Prior information notice of start of award procedures on 27.05.2010 for general safety upgrade and restoration of six road tunnels to RABT 2006 standard, value EUR26.5 million, commencing winter 2010 with Herkulestrasse, value EUR7.54 million. For further information contact Stadt Koeln, tel +49 221221-23647, fax –28715, e-mail zentrales-vergabeamt@stadt-koeln.de. For details of all tunnels involved in this project visit tunnelbuilder archive de/106. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=062973-2010. 10/10...

Vicenzetto Srl of Villa Estense have secured the EUR587,987 contract for test drilling and boring work in Brenner Base tunnel. Contact Johann Hager at BBT SE in Innsbruck, tel +43 5124030, fax +43 5124030-110, e-mail ava@bbt-se.com. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=062301-2010 and www.vicenzetto.it. ..

The CPV consortium, formed by CSC SA (Lugano) and Pizzarotti SA (Bellinzona), signed the EUR43 million contract for the construction of Lot 854 at Vezia, the main lot of Ceneri Base Tunnel, including the south portal, 200 m of cut-and-cover tunnel, as well as drilling, blasting and lining both tunnels along a length of 300 m. Works at Vezia will continue until 2016. Commercial operation of the Ceneri Base Tunnel with scheduled train services is planned to start at the end of 2019. Of the total of 40.19 km of the Ceneri Base Tunnel, at the end of February 2010, 7,673 m, or 19.1%, had been ..

Imtech Austria Anlagentechnik GmbH of Linz have secured the contract for supply, installation and commissioning of ventilation equipment for the tunnel section of the Harter Plateau tramway line. For more, contact Ing. Harald Grogger at Managementservice Linz GmbH in Linz, tel +43 7323400-7982, fax -157982, e-mail h.grogger @ linzag.at. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=059736-2010. 10/10...

Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA is inviting companies to prequalify for civil engineering work on railway tunnels in Italy. Further information and documents from Iacomino Raffaele at Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato in Milan, tel +39 02637 148-19, fax –20, e-mail dns-qs@rfi.it to whom requests to participate should be sent. Visit

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.

PKE Verkehrstechnik signed a EUR12 million contract to install the E&M equipment in the 3,340 m Achrain three-lane tunnel. Visit www.pke.at 06/08.

Veidekke has been awarded two contracts for two tunnels and access ramps on the Norra Länken (Northern Link), Stockholm’s north ring road, by the Swedish public roads administration. These contracts are worth a total of just under SEK1 billion. Contract NL 33 is for the Albano rock tunnels, including 1.1 km of one-lane tunnels, 650 metres of two-lane tunnels and 500 metres of three-lane tunnels.

The first stage to bury the Sarmiento line between Caballito and Moreno has been commissioned to the Nuevo Sarmiento consortium, formed by the Argentine firm Iecsa, Brazil's Odebrecht, Comsa of Spain and Italy's Ghella, who submitted the low bid. The first section from Caballito to Ciudadela will take 36 months and cost ARS3,367 million.

Cavico has been awarded contracts valued at USD11 million to construct a headrace tunnel and surge tank for the Dak My 4 hydropower plant project. The tunnel, which will connect the water intake and the pressure shaft, will be approximately 3.9 km long, with a diameter of 6.40 m to 7.60 m. The surge tank, intended to neutralize sudden pressure surges, will be approximately 89 m high and have a diameter between 5 and 8.50 m.

The joint venture between Gamuda and MMC has been awarded the contract to build the 329 km Ipoh-Padang Besar double-tracking project at a fixed cost of MYR12.5 billion. The design phase of the project is worth MYR420 million. The track doubling of the northern portion of the Kuala Lumpur-Thai border line, which forms a key section of the planned Singapore-Kunming rail link, will include the 3.3 km-long Bukit Berapit tunnel, Southeast Asia's longest rail tunnel, in Perak state.

Hochtief Construction’s Chilean subsidiary, as member of a joint venture with Tecsa in which it holds a 70% share, has signed an engineer, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of approximately EUR175 million for the 155 MW La Confluencia hydropower station, 150 km south of Santiago.

A consortium of Italian construction company Astaldi and its Turkish partners Makyol and Gülermak is in the lead to get a EUR751.2 million contract from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's transportation department to build a 21.7 km subway line between the Kadiköy and Kartal districts of Istanbul's Asian side. Astaldi, which is leading the group in the bidding for the contract, could get 42%, or EUR315.4 million, of the total value of the contract which also includes the E&M and signalling technology.

The Ministry of development has awarded a joint venture formed by Obras Subterraneas and Teconsa the complementary safety works to upgrade the Piqueras tunnel on road N-111 and make it comply with the European safety regulation. The contract amounts to nearly EUR20 million and the time line is ten months. An escape and rescue tunnel will be built parallel to the 2,625 m-long tunnel and will be connected to the existing pressurised shelters. If all proceeds according to schedule, the Piqueras tunnel will be completed in the autumn of 2008, which means it will be opened three years later than the initial date. The ministry awarded in end-2002 the construction of the Piqueras tunnel to the same builders, who have been working on its construction since 2003. Nevertheless, the European Union approved in April 2004 a directive setting minimum safety requirements in road tunnels, which the ministry transposed into Spanish law. Read E-News Weekly 37/2004, 15/2004, 6/2004, 13/2003 & 45/2002. Visit www.obrassubterraneas.es and www.teconsa.net 04/08.

Ayesa landed a EUR840,000 contract for construction supervision and health and safety coordination during construction of section II of the supply system from Cenajo dam to the basin of Taibilla canals, including a 5,950 m-long water tunnel and connecting pipe to the Cenajo water treatment plant. Visit www.ayesa.es 04/08.

The City of Oslo has contracted Dovre International as purchaser for several water projects in Oslo, including the Oset/Voldsløkka tunnel, which would be 30 km and about 5 m wide. The purchaser will be responsible for the development of tenders, bid evaluation, negotiations, recommendations and signing of contracts. Visit www.dovre.biz 04/08.

Veidekke is the low bidder for the third orbital road between Ulven and Sinsen in Oslo, including the Loren and Økern tunnels, with an offer of NOK40.8 million. The two other bids have been presented by Skanska (NOK43.5 million) and PA Entreprenør (NOK53.7 million). Click no/46 for more details. 04/08.

The City of Bergen has commissioned Veidekke to build the 2.4 km section of the light rail line from Wergeland to Fantoft. The contract price is NOK292.7 million. The contract includes the construction of two tunnels, 640 m and 400 m long, and three stations. Work will start at the end of January 2008 and will be completed by 17th January, 2010. Visit www.veidekke.no and www.bybane.no/english.html 04/08.

In December 2003, a joint venture of Impregilo and Secol (in which Impregilo held a 75% share) was awarded a construction contract by ANAS, the road administration, involving a tunnel in the municipalities of Monza and Cinisello Balsamo to sink underground the SS 36 road to Lake Como and the Spluga valley that links with the north Milan motorway system. Further to the decision by Secol to pull out and the subsequent action in justice by the defeated bidders, the regional administrative court (TAR) ruled that the project should be put out to tender again.

Brazilian consortium Águas do São Francisco, formed by the companies Carioca Christiani Nielsen Engenharia, Serveng Civilsan and SA Paulista, won the bidding for the first lot of works on the São Francisco river diversion project. The winning proposal was for BRL239 million. The contract was signed on 31st December and the consortium is due to start the works on the northern axis in January. Lot 1 stretches for 39,128 metres and includes the 726 m Angico tunnel and the 1,512 m Milagres tunnel. Visit www.cariocaengenharia.com.br and www.sapaulista.com.br

Final bids for a AUD2.3 billion public-private partnership (PPP) toll road project to Brisbane airport in Queensland state were submitted on 14th December. The predominantly underground Airport Link is a 46-year concession contract to design, build, operate and maintain a 6.7 km motorway, 5.7 km of which in tunnel, to connect the North South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT) and Inner City Bypass at Bowen Hills with arterial roads at Kedron and Toombul.