Canadian-Chinese LOVSUNS Tunneling Canada Ltd has delivered the first China-Built TBM to the North American market, for the US$27M Blacksnake Creek Stormwater Separation Improvement Project in St. Joseph, Missouri.

“This is a huge step for LNSS and LOVSUNS in achieving our target to deliver high-quality tunnelling machines to the North American market,” said Hongyu Xue, General Manager of LOVSUNS in Toronto.

The 3.3m diameter double shield rock TBM, designed and engineered by the Canadian LOVSUNS team and built by its parent company Liaoning Censcience Industry Co. Ltd. (LNSS) at its Liaoyang facilities in China, will be delivered to Super Excavators Inc. in early 2018.

The machine is designed to operate in double shield mode using a primary conveyor belt for spoil extraction. The TBM can be converted to EPB mode when operating in pressures up to 4 bar.

Mixed ground is expected along the alignment. The following soil and rock engineering units are classified and anticipated:

Soil Engineering Unit 1 – Coarse-Grained Soils:
Fine to coarse sand and gravel, silty sand and sub-angular to angular rock fragments in varying proportions with less than 50% passing the 200mm sieve.

Soil Engineering Unit 2 – Fine-Grained Soils:
Silts and clays in varying proportions with more than 50% passing the 200mm sieve.

Rock Engineering Unit 1: Shale with limestone present in seams and a UCS of 2,000 PSI.

The alignment is expected to consist of 23% soil engineering units 1 and 2; 
63% of the rock engineering unit; and 14% of mixed ground.

The Blacksnake Creek project will intercept and convey flows from the creek via the new bored tunnel system.

The project comprises a 2.32km long tunnel with a 2.3m i.d. segmental concrete lining (precast gaskets) and a 38m long crossing of the railroad with a 2.3m diameter auger bore. Altogether, five shafts including launch and target shafts will be built.

The construction works are expected to be complete in mid to end of 2019.

TERRATEC has delivered two hard rock TBMs for the second phase of tunnelling on the Royal Irrigation Department’s Mae Tang-Mae Ngad water diversion project, in northern Thailand, following successful factory acceptance tests last month.

The 4.74m diameter TERRATEC Double Shield machines will be deployed by Thai contractors Right Tunnelling Co. Ltd. and Siamphan Enterprise PCL on two contracts – totalling over 15km of TBM driven tunnel – for the 25km-long Phase 2 tunnelling works, which traverse the challenging mountainous terrain north of Chiang Mai city.

These TBMs have been designed to confront the highly complex and variable geology of the region, which ranges from granite, gneiss, quartzite and schist, to sandstone, siltstone, shale, slate, mudstone and claystone, and varies from massive to highly fractured and weathered rock masses (with a UCS range of 8MPa to 220MPa), including numerous fault and fracture zones and the potential for high ground water inflows.

In order to handle these challenging conditions, the cutterheads have each been equipped with heavy-duty 17” disc cutters and feature large bucket openings, as well as anti-wear plates and lubrication systems for the injection of foams and polymers to assist with wear prevention and dust suppression. The 1,500kW Electric Variable Frequency Main Drives (VFD) will allow the cutterheads to cut efficiently in harder rock zones at a maximum speed of 9rpm and deliver 2,896kNm of torque of to cope with more fractured zones of the alignment.

In addition, the machines are fitted with state-of-the-art probe drilling systems, located behind ring gear style segment erectors, that provide 360-degree coverage for probing and grouting of the ground ahead of the TBMs; as well as dewatering pumps that have the capacity to manage groundwater inflows of up to 100lt/sec.

“We are delighted to be working with TERRATEC as our partner on this landmark water tunnel,” said Mr. Teerapon Wangmontri, President of Siamphan Enterprise PCL. “Due to the complex geology expected on the project, we wanted to choose a tried and tested manufacturer of hard rock machines such as TERRATEC, whose double shield TBM experience is exceptional.”

As the two machines progress along their respective alignments, they will install precast concrete segmental lining rings consisting of four x 1400mm wide honeycomb style segments, with an inner diameter of 4m, which will be backfilled with pea-gravel and grouted in place. Excavated muck and supplies will be conveyed via rail-bound systems.

The Mae Tang-Mae Ngad water diversion tunnel is located about 55km north of Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, and is designed to convey 28 cubic metres per second of raw water from the Mae Tang River to Mae Ngad and Mae Kuang reservoirs. The project aims to augment the current water supply to the Chiang Mai and Lampun Provinces involving over 50km of tunnel that is being built in two Phases.

When the overall project is complete, in 2021, a saving of more than 160 million cubic metres of water will be seen each year. The extra water will help support a range of industries and sectors, such as the consumer sector, agriculture and tourism.

Design and consultancy firm Arcadis has been commissioned by client Beliris for the cost control, risk management and planning for the Metro Line 3 Albert/Bordet project in Brussels, during the study and execution phase of the extension work. The total amount of the contract is approximately €6M.

This major project, which will improve mobility in Brussels, includes the conversion of the existing tram line into a pre-metro with a 5km extension operated as an automatic metro, the construction of 7 new stations and 1 depot for the maintenance and stabling of trains.

The new metro tunnel will have an average depth of 25 to 30m and the stations will be 3 floors deep, among other things to limit the impact of vibration on the environment. The mono-tube tunnel with a diameter of 9.8m will be bored by TBM.

Technical department head Jens De Smet at Beliris explains that “due to the complexity of the project we have chosen to appoint a consultancy for the cost control, quantity survey, risk management and planning, a function that is mandatory in France, but not yet very common in Belgium. Arcadis has proven to be a reliable partner for this type of infrastructure work both in Belgium and abroad. In Paris, Arcadis was also appointed as ‘assistant au maître d’ouvrage’ (assistant to the project supervisor) for the expansion of the metro network, ‘Le Grand Paris Express.’

The new route will run from the Brussels North station to the new maintenance workshop in Haren. The new stations on this line are Liedts, Colignon, Verboekhoven, Riga, Linde, Vrede and Bordet.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc, through its joint venture with Aurecon, has been selected by John Holland and CPB Contractors consortium to carry out the engineering design for the $5.1bn (AU$6.7bn) West Gate Tunnel Project that is now proceeding after receipt of all environmental and planning approvals.

The project is located in Melbourne’s inner west and will become the city’s alternative to the West Gate Bridge.

The design consists of two new three-lane tunnels, a 2.8km eastbound tunnel and 4km westbound tunnel under Yarraville, the widening of the West Gate Freeway from eight to 12 lanes, 14km of new and upgraded cycling and walking paths and nine hectares of open space and wetlands.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2018 and the new tunnels are expected to open in 2022.

“This is a significant transport infrastructure project for Melbourne and confirms the continued buoyancy of the Australian market,” said Jacobs Buildings and Infrastructure Asia Pacific Senior Vice President Patrick Hill. “The project, which will be supported by more than 140 Jacobs staff, further establishes Jacobs’ place as one of the world’s leading transportation and infrastructure service providers.”

The Western Distributor Authority (WDA), an administrative office within the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, is responsible for the delivery of the West Gate Tunnel Project on behalf of the Victorian Government. WDA is working in partnership with Transurban to deliver the project as a Public Private Partnership.

On December 23, 2017, a 13.02m diameter Herrenknecht Mixshield S-960 completed the final drive under the Suez Canal for a twin-tube road tunnel project at Ismailia.

For the new Suez crossings, Egyptian President H.E. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered four identical TBMs, S-958 – S-961 from Herrenknecht. Construction Joint Ventures; Arab Contractors/Orascom and Petrojet/Concord/CMC, have over the past 19 months used these giant tunnelling machines to produce the twin tunnels in four drives near the Egyptian cities of Ismailia and Port Said at depths of up to 60m and at water pressures of up to 6 bar. All in all, the Mixshields bored and built 15.3km of new tunnel during this time.

Herrenknecht AG trained 40 Egyptian engineers at its Headquarters in Schwanau, and also on the jobsites. Herrenknecht also provided the tunnelling teams with comprehensive services and key peripheral equipment through its subsidiaries VMT, MSD, Formwork, H+E and TMS.

Egypt’s President H.E. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Dr.-Ing. E.h. Martin Herrenknecht, Chairman of the Board of Management of Herrenknecht AG, were personally present at the final TBM breakthrough. H.E. President al- Sisi emphasized that the project was crucial to Egypt’s future.

The tunnels will shorten the time for crossing the Suez Canal immensely: currently this can take up to five days, as queues of traffic to the ferry back up for miles. With the new tunnel connections, it will take just 10 minutes.

The biggest TBMs in the southern hemisphere are on their way to Melbourne, with an order now placed with Herrenknecht for the two 15.6m diameter machines that will build the city’s West Gate Tunnel.

The $6.7bn West Gate Tunnel Project will upgrade the West Gate Freeway and link it to the city and CityLink, with a new tunnel under Yarraville and bridges over the Maribyrnong River.

Construction on the project kicks off in the next few weeks, with works beginning at the site of the northern tunnel portal in Footscray, where the first TBM will be launched in early 2019.

After taking 12 months to build and test, the machines will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to build 6.8km of tunnel between the Maribyrnong River and the West Gate Freeway. Boring is scheduled to take nearly two years, at a rate of around 9m per day.

The local community will have the opportunity to name the TBMs and follow their progress deep under Melbourne over the coming years.

Contractor John Holland has been selected by Transurban and the State Government of Victoria to deliver the West Gate Tunnel project in a 50:50 joint venture with CPB Contractors.

The West Gate Tunnel Project will provide an estimated $11bn boost to the Victorian economy, creating 6,000 new jobs, including 500 jobs for people entering the workforce, and up to 150 jobs for former auto workers.

The planning process for the UK’s Heathrow Airport expansion is now firmly underway, as the airport today launches what is set to be one of the largest public consultations in the country’s history. Plans include repositioning the alignment of the M25 in a tunnel and raising the runway height so it passes over the M25.

A Heathrow Airport Limited document states, “We have looked at options to bridge the runway over the M25, to tunnel the M25 under the runway (our previous design concept to the Airports Commission), or divert the M25 around the west end of the runway. The new level of the M25 will be determined by design standards so that it works with the existing J15, which we are not planning to change.

Our current thinking is to re-position the M25 carriageway approximately 150m to the west, lower it by approximately 7m into a tunnel and raise the runway height by 3 to 5m so that it passes over the M25 between J14a and J15. The motorway will then re-join its current route.”

For the next ten weeks, Heathrow will seek views on how to shape its plans so it can deliver the huge opportunities of expansion while keeping to the promises it has made to local communities and meeting strict environmental tests.

Over the past year, Heathrow has been working alongside local stakeholders and airline partners to evolve the plans it submitted to the Airports Commission. This engagement has identified options to deliver an expanded hub airport for £2.5bn less than previous plans.

The consultation launched today will be an opportunity for the public to view Heathrow’s emerging proposals and options in detail and provide feedback on them. It will be composed of two parts – the first relates to the physical changes to the ground needed to build a new north-west runway and operate an expanded airport.

Responses can be submitted until the 28th March at any of the 40 consultation events held across communities surrounding the airport and also online, via email or post. Views heard in Heathrow’s consultation will help to shape and refine the airport’s proposals, which will then be subject to a second public consultation next year. Parliament is expected to vote on a National Policy Statement in the first half of this year, which will set out the policy framework for Heathrow’s final planning submission.

Australia’s Victorian Government is planning the North East Link project, which will finally connect Melbourne’s freeway network and includes the construction of 5km of twin-tube tunnels. With procurement set to start in mid-2018, planning and delivery partner the North East Link Authority wants to engage now with experienced PPP providers. Interested parties are urged to register their details at www.northeastlink.vic.gov.au.

This complex project comprises 23km of new motorway in Melbourne’s north eastern suburbs, including the 5km twin tunnels protecting parkland and suburbs above.

North East Link will provide a safe and efficient freeway connection for around 100,000 vehicles a day, slashing travel times, getting trucks off local roads and linking key growth areas in the north and south-east.

The core of the North East Link project will be delivered as an Availability Public Private Partnership that drives a whole-of-life approach to planning and delivery. The State will retain revenue from tolls, at least initially, to provide the best value outcome for Victoria.

Procurement and planning approval processes will begin this year, ahead of a preferred builder being selected in 2019, and major construction starting in 2020.

Watch our video and read more about early market engagement here www.northeastlink.vic.gov.au/about/work-with-us/early-market-engagement.

Following the collapse of contractor Carillion and after discussions with the UK Government and their clients on the HS2 project, Kier and Eiffage – who were previously in JV with Carillion (CEK) – are now 50/50 joint venture partners delivering two of the seven civil engineering packages, lots C2 and C3.

The two central packages won – C2 and C3 – that will new be delivered by the new 50/50 JV are: North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley; and Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel

All 51 Carillion employees, including apprentices, working on the CEK HS2 joint venture have been offered the opportunity to join Kier/Eiffage with continuous service being maintained.

Commenting Haydn Mursell, Chief Executive, Kier said, “We have been working collaboratively with our clients and are pleased to have reached agreement with Government. We have been able to take action quickly and reassure the project teams that they continue to play an important role in the delivery of these contracts.”

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said, “This announcement demonstrates the strength and purpose of the joint venture contracts agreed on HS2 works (and the smart motorways programme). These have enabled Kier and Eiffage to step in as planned and guarantee continued employment, apprenticeships and the seamless delivery of these vital projects.”

Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd said, “We welcome this decision by the remaining JV partners. Through this difficult time the team has continued to deliver and we’re grateful for their on-going hard work and dedication. No time delays or costs implication have come about as a result of the events of this week, underlining the strength of the joint venture approach taken by HS2 in procuring its partners.”

Gammon Construction Limited has been awarded a HK$6.2bn contract by the Highways Department, HKSAR to construct the Kai Tak West Section of the Central Kowloon Route in Hong Kong. The Kai Tak West Section contract includes the construction of a 370m-long underwater tunnel and the associated temporary reclamation in Kowloon Bay of about 3 hectares, a 160m-long cut and cover tunnel in Ma Tau Kok as well as a 125m-long depressed road and 170m-long underpass in Kai Tak Development.
The contract forms a vital part of the overall Central Kowloon Route, a 4.7km-long dual three-lane strategic trunk road in Central Kowloon that will relieve congestion in Central Kowloon’s road network.

Thomas Ho, Chief Executive of Gammon said: “We are delighted to be working with the Highways Department again and to be able to utilise our considerable in-house capabilities including foundations, design, concrete supply and steel fabrication to deliver the works to the highest standards.”

In delivering the project Gammon will be maximising the use of modularisation for elements of the works, while its patented piling technology will be used to construct the temporary wall for excavation works. This proposal has also reduced the temporary reclamation area required and provided a number of environmental benefits.

Work on the Kai Tak West Section contract is due to start in January this year and is expected to be completed by 2025.  A workforce of 400 will be engaged at its peak construction period.

A €190M contract for the construction of the Radimero section of the Tortona/Novi Ligure-Genoa railway line, has been signed in Genoa between COCIV, the  EPC General Contractor on the Third Giovi Crossing, and the JV consisting of Toto Costruzioni Generali (58%) and Seli Overseas (42%). The new railway line will connect the port area of Genoa with Turin and Milan on the Corridor of the Reno-Alps.

The two Italian companies have been awarded the lot which extends for some 7.7km and consists of a single-track, twin-tube tunnel with an internal diameter of 8.6m. The two tunnels will be excavated using two 9.77m EPB TBM’s.

This  project, which is expected to be delivered in 33 months, is particularly challenging and of great strategic importance since it  will complete  a further stretch  of the maxi railway  program called the  Terzo Valico dei Giovi.

Morgan Sindall’s specialist Ridham Precast Facility has been awarded a £17M contract to supply almost 7km of tunnel rings to the Morgan Sindall, Balfour Beatty and BAM Nuttall joint venture delivering the west section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel.The facility, based in Kent, manufactures bespoke precast concrete segments to very tight tolerances.

The order is for 4,086 precast concrete tunnel rings, which are 7.1m in diameter and will line 6.95km of the tunnel. The Ridham team will produce 50 tunnel rings a week, and consists of 45 people working over two shifts. Production began in summer 2017 and will continue to July 2019, providing local employment opportunities. The completed ring segments will be transported by road to a local dock then by barge along the River Thames direct to the Tideway Carnwath Road Riverside work site in south west London.

Other major projects recently completed by the factory include the production of 4,000 rings for the 7.8m diameter Lee Tunnel project in London, and 3,300 rings of 5.5m diameter for the Northern Line Extension in Battersea.

David Hicks, senior operations manager at the Ridham Precast Facility, commented, “This is an important order for Ridham, giving two years of work for the factory. We look forward to a successful partnership with Thames Tideway and the joint venture on this high-profile project.”

NFM Technologies has sold its Energy Business Unit dedicated to the design, implementation and maintenance of complex mechanical systems for the nuclear, oil & gas sectors and other industries to REEL to increase its competitiveness and organizational performance in the expanding and highly competitive TBM market.

NFM says it plans to expand its activities as a major player in the growing TBM market. “Focusing on our core business activity will enable us to leverage our expertise on the European tunnelling market. We are resolute and con dent for 2018,” says Luc Devaux, NFM CEO.

NFM machines are currently being operated worldwide, in works such as the Lyon-Turin high speed railway, the Grand Paris Project and Singapore and London Metro Line extensions.

The first TBM to be used on the 37.5km of tunnels for the Grand Paris Express is currently being assembled on site at Champigny Plateau. At 9.8m diameter, the Herrenknecht EPBM will bore at a predicted rate of 12m per day to create a 2.2km long segmentally lined connection tunnel between the Champigny operating center and the main tunnel from Line 15 South at Villiers-sur-Marne.The machine was transported in sections from Herrenknecht’s factory in Schwanau and arrived in Paris between December 4^th and the end of January 2018.

Contractor JV Alliance, formed between Demathieu Bard/Implenia/NGE/Pizzarotti will bore the tunnel through a generally mixed face.

The whole alignment of the Grand Paris Express, 90% of which is underground, includes soft ground,
heterogeneous ground,
sand, marl, limestone, clay, chalk, alluvions, gravel, marl, gypsum, sand marl, alluvions, and scree.

By January 2018, The JVs employed by client, Société du Grand Paris to construct the separate contracts on the four new Metro Lines that make up the project – namely Lines 15, 16, 17 and 18 as well as the extensions of line 14 – have ordeded a total of 12 TBMs from Herrenknecht. The nine EPB shields and three multi-mode TBMs are:

5x EPB Shields: 9.8m diameter,
lining method: Segmental lining

2x EPB Shields: 8.9m diameter, lining method: Segmental lining

2x Multi-modes: 9.8m diameter,
lining method: Segmental lining

1x Multi-mode: 7.71m diamter,
lining method: Segmental lining

1x EPB Shield: 9.84m diameter,
 lining method: Segmental lining

1x EPB Shield: 9.8m diameter, lining method: Segmental lining

Approximately 2M passengers per day are expected to use the four new lines. All planned new lines and extensions of existing lines are to be operational by 2030.

The UK’s HS2 has confirmed that the following bidders have been invited to tender for the London stations construction contracts:

London Euston:

Costain Limited/Skanska Construction UK Limited

Mace Limited/Dragados S.A.

Bechtel Limited

BAM Nuttall Limited/Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Limited

Canary Wharf Contractors Limited/MTR Corporation (UK) Limited/Laing O’Rourke Construction Limited

Old Oak Common:

Balfour Beatty Group Ltd/VINCI Construction UK Ltd/VINCI Construction Grands Projets SAS/SYSTRA Ltd

Mace Limited/Dragados S.A.

Bechtel Limited

BAM Nuttall Limited/Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Limited

Working with HS2 Ltd and the Euston and Old Oak Common designers, the Construction Partner will act as the management contractor, responsible for procuring, integrating and managing the supply chains.

It is estimated that the contracts will support around 4,000 jobs during construction, with around 700 during operation. Contracts will be awarded in the Autumn.

HS2 services from London and Birmingham will travel beyond the new high speed network via existing tracks to a wide range of destinations including Liverpool, The North West, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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