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.

Cobb County on 11th March awarded a USD305 million contract to J.F. Shea and Traylor to build the 8.8 km 8.2 m OD South Cobb tunnel that will drain about 40% of Cobb. The tunnel will average 76 m in depth as it runs south through bedrock from near the boundary with Douglas County and then east to a treatment plant on the Chattahoochee River near I-20. Four smaller tunnels totalling 1.6 km and 1.8 to 3 m in diameter, are included.

FCC and Alvargonzález received a EUR106.8 million contract to build the Unquera-Pendueles section on the Cantabrian motorway A-8. This 11.8 km section includes the Santiuste tunnel (520 m / 820 m), and the 410 m El Peral cut-and-cover tunnel. Click es/62 for more. Visit www.fcc.es 12/08.

ADIF commissioned the construction of the Sagrera-Trinidad junction section, divided in two contracts, on the Madrid-Barcelona-French border high speed link. The Sagrera contract has been awarded to Corsán-Corviam for EUR67.9 million and a time frame of 19 months. The Sant Andreu contract has been awarded to Acciona Infraestructuras and Copcisa for EUR177.4 million and a time frame of 28 months. The two contracts represent a length of 4.24 km, running fully underground in a cut-and-cover tunnel. Visit www.corsan-corviam.es, www.acciona.es and www.copcisa.com 12/08.

Vifter & Miljø received a NOK5 million contract for delivery of booster fans for the Bjørvika tunnels in Oslo including a 675 m-long immersed tunnel under the harbour and its ramps, 503 m of cut-and-cover tunnels and ramps totalling 1.2 km with a rectangular shape for one, two or three lanes at Sørenga, a new 420 m-long 9.5 m-wide rock tunnel in Mosseveien/Grønlia and 620 m of enlarged existing tunnels and the ramps. Visit www.vifter.no 12/08.

The Blue Water joint venture, consisting of John Holland and Veolia Water, will design, construct, operate and maintain the Sydney desalination plant for 20 years. John Holland's interest in the project is valued at approximately AUD600 million out of a AUD960 million contract. The project includes microtunnelling in residential areas, an intake tunnel between the sea and the screening facility, and an outlet tunnel between the filtration and reverse osmosis facilities and the sea. The intake tunnel is 2,579 m long, 4,150 mm bored diameter and 3,400 mm finished internal diameter. The outlet tunnel is 2,579 m long, 4,100 mm bored diameter and 3,400 mm finished internal diameter. A 14 m TBM burial chamber will be constructed for each tunnel. Two double shield hard rock Herrenknecht TBMs will be used. Launch tunnels for the TBMs will be excavated using a Mitsui S200 roadheader. Click here. Visit www.johnholland.com.au and www.herrenknecht.com 12/08.

Negotiated invitation to tender, deadline 22nd April, 2007 for construction of lots A and B of the Las Lagunas-Cala de Mijas section on the Costa del Sol rail line. This section includes a 2 x 4 km tunnel. The two parallel tunnels will be bored using a pair of TBMs working towards La Cala de Mijas from the Fuengirola river.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 31st March, 2008 for assistance to the preparation and signing of a PPP contract for the L2 ring road in Marseille. The L2 ring road is a 9 km infrastructure to join highways A50 to Aubagne and Toulon in the east and A7 to Aix-en-Provence in the north. The 5.2 km east section will open in 2011. Its construction is under way. The 2 x three-lane north section will run in shallow cut-and-cover tunnel on 75% of its 3.8 km alignment. The north section will open in 2015. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=59763-2008, OJ S 43, or contact DRE PACA, Marseille, fax +33 491284366. Visit www.l2marseille.com 12/08.

Restricted invitation to tender, deadline 16th April, 2008 for the medium and low voltage installations for the Tullnerfeld station and tunnel equipment for the Perschling chain of tunnels on the Vienna-St. Pölten high speed rail section. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=69917-2008, OJ S 51, or contact ÖBB Infrastruktur Bau, Vienna, fax +43 19300045799. E-mail martin.neulinger@bau.oebb.at 12/08.

Astaldi, as general contractor and leader of a joint venture with Makyol and Gülermak, and the municipality of Istanbul signed a EUR751 million contract for the construction of the new Kadiköy-Kartal line in Istanbul. The contract has been signed after the joint venture was named preferred bidder in January.

A EUR2.4 million detailed design contract for Valencia's cross city high speed rail tunnel has been awarded to Sener. The first section of the route runs in an approx. 5 km tunnel from the north station. Then the second section of some four kilometres travels in open air. The project also includes two new urban stations. Visit www.sener.es 11/08.

Schimetta Consult, BHM Ingenieure and Laabmayr & Partner landed a EUR4.8 million contract to carry out the detailed planning for the 5.5 km Harter Plateau tramway line in Linz, which includes a 2 x 900 m-long bored tunnel to access to the existing underground railway station. Visit www.schimetta.at, www.bhm-ing.com, www.laabmayr.at 11/08.

A joint venture formed by Dragados and Tecsa, both owned by ACS, bagged a EUR105.5 million contract to build the 4.9 km Arroyo de la Viñuela-Quejigares section on the Antequera (Malaga)-Granada high speed link. The contract includes the construction of the 3,343 m Quejigares tunnel, which represents 68% of the total length of the section. Visit www.dragados.com and www.tecsa.es 10/08.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded Taisei Corporation the civil works contract 907 for the Landmark station, tunnels and the main trunk road above the station, as part of Stage 1 of the Downtown Line (DTL). The contract is valued at SGD230 million. Visit www.taisei.com 10/08. Contract 906 for the Bayfront station has been awarded to Sembawang Engineers & Constructors.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded the civil works contract 901 for the Circle Line (CCL) to Hock Lian Seng Infrastructure. The contract is valued at SGD348.4 million. Contract 901 is for the construction and completion of the Marina Bay station and tunnels. The scope of the contract also includes addition and alteration works to the existing North South Line (NSL) at Marina Bay station, diversions as well as demolition of an underpass. Visit www.hlsgroup.com.sg 10/08.

As part of the preliminary studies on the alignment of the new Gotthard railway link through the Alps, south of Lugano, the feasibility and opportunity analysis of the four alternatives has been commissioned to the consortium RBM (Rapp Trans, Basler & Hofmann and Ingegneria Maggia), that gathers ten companies altogether.