winning Tarabot consortium, whose tunnel contractor would have been OHL of Spain. Contractural matters surrounding the Client’s confl ict of interest as owner of the existing 450km stretch of railway between Riyadh and Dammam that was to be upgraded and also form part of the Landbridge 50-year concessionary project, proved too diffi cult to overcome. After 2010 the project went into relative hibernation.

But now, following a reorganisation of the Saudi rail regulatory authorities, there is a new project owner - the Saudi Railway Company (SAR), itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund. The project, it seems, is very much back on: this time with a new and simplifi ed design-build model for the heavy construction and tunnel elements, and this time with public funding that is already committed. At the same time, two other long-distance rail transportation projects (the 450km Medinah-Mecca high speed railway and the 1,500km north-south mineral rail link) are well advanced, all of which has served to restore confi dence in the Saudis’ ability to deliver mega rail projects.

“The Saudi Landbridge is our next biggest project,” said Hamad Al-Yousef, Civil and Track Projects Director at SAR. “It is going to be double track and will service mineral transport, passenger transport

Reviving the Saudi trans-peninsula rail link


and general freight. It has been estimated that the design would take a year or so, so half way through this process we will be starting prequalifying contractors.”

Asked whether international contractors could have confi dence that a competitive prequalifi cation process would result in contract awards this time around, Al-Yousef said: “The Landbridge came to SAR [from SRO]. Previously it wasn’t with SAR, but it came to us last year. We have acted upon it; we have appointed management consultants and designers. We think we can launch this project soon.”

He added: “I think the project is crucial. Why was it not launched 10 years ago, or 12 years ago, or 13 years ago, or even 20 years ago? I don’t think this is the story. The story is we are building this railway now.”

To this effect, Italferr, the engineering subsidiary of Italian State Railways, is awarded a US$37 million 14-month contract to design the technical rail aspects of the Landbridge (a task previously undertaken by SNCF International) while Fluor has been awarded an eight-year US$72 million project management contract to oversee design and construction of the link. PB, which has been involved with the project since 1997 and produced a technical and alignment study in 2005, has been engaged to work alongside Fluor to review its original design and support the development of complex heavy civil engineering structures, including up to 28km of tunnels.

“Parsons Brinckerhoff previously prepared the Environment Study - Impact Assessment Report - a high-level study of the potential environmental impacts of the construction and subsequent operation of the Landbridge,” explained Arash Aghdam, PB Director of Infrastructure for the Middle East-North Africa region. “The technical study assessed realignments of existing track that would be necessary to permit travel speeds up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour. It also included topographical mapping and aerial surveys; assessment of structure and tunnelling requirements; and review of geotechnical, hydrological, and environmental data.”

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Construction of the 15km twin running tunnels for North West Rail Link (NWRL) in Sydney is awarded to the Thiess (50%)/John Holland (25%)/Dragados (25%) joint venture. The successful TJHD JV beat off bids from Baulderstone/Bouygues and Obayashi/McConnell Dowell/ Laing O’Rourke to win the contract. Scope for the Aus$1.15 billion tunnel and station civil works contract also includes the fi ve underground stations - Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Showground, Norwest and Bella Vista - planned for the total 23km rail link between Cudgegong Road and Epping.

The tunnels will be the longest ever built for trains in Australia. Thiess is the largest wholly-owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings, which also owns JV partner John Holland. In a statement Thiess confi rmed four TBMs will be procured to complete the 6m i.d. tunnels, with the fi rst machine due in the ground next year (2014). TJHD joint venture spokeswoman Sue Netterfi eld said: “We are hitting the ground running and expect to place orders for the

double shield TBMs within the next few weeks. Work will start shortly to prepare three major tunnelling sites at Bella Vista, Showground and Cherrybrook, with contract completion scheduled for the fi rst quarter of 2017.” TBMs 1 and 2 will launch on 6km drives east from Cherrybrook to the existing interchange station at Epping, while TBMs 3 and 4 will complete 9km of eastbound

drives from the Bella Vista station box to Cherrybrook. Roadheaders will be used to excavate a short tunnel section linking the two NWRL tunnels to the existing Epping-Chatswood line tunnels, as well as a crossover cavern linking the two lines. “Thiess has been delivering projects in New South Wales for decades and between us, Thiess and John Holland have built 70% of Australia’s major underground

Sydney awards billion dollarrail mega-project

New line links Sydney’s north west to the centre

Sydney announced yesterday (April 4), that it expects to procure four TBMs, of about 7.6m diameter, to complete the city’s ambitious Aust$8.5 billion (US$8.9 billion) Skytrain Project. In the fi rst of two environmental impact assessments the New South Wales State Government unveiled detailed plans of the proposed 15km twin 6.6m i.d. running tunnels that comprise the majority of the 23km heavy rail alignment linking Epping with Sydney’s northwest district near Rouse Hill. From the new Epping interchange station commuters will be able to use existing rail services to complete their journey to the centre of Sydney. The fi rst statement, based on designs and alignments drawn up by a consortium headed by AECOM and including Parsons Brinckerhoff (Australia), concentrates on 15km of tunnelling and subsurface excavations.

Planners in New South Wales want to speed up the process of procuring the needed TBMs by seeking approval on that element of the project fi rst. A second impact assessment on the design of eight new stations and the rail infrastructure will

be completed later this year. Five of the stations – Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Hills Centre, Norwest and Bella Vista will be underground, with TBMs 1 and 2 launching on their 6km drives east from Cherrybrook to the existing interchange station at Epping in late 2014 and early 2015.

TBMs 3 and 4 are scheduled for their 9km eastbound drives from the Bella Vista station box to Cherrybrook at the same time as TBMs 1 and 2 begin their drives, meaning that all four TBMs will be working simultaneously for approximately six months. Hills Centre station box will act as a maintenance post before the TBMs restart their westward drive to Cherrybrook. Kellyville and Rouse Hill stations will

be elevated, while the western terminus at Cudgegong Road station will be built into an excavated cutting. Early construction tenders for surface works and station excavations are scheduled to begin in 2013, with the TBMs delivered in 2014. Up to 4km of the alignment will be on elevated track, which has earned the North West Rail Project the label ‘Skytrain’. The continuous 15km of twin segmentally lined running tunnels, run from Epping Station to a tunnel portal just north of Celebration Drive at Bella Vista. Topography along the corridor varies greatly, particularly near creeks and watercourses, and tunnel depths will vary depending on proximity to stations and geological constraints along the corridor. n

Four TBMs for Sydney’s$8.5 billion rail linkPeter Kenyon, TunnelTalk

Sydney’s North West Rail Link includes 30 km of tunnels


onstruction of the 15km twin running tunnels for North West Rail Link (NWRL) in Sydney is awarded to the Thiess (50%)/John Holland (25%)/

The successful TJHD JV beat off bids from Baulderstone/Bouygues and Obayashi/McConnell Dowell/ Laing

Scope for the Aus$1.15 billion tunnel and station civil works contract also includes the fi ve underground stations - Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Showground, Norwest and Bella Vista - planned for the total 23km rail link between Cudgegong

The tunnels will be the longest ever built for trains in Australia. Thiess is the largest wholly-owned subsidiary of Leighton

Sydney awards billion dollar

northwest district near Rouse Hill. From the new Epping interchange station commuters will be able to use existing rail services to complete their journey to

The fi rst statement, based on designs and alignments drawn up by a consortium headed by AECOM and including Parsons Brinckerhoff (Australia), concentrates on 15km of tunnelling and subsurface


contractors could have confi dence that a

ail transportation chiefs in Saudi Arabia confi rm the ambitious 1,065km Landbridge mega-project


For more than 20 years Saudi Arabia, a country with a relatively underdeveloped railway system, has dreamed of a connection that spans its busy eastern and

contractors could have confi dence that a competitive prequalifi cation process would

onstruction of the 15km twin running tunnels for North West Rail Link (NWRL) in Sydney is awarded to the Thiess (50%)/John Holland (25%)/

The successful TJHD JV beat off bids from Baulderstone/Bouygues and Obayashi/McConnell Dowell/ Laing

Scope for the Aus$1.15 billion tunnel and station civil works contract also includes the fi ve underground stations - Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Showground, Norwest and Bella Vista - planned for the total 23km rail link between Cudgegong

The tunnels will be the longest ever built for trains in Australia. Thiess is the largest wholly-owned subsidiary of Leighton

Sydney awards billion dollar

commuters will be able to use existing rail services to complete their journey to

The fi rst statement, based on designs and alignments drawn up by a consortium headed by AECOM and including Parsons Brinckerhoff (Australia), concentrates on 15km of tunnelling and subsurface


ail transportation chiefs in Saudi Arabia confi rm the ambitious 1,065km Landbridge mega-project


For more than 20 years Saudi Arabia, a country with a relatively underdeveloped railway system, has dreamed of a connection that spans its busy eastern and

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Savings of up to 75% in carbon emissions have been demonstrated by a tool that compares open cut

installation with non-disruptive solutions for installing sewers and other utilities in urban highways.

The web-based comparison tool has been developed over the last 18 months on behalf of the Pipe Jacking Association by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), the international consultancy that provides research, testing and certifi cation for all aspects of transport.

The 75% saving in carbon emissions was achieved by comparing the installation of 500m of 600mm pipeline, 6m deep, using non-disruptive techniques with open cut construction (Table 1). An additional proven benefi t of the trenchless method was that it involved a construction period less than half of that for open cut. At shallower depths carbon savings are typically in the range of 50-60%.

The free and easy to use CO2 emissions calculator can produce indications of comparative emissions within seconds, and has been verifi ed by WRc, an independent research-based consultancy that provides sustainable solutions for the protection, enhancement and maintenance of the environment.

“The fi ndings should encourage water and other utilities to consider pipejacking, microtunnelling and other non-disruptive trenchless techniques when appraising new utility installations,” said TRL Project Manager, Matthew Wayman.

The application enables the user to identify more carbon (and energy) effi cient options, and can therefore assist them in meeting legally enforceable national and international reduction targets as well as voluntary reductions.

Data for the calculator has been drawn from a number of authoritative sources that include the University of Bath’s Inventory of Carbon and Energy for construction materials, the Concrete Pipeline Systems Association, and outputs from the UK Department for Transport’s QUADRO programme (Queues and Delays at Roadworks) developed by TRL. Reports can readily be produced that not only provide comparative emissions data for open cut and non-disruptive options, they also detail data sources and assumptions utilised in the calculations.

According to the UK Department for Transport, roadworks related congestion is estimated to cost the UK economy around

£4 billion a year. Successive governments have expressed concern at this situation and in early 2012 the UK Government announced enhancements to the New Roads and Street Works Act enabling local authorities to charge utility companies up to £2,500 per day for digging up busy roads at peak times.

A carbon calculator developed to highlight the reduction potential of trenchless technology had been developed by the British Columbia Chapter of the North American Society of Trenchless Technology in association with the Action on Climate Change Team (ACT) of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. The project was transferred to NYSEARCH, a New York based research group that works on behalf of North American gas and water utilities, but the project put on hold. As a result the UK Pipe Jacking Association decided to sponsor the development of a free and easy-to-use calculator and appointed TRL to carry out the project.

Apart from carbon savings and the disruption costs, open cut construction followed by reinstatement is estimated to reduce highway life by up to 30%, representing a substantial additional community cost for highway authorities.

It is hoped that newly introduced ‘lane rental’ charges, together with readily available evidence of carbon savings, and the community cost of highway degradation occasioned by open cut installation, will encourage utilities to adopt

New tool provesno-dig carbon savings

Web-based application comparison tool

Pipe Jacking Association News Release

Table 1. CO2 emissions projected by pipe jacking v open cut calculatorDiameter Length Depth Open cut CO

2 (tonne) Pipejacking CO2 (tonne) % saving600mm 500m 6m 492.4 124.6 75%1200mm 500m 6m 756.5 328.3 57%600mm 500m 4m 351.4 113.3 67%1200mm 500m 4m 570.6 301.8 47%

authorities to charge utility companies up to £2,500 per day for digging up busy

A carbon calculator developed to highlight the reduction potential of trenchless technology had been developed by the British Columbia Chapter of the North American Society of Trenchless Technology in association with the Action on Climate Change Team (ACT) of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. The project was transferred to NYSEARCH, a New York based research group that works on behalf of North American gas and water utilities, but the project put on hold. As a result the UK Pipe

authorities to charge utility companies up to £2,500 per day for digging up busy

A carbon calculator developed to highlight the reduction potential of trenchless technology had been developed by the British Columbia Chapter of the North American Society of Trenchless Technology in association with the Action on Climate Change Team (ACT) of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. The project was transferred to NYSEARCH, a New York based research group that works on behalf of North American gas and water utilities, but the project put on hold. As a result the UK Pipe

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Shani Wallis, TunnelTalk

Mexico City managesmega drainage

Six TBMs of near 9m diameter are pushing on to complete 62km of combined sewer trunk main to

convey waste and stormwater from the centre of Mexico City to a new treatment plant on the Tula River to the east of the city. Since work started, tunnelling teams have survived fl ood events, faced geological surprises, and lived through a change in national government that appointed a new public-owner management at the top of the project. Crews are now preparing for major changes to improve the TBM performance and production and a proposal to procure additional TBMs is being considered in order to get this vital piece of urban infrastructure fi nished and in to operation as soon as possible. Shani Wallis reports following a hosted visit with Robbins to Mexico.

Work on the Emisor Oriente sewerage project started in April 2009 after decades in planning and design. The desperately

needed infrastructure is designed to replace, underground, an open canal that conveys waste and stormwater from Mexico City to a discharge on the Tula River to the east of the city.

Shaft 10 set-up with the vertical conveyor belt storage loop structure

Shaft 10 set-up with the vertical conveyor belt storage loop structure

Although the open Gran Canal is covered in the city centre, it is something of a national embarrassment for Mexico City. Its capacity is seriously overloaded and its operation and maintenance notoriously and increasingly diffi cult. The replacement is a 62km long project of 8.9m diameter TBM excavation with a primary precast concrete segmental lining and a secondary in-situ concrete lining with a waterproofi ng membrane in between. A set of 24 permanent shafts of up to 150m deep and 22m in diameter provide work sites for six

TBM operations totaling about 10km each. The project is the property of

Conagua, the national water and irrigation management authority of the Mexico Government, which awarded the design, construction and construction management of the project’s delivery to Comissa, a consortium of Mexico’s leading heavy civil contractors - ICA, CARSO, Lombardo, Estrella and Cotrisa (which is since taken over by ICA). Group contractors of Comissa were then awarded the six 10km long construction lots either individually or in joint ventures (Table 1).

Once awarded, each section contractor procured one TBM for its 10km lot, with the machine selection agreed by the construction consortium and Conagua. Preliminary site investigation was completed by Conagua with further boreholes completed by the contractors and the main construction consortium. These studies and negotiations with various manufacturers resulted in procurement of six TBMs, three each from Herrenknecht and Robbins. All were designed to work through the complex geology beneath Mexico City, ranging from the soft clays and soils of the ancient and dewatered lakebed on which Mexico City is founded, into hard volcanic bedrock at the outer regions and through reaches of mixed interfaced conditions of soft materials and volcanic basalt deposits, all under a confi rmed high

groundwater table (Fig 1). n

weeks. Work will start shortly to prepare three major tunnelling sites at Bella Vista,

drives from the Bella Vista station box to Cherrybrook. Roadheaders will be used to excavate a short tunnel section linking the

wholly-owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings, which also owns JV partner John

wholly-owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings, which also owns JV partner John three major tunnelling sites at Bella Vista, excavate a short tunnel section linking the

Holdings, which also owns JV partner John Holdings, which also owns JV partner John

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Far north near the Arctic Circle, and about 1,000km north of Oslo, preparations are underway for launch of the fi rst hard rock TBM to be used in Norway for more than 20 years. The refurbished 7.23m diameter Robbins machine will excavate some 12km of a new 19km of parallel headrace tunnelling needed to rebuild and increase the output of the existing Røssåga hydropower station. The TBM will excavate two lengths of tunnel in a two-stage upgrade of the power installation. The fi rst is a 7.4km long parallel headrace to the Nedre (Lower) Røssåga powerhouse to increase the performance of the six 43.5MW units that came online in 1955. The second is a 4.3km long tunnel that will increase the capacity of the trailrace of the Øvre (Upper) Røssåga installation to improve the output of its three existing 62.5MW units that started operation in 1961, and allow operation of a new 225MW turbine to be installed in a new cavern at the powerhouse. The NOK1.7 billion (US$285 million) upgrade project for Statkraft Energi AS, owner and operator of the plant within the Norway’s 100% national Government-owned Statkraft Group, will increase the capacity Upper Øvre Røssåga installation to 475MW, and production output of the combined scheme by 200GWh.

The TBM will be used by Norwegian contractor LNS (Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner) after it was awarded the NOK700 million (US$116 million) civil works contract for the station upgrade in November 2012. The machine is a refurbished Robbins

Hydro brings TBMsback to Norway

Shani Wallis, TunnelTalk

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TBM and one of the three new high-performance main-beam gripper machines that worked originally on the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project in Iceland between 2004 and 2008. From a traditional point of view for Norway, the excavation contract for the project’s new tunnelling was based and tendered on a drill+blast specifi cation. This would repeat also the drill+blast work undertaken to build the original plants in the early 1950s and 1960s. Believing in the advantages of the TBM technique,

Robbins worked hard to promote the alternative with LNS and bring back TBM excavation expertise to Norway after a hiatus of 20 years. “For this project, we worked with LNS and the client to promote the advantages of the TBM option,” said Sindre Log, Mananger of Robbins Norway. “We concentrated on several obvious benefi ts. First, the mechanical excavation process reduces the risk of damaging the existing headrace tunnels that are about 100-200m parallel, and by association, the risk

www.TunnelTalk.com

Far north near the Arctic Circle, and about 1,000km north of Oslo, preparations are underway for preparations are underway for launch of the fi rst hard rock TBM to be used in Norway for more than 20 years. The refurbished 7.23m diameter Robbins machine will excavate some 12km of a new 19km of parallel headrace tunnelling needed to rebuild and increase the output of the existing Røssåga hydropower station.

The TBM will excavate two lengths of tunnel in a two-stage upgrade of the power installation. The fi rst is a 7.4km long parallel headrace to the Nedre (Lower) Røssåga powerhouse to increase the performance of the six 43.5MW units that came online in 1955. The second is a 4.3km long tunnel that will increase the capacity of the trailrace of the Øvre (Upper) Røssåga installation to improve the output of its three existing 62.5MW units that started operation in 1961, and allow operation of a new 225MW turbine to be installed in a new cavern at the powerhouse. The NOK1.7 billion (US$285 million) upgrade project for Statkraft Energi AS, owner and operator of the plant within the Norway’s 100% national Government-owned Statkraft Group, will increase the capacity Upper Øvre Røssåga installation to 475MW, and production output of the combined scheme by 200GWh. The TBM will be used by Norwegian contractor LNS (Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner) after it was awarded the NOK700 million (US$116 million) civil works contract for the station upgrade in November 2012. The machine is a refurbished Robbins

Hydro brings TBMs

TBM and one of the three new high-performance main-beam gripper machines that worked originally on the Kárahnjúkar that worked originally on the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project in Iceland between 2004 and 2008.

From a traditional point of view for Norway, the excavation contract for the project’s new tunnelling was based and tendered on a drill+blast specifi cation. This would repeat also the drill+blast work undertaken to build the original plants in the early 1950s and 1960s. Believing in the advantages of the TBM technique,

TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW

in to operation as soon as possible. Shani Wallis reports following a hosted visit with

Work on the Emisor Oriente sewerage project started in April 2009 after decades in planning and design. The desperately

TBM excavation with a primary precast concrete segmental lining and a secondary in-situ concrete lining with a waterproofi ng membrane in between. A set of 24 permanent shafts of up to 150m deep and 22m in diameter provide work sites for six

on which Mexico City is founded, into hard volcanic bedrock at the outer regions and through reaches of mixed interfaced conditions of soft materials and volcanic basalt deposits, all under a confi rmed high

groundwater table (Fig 1). n

ANNUAL REVIEWANNUAL REVIEW


Norwegian Highways Authority Statens Vegvesen announces the open tender of the fi rst of four

tunnelling contracts for what will be the longest underwater road tunnel in the world once it is completed.

Contract E-02, valued at up to NOK1.4 billion (US$158 million) is for half the alignment of the main 14.3km Solbakk tunnel between Tau and Hundvåg, as well as two tunnel portals.

The contract forms part of the Ryfast mega-project, which in its entirety comprises a conventionally excavated tunnel link between the major city of Stavanger in the west and Tau in the east via three linked tunnels 23km in length. Once completed the undersea link will replace the current ferry crossing.

“Bids for the fi rst half of the Solbakk tunnel are now open,” Project Manager Anne-Merete Gilje told TunnelTalk. “The fi nal date for receipt of bids is 27 February.

The second half of the Solbakk tunnel will be let out to tender in March,” she added.

According to the tender notice contract scope is for a twin tube tunnel alignment that will call for the blasting of 1.15 million m3 of rock. The roadway will be dual carriageway on each side. Completion is scheduled for February 2018, a fi ve-year construction period.

The E-03 contract, due to be let in March (2012) is for construction of the second half of the Solbakk tunnel, which will be excavated eastwards from the island of Hundvåg. Two more tunnel contracts are expected to be let later in the year - the 5.7km Hundvåg tunnel, that will link with the Solbakk tunnel and run to the mainland via an exit ramp on the island of Hundvåg at Buøy, and the 3.9km road tunnel under the city of Stavanger that will form a continuous link with the undersea tunnels.

The total cost of the project is

Tendering forworld-longest subsea road tunnel

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estimated at US$1 billion. Once completed the Ryfast tunnels, at 23,900m long, will surpass the 18,680m-long Shin-Karmon tunnel in Japan, completed in 1975, as the longest underwater road tunnel in the world. n

References• New undersea mega-project for Norway -

TunnelTalk, May 2012• Norway’s mega-project to tender in Autumn

- TunnelTalk, June 2012• Links across the waters: Straits Crossings

conference report - TunnelTalk, January 2010

Tunnel portal at Tau

Direct by Design

WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL PREVIEW OF THE TUNNELTALK ANNUAL REVIEW

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This special digital sample contains excerpts from articles published in the 2012, 2011 and 2010 issues, and previews of some of the articles to be published in the forthcoming 2013 edition.

Complete the order form link on the back page of this preview to order your own, personal copies of the Annual Review issues.

Enjoy browsing the preview and we look forward to posting hard copies directly to your mail box.

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www.TunnelTalk.com TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2012TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2012 www.TunnelTalk.com

More than one in ten global infrastructure projects included in a newly released list of the

top-100, involved major tunnelling. The list, produced in a report by international consultancy KPMG and released at the launch event of the World Cities Summit in Singapore in July 2012, judged the top 100 projects on scale, feasibility, complexity, innovation and impact on society.

In total, 11 of the 100 projects, selected by an independent panel of judges and spanning all sectors of construction and project fi nance, involve a large element of tunnelling. Three projects in North America and three in South America made it onto the prestigious list. Projects were nominated for inclusion in one of 10 categories, with 10 projects making it to the fi nal list in each category.

Tunnelling projects were strongly represented in the Urban Mobility section, accounting for six of the total of 10 in the category, and three of the 10 fi nalists in the Global Connectivity section. The Thames Tideway project in London, which involves excavation of a 30km tunnel 70m under the River Thames, made it onto the list in the Water category, and the Singapore Deep Tunnel Sewerage project was included in the Recycling and Waste Management Section.

The proposed 19km immersed tube Fehmarnbelt Crossing between Denmark and Germany, appears in two of the report’s 10 categories, Global Connectivity and Urban Regeneration.

David O’Brien, leader of the KPMG Global Center of Excellence for Cities, said: “There is clear and ample evidence that the world is beginning to innovate and bring new solutions to respond to the simmering

challenges of urbanisation and environmental sustainability. City planners, developers, engineers, investors and policymakers are re-examining and re-inventing the way infrastructure is delivered.”

Other tunnelling projects that made the top-100 list include: • The East Side Access railway project

in New York;• California’s high speed rail project,

described by one judge as “a one in 100-year transformative event”;

• The Eurasia highway tunnel in Istanbul to link Kazlicesme and Goztepe with a 5.4km bored tunnel under the Bosphorus;

• The Port of Miami highway tunnel in Florida;

• The 52km long Aconcagua railway tunnel project to link Chile and Argentina, considered by some of the judges to be a “game changer for South America” and “the region’s most important development in 100 years;”

• The Kuwait Metro;• The São Paolo Metro Line 4 in Brazil; and• The São Paolo Ring Road through the

mountains around the city in Brazil. Labelling the Top 100 as “triumphs

of humanity”, O’Brien added: “These projects should provide inspiration to urban infrastructure participants that change is possible and achievable. The projects highlight a new vision for the future and represent a fundamental change in the way we interact with the urban environment.” n

TunnelTalk referencesFehmarnbælt Crossing• Political backing to Germany-Denmark link

– TunnelTalk, February 2011• Cost comparison for Fehmarnbælt link

options – TunnelTalk, November 2010

California High Speed Rail• Governor signs California HSR funding bill -

TunnelTalk, July 2012• California HSR identifi es qualifi ed

contractors - TunnelTalk, February 2012

Bioceanico Aconcagua Corridor• Extreme tunnel planned for Andes rail link -

TunnelTalk, November 2012

East Side Access• Slurry TBMs ready to tackle New York

ground - TunnelTalk, March 2011• East Side Access optimization - TunnelTalk,

October 2009

Miami Port Tunnel• Miami Port Tunnel fi nally a project -

TunnelTalk, October 2009• Miami TBM assembled and ready to go -

TunnelTalk, September 2011

São Paolo Ring Road• São Paolo urban forest tunnels becoming a

reality - TunnelTalk, June 2012

Thames Tideway• Super sewer to revitalize River Thames -

TunnelTalk, March 2009

Singapore Deep Tunnel Sewerage System• Last TBM holes through on Singapore’s

DTSS - TunnelTalk, March 2005• The good, bad and mixed on the DTSS -

TunnelTalk, April 2004

Tunnels lead the wayin world top-100 projects


Table 1. Global projects with signifi cant tunnelling elements in the Top-100

Project Region Estimated cost

Bioceanico Aconcagua Corridor Argentina-Chile US$3 billion

Fehmarnbelt Crossing (sea link) Denmark-Germany US$6.9 billion

California high speed rail USA US$68 billion

East Side Access railway USA US$8.2 billion

Bosphorous Tunnel (sea link) Turkey US$1.1 billion

São Paolo Metro line 4 Brazil TBC

Kuwait Metro Kuwait US$10 billion

Miami Port Tunnel (sea link) USA US$0.6 billion

São Paolo Ring Road Brazil TBC

Singapore Deep Tunnel Sewerage System Singapore US$2.6 billion

Thames Tideway UK US$6.25 billion

From left: 52km trans-Andean base tunnel route; Fehmarnbelt immersed tube sea link; 5.4km undersea Eurasia Tunnel alignment

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TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2012 www.TunnelTalk.com12

Serious consideration is being given to the feasibility of a railway link through the Himalayas to connect

China with India via Nepal. In April 2012, an academic research

team from China and Nepal conducted an expedition in Nepal to investigate possible rail alignments between Kathmandu and Zhangmu, a town on the Chinese border. The research team, led by Professor Yun Bai of Tongji University in Shanghai and a Vice President of the ITA (International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association), with his colleague Associate Professor Zhenming Shi, a member of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment, were accompanied by Professor Dr Megh Dhital of the Tribhuvan University of Nepal.

The investigation was aimed at identifying the topography of the region, the geological conditions likely to be encountered and the main challenges and obstructions of various possible alignments. The expedition received fi nancial support from TBM manufacturer The Robbins Company.

Recent growth in trade and the movement of people between China and India and Nepal provides suffi cient evidence to support the development. Over the past decade, the volume of bilateral trade between China and India has increased fi fteenfold, and by sevenfold between China and Nepal.

According to a Joint Communiqué released in December 2010, a target for Sino-Indian trade in 2015 is US$100 billion. Currently, most cargo is transported by ship, with land transport through the Nathu La Pass accounting for a small fraction of the volume. Transport has become a bottleneck for growing Sino-Indian bilateral trade.

Tourism and business travel between the three countries has also grown in the past fi ve years, with most people choosing to travel by air. It is believed by initial supporters of the project that a railway link would, “without doubt”, attract more people for lower cost and more convenience. “What is more,” according to Bai Yun of Tonji University in Shanghai, “for the purpose of helping the Nepalese, it is vital to include

Kathmandu as a transfer station. This will improve the city’s infrastructure, connect it with the outside world, and stimulate local economic growth while at the same time protecting the vulnerable ecology and environment of the mountains. All these factors support a railway link proposal.”

China has already established a long term plan for building further railway lines within its borders and started an extension of the Qinghai-Tibetan Railway from Lhasa to Shigatse in September 2010. This is scheduled to be complete and in operation by 2014. According to China’s medium and long term railway network plan, further extension of the railway will link Shigatse to the counties of Nyalam and Yandong, on its border with Nepal and India (Fig 1).

From the Indian side, a railway to the Himalayan Mountains across the Gangetic Plain is considered not technically demanding, with only a few short tunnels needed to cross massifs from Kathmandu to the Nepal-India border.

From the Chinese side and across Nepal, two possible routes with three main alignment options are suggested (Fig 2).

The northern lines will involve several long tunnels at great depth, some reaching more than 20km long and with more than 2,000m cover. Current construction of hydro projects in Nepal has created several access roads along the valleys. At one location a rail tunnel of about 20km length would run parallel with the ongoing Melamchi Water Supply Project to the Kathmandu Valley. The rail project proposal would benefi t greatly from the geological and geotechnical data gathered for the water tunnel project and from the valuable experience gained during that excavation.

The southern line would follow the alignment of the existing Sino-Nepal Highway, which could involve fewer tunnels but would be more prone to large geological hazards such as landslides and rock falls.

In total, an international link between China, Nepal and India would require the construction of more than 500km of new rail line through some of the most magnifi cent mountain topography and most tectonically disturbed geology in

the world. The most daunting of many challenges would include the following, among others: • Large height drop within a short

distance: The most diffi cult section would be on the Chinese side of the alignment where the elevation drops by about 2,000m over a distance of 20km between the towns of Nyalam and Zhangmu. A spiral solution could be adopted to stay within the vertical gradient allowance of less than 15% for electric railway operations.

• Long tunnels under deep overburden: Deep tunnels required on the routes would pass through tectonic faults and shear zones that are usually characterised by high rock stresses and high groundwater pressures, frequently at high temperatures. Special designs would be needed for ventilation, logistics and transportation into the excavation headings of long tunnels.

• Lack of detailed geological data: Little geological data and engineering experience is available ahead of excavating long tunnels in the region. Very few tunnels and underground caverns have been excavated in the Himalayan area to date, and current projects are experiencing the conditions for the fi rst time. A great deal of detailed study into the geological, hydro-geological and geo-mechanical conditions of the region would be needed to support the feasibility and proposal of the fi xed railway link. If the railway was to be built, it would

boost the socio-economic development of two of the most vigorous countries in the world today and improve substantially the starkly underdeveloped situation of landlocked Nepal, benefi ting about 2.5 billion people and providing a modern ‘silk route’, for safer, more reliable and more environmentally aware land transportation. n

References• High-speed railway development in China -

TunnelTalk, July 2011• China’s leading mega-project status -

TunnelTalk, July 2011

Crossing the Himalayas by railZheng Yan Long, TunnelTalk China Correspondent

From left: Fig 1. China’s medium and long term railway plan; Fig 2. Possible trans Himalayan rail route alignments

2012


It is planned as one of the largest and most challenging projects ever: a privately-funded US$3.5 billion, 52.5km TBM

twin-tube rail tunnel between Argentina and Chile, through the mighty Andes. Under the leadership of the Argentine investment company Corporación América, the international consortium is advancing the project towards an international request for qualifi ers to take part in one of the boldest infrastructure projects in South America.

Figures show that some 83% of 45 million tonnes of cargo that travels annually between the South American east and west coasts at the latitude that connects Buenos Aires and Santiago, goes by ship. Two-thirds of the rest, some 4.9 million tonne each year, crosses the Andes via the Cristo Redentor Pass, a steep mountain road with an altitude of 3,200m that includes a 3km-long tunnel.

“It is the best option by land, but this has become a major bottleneck,” said Corporación América Project Director Nicolás Posse. “The route is also closed 45 to 60 days per year by heavy snowfall.” The road, with its 26 hairpin bends and steep inclines, cannot be widened.

There was a fragile passenger railroad that crossed the Andes around the desired latitude of the planned new Bioceánico Aconcagua route, but the Ferrocarril Trasandino Central was closed in the early 1980s and it is not considered feasible to upgrade and reopen it as a cargo railway.

In the meantime, trade between South America and emerging Asian countries, including China and India, is increasing rapidly. Corporación América projects that by 2040, 70 million tonne per year will be transported to opposite sides of the South American continent. An improved land connection between Argentina and Chile seems inevitable. In 2008, Corporación America proposed an all-weather freight railway line to the Governments of both Argentina and Chile.

The Bioceánico Aconcagua has a total track length of 205km and includes a 52.5km-long twin-tube bored base tunnel. It connects directly on both sides of the Andes with the existing rail and highway infrastructure. When complete, the fi rst tube of the proposed truck-on-train freight forwarding system would transport 24 million tonne of cargo/year, increasing

Extreme excavations planned forAndes rail link

Fig 1. Alignment of the 52km trans-Andean link; Fig 2. Alignment under Cristo Redentor; Figs 3 and 4. Construction and operating data of the new link

Armand van Wijck, TunnelTalk

From left: Existing high altitude Cristo Redentor crossing; Trucks will board trains at transportation hubs

to 77 million tonne/year when both tubes are in operation.

Some 14 alignments of varying length and gradients have been studied, including one that featured a ‘helter-skelter’ declining circular tunnel design to ease the gradient over a short distance. In addition to the main base tunnel a further 20km of underground alignments, split into 33 different tunnels, are incorporated into the project’s overall design.

Project goalsThe selected alignment is named after the peak of Aconcagua, which, at 6,960m, is the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. The tunnel itself will be excavated just south of the mountain, beneath the Cristo Redentor Pass (Fig 1).

According to Corporación América, which consists of Empresas Navieras SA from Chile, Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, Geodata, Italy, and Contreras Hermanos of Argentina, the proposed rail line would reduce travel times through the Andes from 12hr to 4hr, saving tens to several hundreds of dollars for each tonne of cargo.

The Governments of Argentina and Chile formed a bi-national commission to evaluate the project, call for an international tender, and regulate the future concession.

A preliminary environmental impact assessment has been completed and after submitting its recommendation to the Governments of both Chile and Argentina, the commission will call for expressions of interest and release an international tender for the concession. “By the end of 2013 we hope to start fi rst excavations,” said Posse.

It is a huge task ahead. The region’s geology consists of a number of major fault zones, with overburdens rising in places to more than 1,600m. “We have to deal with several possible hazards, including volcanic intrusions, slaking and high-temperature thermal waters,” said Posse. Designers have modelled the tunnel and its surroundings in 30 homogeneous segments. For each reach they have determined the associated risks and possible solutions.

Double shield TBMs with a precast segmental lining are anticipated as the methods of choice.

“I visited the Gotthard Base Tunnel project in Europe myself,” said Posse. “We have a more aggressive approach in mind, using four 10m diameter TBMs for each 8.5m i.d. tube to help speed delivery of the project. Two TBMs will start boring steep access adits to the main tunnel alignment at about 17.5km from the tunnel portals. At the same time, a third TBM will start from

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Governor Jerry Brown was in Los Angeles and in San Francisco on the same day in July 2012 to sign

into law a US$4.7 billion State investment, to be matched by US$7.9 billion in Federal and local funds to support California's high-speed rail project and other statewide transportation improvement plans.

Of the US$4.7 billion raised via State bonds when California voters passed Proposition 1A in November 2008, some US$2.7 billion is allocated to construction of the initial 130-mile long high-speed rail segment of the line from Chowchilla to Bakersfi eld in the rural Central Valley. This will be matched by an additional US$3.3 billion in Federal funds.

Projected to start in 2013, the total 800-mile route includes some 30-50 miles underground in twin tunnel alignments.

Following a call for expressions of interest in early 2011, a mix of 14 national and international construction companies qualifi ed in fi ve JVs to bid on the fi rst phase of the project in the rural Central Valley (Table 1).

The northern segment, beginning near the city of Madera and continuing south through the city of Fresno, will extend 21-29 miles, depending on the

fi nal alignment. Construction of the mainly fl at stretch includes 12 grade separations, two viaducts, one open trench tunnel and an elevated crossing of the San Joaquin River. The contract is expected to be worth between $1.5 to $2 billion.

The shortlisted fi rms will be invited to submit proposals to be responsible for all work required to design and construct the fi rst portion of the initial construction segment.

The State Senate approved the high-speed rail funding bill by a margin of just one vote. The project has come in for serious criticism concerning cost estimates that have nearly trebled since the 2008 estimate of US$34 billion, and charges of a lack of direction at the California High-Speed Rail Authority that is threatening to push completion of Phase 1 out to 2033.

A damning report from an independent review panel created by State law to guard the public interest, recommended that California postpone its near $100 billion bullet train saying it poses “an immense fi nancial risk.”

The report, published in early 2012, added to a number of negative assessments from the State auditor, the legislative analyst, the University of California, Berkely

California secures funding forhigh speed rail

Paula and Shani Wallis, TunnelTalk

Table 1: Qualifi ed Contractors for California HSR (Phase 1)

JV/ Consortium JV Partners Nationality

California Backbone Builders JV Ferrovial Agroman Spain

Acciona Spain

California High-Speed Rail Partners JV

Fluor Corp. USA

Skanska Sweden

PCL Constructors Canada

California High-Speed Ventures JV

Kiewit Corp. USA

Granite Construction USA

Comsa EMTE Spain

A consortium of:

Dragados SA Spain

Flatiron Construction USA

Shimmick Construction USA

A consortium of:

Tutor Perini Corp. USA

Zachry Construction USA

Parsons Corp. USA

Institute of Transportation Studies, as well as the transportation committee in the US House of Representatives.

The expert panel took issue with many aspects of the proposed project from ridership estimates to questioning the ability of the State agency charged with overseeing the project.

Other independent analysts argued that the level of scrutiny was too intense. “If the transcontinental railroad or interstate highway system had been subject to this level of scrutiny, they never would have been built,” said Robert Stern, former President of the Center for Government Studies.

Roelof van Ark, CEO of the High-Speed Rail Authority, said: “As someone involved in many of the successful high-speed rail programs internationally, I can say that the recommendations [of the review panel] simply do not refl ect a real world view of what it takes to bring such projects to fruition.”

The Senate vote in favor of high-speed rail funding is regarded as a major victory for Governor Brown who signed the bill at the historic Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and the future site of the Transbay Transit Center in downtown San Francisco, both of which will serve as major hubs on the future high-speed rail line.

Additional funding for metro projects include expansion of the Los Angeles Metro, investment in the Caltrain and BART systems in the Bay Area, and on the Blue Line of the Metro system in San Diego. n

References• Peer review critical of California's HSR plan

- TunnelTalk, January 2012• Costs balloon for California's high-speed

rail - TunnelTalk, November 2011

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California’s high-speed rail route

Governor Brown signs the funding bill

2012

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The bored tunnel under the San Francisco Bay, the fi rst ever, broke through after a successful 5 mile (8km) drive by the Hitachi-Zosen EBPM and the Michels/Jay Dee/Coluccio JV crews. The breakthrough completed the drive in 16 months, a full 8 months ahead of schedule. The 4.56m diameter tunnel is part of the US$4.2 billion Water System Improvement Program for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

Bay Tunnel breakthrough

Direct by Design

The Efectis Group, a major European fi re research institute, carried out fi re safety tests on the concrete lining of a road tunnel in Paris using one of its most recent innovations - the mobile furnace. This piece of equipment allows a fi re resistance test to 1,300°C on a 1m2 sample section to be performed on site, and in just two hours, making labour-intensive testing of concrete samples in a laboratory unnecessary. The test parameters when using the mobile furnace unit are the loss of concrete thickness due to spalling when subjected to fi erce fi re temperatures under different time periods. With many European tunnels needing to be tested to ensure they meet more stringent European fi re safety criteria the mobile furnace offers important benefi ts.

Mobile furnace used for fi re safety testing

Direct by Design

Final testing was under way in preparation for Argentina’s longest ever TBM drive to replace underground a 35km section

of the busy Sarmiento rail line in the western suburbs of Buenos Aires. As part of the project 15 stations along the alignment will also be relocated underground. Contractor for the major urban redevelopment is the Sarmiento New Consortium (SNC), which comprises IECSA (Argentina); Odebrecht (Brazil); Ghella (Italy) and COMSA (Spain). An 11.26m diameter Herrenknecht EPBM was procured to complete the single-tube double-track tunnel.

The estimated BRL11 billion (US$5.8 billion) project, awarded originally to SNC in 2008, is to be built in three phases:• Phase 1 - Haedo to Caballito for a

total length of 16.67km with eight new underground stations;

• Phase 2 – Haedo to Castelar for a total of 3.95km, including two new underground stations, and;

• Phase 3 – Castelar to Moreno for 14.09km with a further fi ve relocated stations underground.The Herrenknecht TBM was

assembled at the base of the central Haido working shaft for a start of tunnelling on Phase 1 in September 2012. The 16.67km drive to Caballito is expected to breakthrough in 2015.

While fi t-out, track laying and systems installations are underway on Phase 1, the TBM will excavate the tunnel drives for Phases 2 and 3, which are scheduled to take another 50 months to complete.

The at-grade Sarmiento commuter line carries 10 million rail passengers each month from the western suburbs into Buenos Aires and will remain open

throughout the construction. The primary reason for relocation is

safety. There are 81 level crossings on the at-grade Sarmiento line, 52 for traffi c and 29 for pedestrians. In September 2011, 19 people died when a bus went through an open barrier crossing and was hit by a train approaching the Flores Station platform. In February 2012, 51 people were killed in a train crash at the Once Station on the line.

“This is the most important railway project in Argentina of the last 100 years,” said Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo. “The elimination of the level crossings will help avoid many accidents and much loss of life.”

Meanwhile, in Brazil, preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016 were boosted by factory acceptance of the 11.46m diameter Herrenknecht machine that will complete the city’s fi rst ever TBM drive.

The convertible EPBM will excavate a 5.7km coastal section of a total 16km metro alignment that will link the old city in the east with the Olympic Park and Olympic village sites in the Barra da Tijuca suburbs west of the Pedra Branca mountains.

The project was fi rst tendered in 1998 but has been through a number of alignment changes until construction fi nally started in 2010. It is considered a vital transportation link by the International Olympic Committee as most of the events of the Games will take place at the Olympic Park in Barra, which is currently not connected to the city’s two-line metro system.

Construction of the 10km drill+blast section through the mountains and the Tijuca Forest Park (Lot 1) between new cut-and-cover stations in Barra (Jardim

Argentina and Brazilprepare for long TBM lines


Herrenknecht TBM will excavate the new line

2012

www.TunnelTalk.com TunnelTalk ANNUAL REVIEW 2012 3

Herrenknecht TBM will excavate the new line

Excavation of running tunnels for the Blue Line Extension of the Bangkok Metro in Thailand was offi cially underway

in August 2012 when Prime Minister Ms Yingluck Shinawatra joined offi cials of the Thailand Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) and managers of construction company Italian-Thai Development PCL to launch a Terratec 6.44m diameter EPBM as the fi rst tunnelling machine on the project.

The new EPBM will build the twin 5km-long running tunnels beneath the city’s historic Chinatown and under the Chao Phraya River. Designed and produced by Terratec in cooperation with Japan Tunnel Systems Corporation (JTSC), a subsidiary of Japan’s IHI Group, the shield has an innovative IHI cone-type cutterhead designed for cutting through concrete piles that may be encountered on the alignment.

Advance of the machine is projected by the Ital-Thai construction team to average

10-15m/day through ground anticipated to consist of soft to stiff clay and erecting a segmental lining of 1.2m wide rings of reinforced concrete segments as it progresses. Layers of dense sand are also anticipated and the drives are under a ground water table of high hydrostatic pressure.

A team of Terratec engineers and operators were deployed to assist during

the assembly and commissioning of the machine and the continuous conveyor system, also supplied by Terratec.

The Terratec EPBM is the fi rst tunnelling machine to work on the Bangkok Metro for more than ten years. It will excavate the 5km twin running tunnels of the southern section of the Blue Line Extension Contract 2.

Further metro projects are in design for the 24km long Orange Line, most of which is underground, and the 40km Purple Line Extension of which 14.2km and 11 of the 30 stations are planned underground.

The Blue Line extensions are planned to be in service by 2015.

The fi rst three of six Terratec TBMs on order for Phase III of the Delhi Metro were commissioned and accepted after successful workshop performance tests.

The fi rst machine was manufactured

TBM metro works in Bangkok and DelhiTerratec News Releases

From left: The Terratec EPBM with its cone-shaped cutterhead for Bangkok Metro: First of six EPBMs for Delhi Metro

Prime Minister Ms Yingluck Shinawatra (centre) offi ciates at the launch

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2012

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Brenner Baseline connection: Let the works begin!

Priority Project 1 that proposes a high capacity rail route from Berlin in the north to Palermo on Sicily in the south. The twin tube tunnel will link directly to an existing rail bypass tunnel around Innsbruck to become the world’s longest railway tunnel complex.

The Innsbruck bypass links further to 66km of new rail capacity through the Lower Inn Valley to the German border. The majority of the fi rst 40km of the line to Kundl lies underground in lengths of TBM

and NATM mined tunnels. As part of the TEN-T Priority Project, the Lower Inn Valley project also received EU funding support.

Preliminary work on the massive Brenner Baseline tunnel undertaking began at both portals with exploratory headings. These are designed to investigate characteristics and behaviour of rock conditions likely to be encountered to minimise risks and verify budget cost calculations. The exploratory tunnel will be used for drainage and eventually as the

Segmentally lined TBM exploratory tunnel

Patrick Reynolds, TunnelTalk

Agreement in April 2011 of its billions of Euro in funding marked the offi cial start of Europe’s most

ambitious infrastructure project. EU Transport Commissioner Siim Callas, with the Austrian and Italian transport Ministers Doris Bures and Altero Matteoli, gathered with other offi cials in Innsbruck, Austria, to celebrate an agreement that secures the estimated €9.7 billion (US$13.8 billion) capital investment for the Brenner Base Tunnel and launches its construction project realisation.

Austria and Italy have agreed to share the cost of the project with additional funding from the European Union. While the approach of Austria and the EU is to give periodic assessments and assurances on funding for the trans-Alpine link, the Italian Government approved its contribution for the full duration of the project, in November 2010. About 30% of the total budget is to be met by the EU with the balance funded equally between Austria and Italy.

The 55km (34 mile) mega-tunnelling project through the Alps to link Innsbruck, Austria with Franzensfeste (Fortezza) in Italy is a cornerstone of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)

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Brenner Baseline connection: Let the works begin!

Priority Project 1 that proposes a high capacity rail route from Berlin in the north to Palermo on Sicily in the south. The twin tube tunnel will link directly to an existing rail bypass tunnel around Innsbruck to become the world’s longest railway tunnel complex.

The Innsbruck bypass links further to 66km of new rail capacity through the Lower Inn Valley to the German border. The majority of the fi rst 40km of the line to Kundl lies underground in lengths of TBM

and NATM mined tunnels. As part of the TEN-T Priority Project, the Lower Inn Valley project also received EU funding support.

Preliminary work on the massive Brenner Baseline tunnel undertaking began at both portals with exploratory headings. These are designed to investigate characteristics and behaviour of rock conditions likely to be encountered to minimise risks and verify budget cost calculations. The exploratory tunnel will be used for drainage and eventually as the

Segmentally lined TBM exploratory tunnel

Patrick Reynolds, TunnelTalk

Agreement in April 2011 of its billions of Euro in funding marked the offi cial start of Europe’s most

ambitious infrastructure project. EU Transport Commissioner Siim Callas, with the Austrian and Italian transport Ministers Doris Bures and Altero Matteoli, gathered with other offi cials in Innsbruck, Austria, to celebrate an agreement that secures the estimated €9.7 billion (US$13.8 billion) capital investment for the Brenner Base Tunnel and launches its construction project realisation.

Austria and Italy have agreed to share the cost of the project with additional funding from the European Union. While the approach of Austria and the EU is to give periodic assessments and assurances on funding for the trans-Alpine link, the Italian Government approved its contribution for the full duration of the project, in November 2010. About 30% of the total budget is to be met by the EU with the balance funded equally between Austria and Italy.

The 55km (34 mile) mega-tunnelling project through the Alps to link Innsbruck, Austria with Franzensfeste (Fortezza) in Italy is a cornerstone of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)

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One of the largest tunnelling challenges ever for Hong Kong has been getting underway on site with

preparatory works to mark commencement of the high-speed Express Rail Link (XRL).

The project, with an almost 26km underground alignment, will extend from Hong Kong to the border with mainland China as part of a larger high-speed scheme that will join the new railway to the growing cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The large transport scheme will further tighten the economic and social bonds along this thriving axis, and tie-in to China’s national rail network beyond Guangdong Province.

MTR Corporation is developing the XRL project on the Hong Kong side of the border. The dedicated, entirely underground corridor was given over to the strategic transport link approved by the Hong Kong Government to proceed towards completion by 2015.

Within Hong Kong, the underground route from central Kowloon to the border, is split into a chain of contract packages on which a variety of tunnelling methods are to be employed. Evacuation is predominantly drill+blast for single tube stretches, with twin tube TBM sections, and some cut-and-cover excavation.

XRL tunnelsFor XRL, the Hong Kong section requires about 51.4km of main line tunnelling, to run through hills, beneath villages, and under the Shenzhen River.

In plan, the route is formed by two S-curves, the fi rst on a relatively tight alignment out of downtown Kowloon for about 40% of the line, and the second on a more relaxed route up through the New Territories to the border into Shenzhen.

The rail line passes below a low mountain range as the tight S-curve transits into the second S-curve with two other areas of high cover being short ranges of hills on either side. Maximum cover on the alignment is up to a little more than 600m with the low, fl at elevations in built-up areas ranging between 5m-55m below ground surface.

Geology along the alignment comprises varied rock strata, including volcanics and granites, as well as soft and mixed ground conditions.

The tunnels will be of varying internal diameter. The twin tube TBM sections range between 8.15m and 8.7m i.d. and are linked by cross passages, whereas stretches of single-tube, double-track drill+blast excavation are about 15m wide. From the total tunnelling required, there will be approximately 14km of drill+blast, 17km (2 x 8.5km) of parallel TBM bores, 4km (2 x 2km) of cut-and-cover, and 2.4km (2 x 1.2km) of cut-and-cover for works near the terminus at West Kowloon.

Along the alignment there will be eight ventilation buildings and emergency access points, and at Shek Kong there will be an emergency rescue station (ERS) and stabling sidings (SSS) on a 2km long x 150m wide corridor.

ProcurementFollowing approval by the Executive Council of Hong Kong’s Government in October 2009, procurement was quickly underway with a staggered programme of bids and awards for nine principal underground packages. Calls for pre-qualifi cation were issued in the second and third quarters of 2009 and awards of contracts were spread through 2010.

While preparatory works began in early 2010, notices to proceed on the large lump-sum contracts for the main underground works were issued up to late 2010 (Table 1) with main excavation starting in 2011.

Tunnelling schedule: Commencing 2011 C811ABachy Soletanche-Laing O’Rourke JV cut-and-cover works for the south approach tunnel at the terminus involve construction of a 270m long tunnel to run below the existing Kowloon Southern Link tunnel. This includes a 170m long piled section.

C811BGammon-Leighton JV for the north tunnel will excavate 430m of cut-and-cover piled tunnel.

C822Leighton Contractors (Asia) will excavate a 7.7km long, single tube, drill+blast tunnel plus a 2.5km long ventilation tube, a 120m

Hong Kong express to mainland China

Patrick Reynolds, TunnelTalkRoute to West Kowloon Terminus

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In March 2011, the world’s longest rail tunnel ever undertaken prepared to recordits fi nal breakthrough deep beneath the mountains of the Swiss Alps. The fi nal

breakthrough to connect all headings of the fi rst tunnel into one long tubethrough the base of the Gotthard Massive was recorded in October 2010.

Making history at GotthardTunnelTalk reporting

History was made on Friday 15 October 2010 when the fi rst Bodio-Faido TBM broke

through into the drill+blast heading from Sedrun to fi nish 57km of rail tunnel through the base of the Swiss Alps from Erstfeld in the north and Bodio in the south.

Swiss politicians and dignitaries, project directors and contract managers as well as senior managers of the leading suppliers and the workers themselves all gathered for an offi cial breakthrough on Friday afternoon when the TBM fi red up at 2pm to cut the last 1.5m of rock and mark this truly monumental feat of civil engineering and endurance.

The crews of the TBMs and drill+blast headings blazed a trail. This last breakthrough occurred

Celebration of an epic achievement

nearly 2,000m below the top of the Alps and more than 8km from the nearest exit through the 800m deep shaft at Sedrun, and more than 13km from the access adit at Faido.

On a project of this magnitude - the longest, largest, most ambitious and most technically demanding tunnelling project of this age - there have been serious set backs and delays as crews have tunnelled into the unknown. Extreme geological conditions buried a TBM heading from the Amsteg adit for more than six months and had another TBM from the Faido adit at a standstill for fi ve months from March to July 2010.

These and other challenges, some not related to the excavation work, have caused a slip of some M

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The numbers are in and the tunnel has it by a nose! As large as the numbers are for the scope of the

project, a cable-stayed bridge across the Fehmarnbelt for a fi xed connection between Denmark and Germany comes in at DKK 38.5 billion (about US$7 billion or E5 billion) while the estimate for an immersed tube across the 20km strait is just slightly less at DKK 37.9 billion.

After agreeing the fi xed link concept in September 2008, two teams in the Danish owner organisation, Femern A/S, developed conceptual designs and cost estimates for a four-lane highway and two-track railway connection across the sea on a cable-stayed bridge and in an immersed tube tunnel. Of these, the bridge had been considered the less expensive option through the process and therefore the favoured plan. Announcement of the cost estimates in November 2010 produced a surprise result with the immersed tube revealing a lower estimate than the bridge.

The result illustrates the tremendous work achieved by the tunnel team in exploring new concepts to reduce the

cost of building, operating and maintaining an undersea link. Changing attitudes and new techniques for reducing polluting substances into the atmosphere also played a role in the outcome.

One of the most signifi cant cost savings was elimination of an intermediate man-made island designed to accommodate a ventilation shaft and equipment installation. Projections of low traffi c volumes in the initial years, together with signifi cant and rapid technical advances in reducing toxic emissions by road vehicles, have allowed the adoption of longitudinal ventilation in the long four-lane traffi c tunnel. Instead of large ventilation buildings and the intermediate vent station island, fans will be installed in ceiling recesses at 400m intervals along the 20km link. This also optimizes the design of the tunnel’s cross section eliminating the need for separate transverse or semi-transverse ventilation ducts. “The change reduces the volume of concrete in the immersed tube elements by some 10%, which is a signifi cant saving on a project of this scale,” said Steen Lykke, Project Director Tunnel for Femern A/S.

Since release of the cost comparisons in November 2010, Danish politicians have adopted the immersed tunnel as the preferred option. “The decision means that Femern A/S has reached an important milestone,” said Leo Larsen, CEO, Femern A/S. “As our conceptual design projects are based on a thorough technical foundation, we can now focus on ensuring that the authorities approve the project, including from an environmental perspective.”

Making the caseFewer risks, all told, in both the construction and operational phases than a cable-stayed bridge is how leaders of the project say they arrived at recommending the immersed tunnel.

A cable-stayed bridge across the Fehmarnbelt, with two free spans of 724m each, would be the largest spans ever constructed for either road or rail traffi c. Compounded by the high shipping traffi c in the area, this would pose signifi cant risks in the construction phase in terms of cost overruns, delays and industrial accidents.

Contrary to expectation, an immersed tube across the 20km Fehmarnbelt between Denmark and Germany has come in a whisker less than a cable-stayed bridge.

Technical risks, long term environmental impacts, navigational safety and developments toward more carbon effi cient transportation played a large part in reducing the

estimated cost of the undersea alternative and elevated it to the preferred solution.

Tunnel beats bridge forFehmarnbelt Fixed Link


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Immersed tube tunnel (left) comes in slightly less costly and considered less risky over all than the cable-stayed bridge alternative (right)

2010

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