The construction contract for the EUR133 million Lai Chi Kok Transfer Scheme, advertised at tunnelbuilder.com earlier this year, has been awarded to Leighton Asia. The project includes two 4.9 m-diameter storm water drainage tunnels with total length of 3.7 km between West Kowloon reclamation and Lai Chi Kok and Sham Shui Po districts, six intake shafts, a stilling basin, an outfall adit into Victoria Harbour, and 270 m of 3 m-diameter connection adits. Work starts immediately for completion in 2012. More from Quinnie Lee, tel +852 2823 1427, e-mail quinnie.lee@leightonasia.com 47/08..

Contract valued EUR414,000 awarded by Norwegian Railway Infrastructure Administration to Norconsult AS of Sandvika to provide technical and detailed plans of tunnels for the joint project E6 road and Dovrebanen, lot Minnesund-Kleverud, which includes one twin-tube 0.6 km-long road tunnel and 3.1 km of single railway tunnel over a 17 km-long alignment in Eidsvoll and Stange municipalities. ..

Contract for telecommunications installations for 6.5 km section of new double railway track in Baerum municipality for Lysaker-Sandvika, of which 5.5 km in tunnel, awarded by Jernbaneverket to T Connect AS of Manglerud, Oslo. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=292852-2008 More from Olaf Bjerknes, tel +47 9943 4144, e-mail olbj@jbv.no 46/08. ..

Bemel Norge AS of Majorstuen, Oslo has been awarded the contract to supply ventilation fans to the 5.37 km-long Atlantic Ocean tunnel between Kristiansund and Bremnes on National Road 64 in the value EUR555,000...

Pre-feasibility study being undertaken by ILF Consulting Engineers for construction of single track railway line along the Karakorum highway between the end of the existing railway network in the south at Havelian and the border between Pakistan and China near the famous Khunjrab Pass in the north.

Prequalification underway by MTR for tender reference no 703 for West Island Line SHW to SYP tunnels value EUR30 million with a view to selective invitations to tender being issued in 4Q/2008 for contract award in 3Q/2009. Expressions of interest to Malcolm O’Neill, tel 3921 3383, e-mail moneill@mtr.com.hk Visit www.mtr.com.hk/eng/tenders/new_projects.html 45/08.

Prior information notice for construction works, value EUR24.86 million, for a undergroung cut-and-cover tunnel from Pabellon Moises Ruiz to Plaza de Barcelona, 1,1 km, with 0.8 m-thick base, 1.0 m-thick walls and 1.0 m-thick roof, on Carretera de Ronda, in Almeria. The works will include intermodal station.

Further technical details are available regarding the Lake Mead intake No. 3 shafts and tunnel project, recently awarded to Vegas Tunnel Constructors, a joint venture of Impregilo and S.A. Healy. The tunnel will primarily be excavated in late Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic bedrock. Of the 4,666 m-long intake tunnel, about 300 metres will be excavated in the Saddle Island Lower Plate (amphibolites, schist, and gneiss) and about 370 metres in the Saddle Island Upper Plate (schist, amphibolites, gneiss, pegmatite, dacite intrusives). The majority of the tunnel drive (about 3,540 metres) is located in the Muddy Creek formation (conglomerate, breccias, sandstone, siltstone and gypsiferous mudstone). As the TBM approaches the intake riser, it will pass through about 370 metres of red sandstone, and the final 90 metres will be in the Callville Mesa basalt.
Except for an erection chamber and starter tunnel that will be excavated by drill and blast, the tunnel will be excavated by a Herrenknecht convertible hybrid tunnel boring machine. The TBM, in open mode, will evacuate the spoils by screw conveyor feeding a continuous tunnel conveyor. The continuous tunnel conveyor will feed two muck skips that are hoisted up the intake access shaft and then moved to a stockpile on site. In closed mode, the screw conveyor is retracted from the cutterhead and the TBM functions in fully slurry mixshield mode, utilizing a separation plant. The tunnel will be supported by a precast, bolted, gasketed tunnel lining with five plus a key segments. Inside diameter will be 6.1 m, and the segment ring will be 1.83 m long. Visit www.herrenknecht.com
Other underground structures include the 180 m-deep intake access shaft with cast-in-place concrete liner with inside diameter of 9 m, excavated by drill and blast. A stub tunnel approximately 26 m long will be excavated by drill and blast at depth of about 110 metres to provide a connection to the future pump station. At the bottom of the shaft will be a large TBM erection chamber, starter tunnel, and tail tunnel that will provide the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) with an option for a future tie-in and water transmission. The intake riser will be constructed in Lake Mead at a depth of 90-107 m below the lake surface. Lake-bottom excavation will be by underwater drilling and blasting. The intake riser will be constructed by sunken tube technology and will provide a docking station for the TBM.
The construction manager is Parsons Water and Infrastructure. SNWA’s design engineer is MW/Hill, a joint venture of Montgomery Watson and CH2M Hill. The contractor’s design engineer is Arup USA, with Brierley Associates. Visit www.snwa.com, www.parsons.com/about/bus_unit/gbu/water, www.mwhglobal.com, www.ch2m.com, www.arup.com and www.brierleyassociates.com 15/08.