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.

A joint venture of Zueblin, Baresel, Ostu-Stettin and Hinteregger signed a EUR140 million contract to build a 1.8 km 105 sq m tunnel on road B 29 in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Visit www.zueblin.de, www.baresel.de, www.oestu-stettin.at and www.hinteregger.co.at 17/08.

Inros Lackner and WBI signed a EUR1.3 million contract for planning of a new 3 km-long 4 m-diameter flood relief tunnel and outlet structure from the Freiberger Mulde to Chemnitzbach. Visit www.inros-lackner.de and www.wbionline.de 17/08.

IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects has secured a INR4.8 billion contract from the Narmada Valley Development Authority for the construction of the third phase of the Indira Sagar irrigation project in the Sanawad district of Madhya Pradesh. Work involves the construction of 46 km of canal and 5 km of tunnel. The order also comprises the survey, planning, design, estimation, reparation of land acquisition cases, forest case and its clearance, shifting of HT and LT electric lines. Work is starting for completion within 48 months. Visit www.ivrcl.com 16/08.

A joint venture of Porr Tunnelbau, Jaeger Bau and Ostu-Stettin won the tender for planning and construction of the 2 x 2,082 m-long 70 sq m Osterberg tunnel in Saxony on the Erfurt-Leipzig/Halle high speed line. The twin single-track tunnel will be built using the sprayed concrete lining method. The two tubes will be connected by six cross-passages. Visit www.porr-ag.de or www.porr.at, www.jaegerbau.com and www.oestu-stettin.at 16/08.

Inexia, the engineering arm of the French Railways, SNCF, in joint venture with SEA Consulting and SWS Engineering, both of Italy, pocketed a EUR6.2 million project management contract for the planned safety tunnel parallel to the existing 12.9 km Frejus cross-border road tunnel between France and Italy, from the contract awarding phase to the commissioning phase. Visit www.inexia-ingenierie.com, www.seaconsult.eu and www.swsengineering.it 16/08.

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).

Konsortiet Förbifart Stockholm, a consortium whose partners are Sweco VBB, WSP and Tyréns scooped a SEK154.4 million contract for planning of the Stockholm road bypass. The project connects the E4/E20 to Haeggvik through Kungens Kurva and stretches 21 kilometres, whereof 16 km of tunnel. Visit www.vv.se/templates/page3____4290.aspx, www.sweco.se, www.wspgroup.se and www.tyrens.se 15/08.

The consortium Autopista do Marão, formed by Sacyr Vallehermoso's concession arm Itinere, its Portuguese construction unit Somague Engenharia, MSF Concessões SGPS and MSF Empreiteiros, has beaten AEDM (Auto-Estrada do Marão), a consortium led by Brisa Auto-Estradas de Portugal, in the bidding for the 29.8 km Amarante-Vila Real toll highway concession and the Geraldes junction-Padronelo junction toll-free section in northern Portugal.

Spadina Link Project Managers, a joint venture of Hatch Mott MacDonald, Delcan Corporation and MMM Group, has been awarded a CAD100 million project management services contract for the Spadina subway extension by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) for a period of seven years. With an estimated final cost of CAD2.63 billion, the Spadina subway extension is the largest transit expansion project to be undertaken by the TTC in 40 years.

DHV clinched a EUR1.2 million deal for site supervision during construction of the Trofa railway bypass, including a 1,404 m-long rail tunnel. Visit www.dhv.com 14/08.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is inviting contractors to tender, deadline 17th April, 2008 for construction of the south tunnel of the Upper Rouge tunnel CSO control project (contract PC-764). The work mostly includes excavation, initial support and final lining of a 61 m-deep 24 m-diameter pumping station work shaft that will be used to launch the TBM; 5,700 linear metres of tunnel, 46 metres below grade with a finished diameter of 9.14 m; six connecting adits/deaeration chambers ranging in finished internal diameter from 2.1 to 9.8 m and in length from 24 to 439 m; and the final lining of the DS-7 work shaft.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has awarded a USD447 million contract to Impregilo and its US subsidiary S.A. Healy to design and build the so-called third straw to draw water from the Lake Mead reservoir. This is a concrete-lined tunnel 6 m in diameter and approx. 4.8 km long underneath the bed of Lake Mead. Construction should begin before the end of the year and eventually involve a massive tunnel boring machine that will be manufactured in Germany and shipped to the United States. The third straw is slated to go on line by early 2013

Thames Water has appointed CH2M HILL as programme manager for the Thames tideway tunnel scheme that will prevent overflows from London’s sewers entering the Thames. As programme manager, CH2M HILL will help Thames Water to implement the project through all phases, including planning consents, preliminary and final design, construction oversight, stakeholder communication, commissioning and start-up of new facilities. Click here. Visit www.ch2mhill.com

Egis Rail secured a EUR321,000 contract for external control during implementation of the waterproofing in the second bore of the tunnel linking motorways A 50 and A 57 in Toulon. Visit www.egis-rail.fr 13/08.

A joint venture of Konstruktor Inzenjering, Viadukt, Hidroelektra Niskogradnja and Strabag won a HRK352.3 million contract to build section 02 Stobrec-Dugi Rat, lot 1 Stobrec-Grljevac on the Split bypass road. It includes the Perun tunnel (south tube, 222.32 m / north tube, 201.92 m) and Rudine tunnel (south tube, 360.52 m / north tube, 363.23 m). The same joint venture secured a HRK326.2 million contract to construct section 03 Dugi Rat-Omis (2.8 km), lot 4 Omis tunnel-Omis. The contract includes two tunnels: the 1,471 m Omis tunnel and the 226 m Brzet tunnel. Visit www.konstruktor-split.hr, www.hidroelektra-niskogradnja.hr and www.strabag.hr. The work will be supervised by Institut gradevinarstva Hrvatske (IGH). Visit www.igh.hr 13/08.