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.

Veidekke signed a NOK622 million contract for the construction of the Løren tunnel on Oslo's third ring road. The Løren tunnel will stretch from Økern to Sinsen and consists of a 2.9 km twin tunnel, of which 900 metres of rock tunnel as well as concrete portions at each end. Construction is expected to commence in September 2008 and to last for five years. When the Løren tunnel is completed in 2013, the existing stretch of the third ring road between Økern and Sinsen will be converted to a local road. Visit www.veidekke.no 34-35/08.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has handed over the feasibility study for an underground tunnel in Mumbai to Arup, following withdrawal by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) while they had begun the study of geological conditions. DMRC had initially volunteered to do the feasibility study for a tunnel, linking the Haji Ali area of central Mumbai to Nariman Point in south Mumbai. Arup will submit the report in two to three months. Other options being weighed, apart from the tunnel, are an undersea tunnel or the stiffly-opposed 4.35 km Pedder Road flyover that would help ease vehicular congestion due to the opening of the Bandra-Worli sealink bridge later this year. Visit www.arup.com 34-35/08.

Olympia Odos, the concession company led by VINCI Concessions (36%), in partnership with Hochtief PPP Solutions (25%) and three Greek construction companies, Aktor Concessions (18%), J&P-Avax (18%) and Athena (3%), has just completed with a consortium of 19 banks the financing arrangements for the concession contract for the Athens-Corinth-Patras-Tsakona motorway, the largest ever won by VINCI outside France.

A joint venture of BUNG and Müller+Hereth will supervise the construction of a 1,687 m-long, 100 sq m cross-sectional tunnel and a 1,613 m-long 20 sq m parallel safety tunnel, a shaft to be built using raise boring and other minor works on road B 29 in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Visit www.bung-ag.de and www.mueller-hereth.com 34-35/08

Ansaldo signed a EUR3.3 million deal to upgrade certain safety equipment in the 3,692 m Orelle tunnel on motorway A43. Visit www.asiansaldo.com 34-35/08.

A joint venture of Porr Tunnelbau, Porr Technobau und Umwelt, and Hypo Investmentbank has scooped a EUR47.8 million contract to construct the 1,745 m city tunnel in Waidhofen an der Ybbs. A joint venture of Intergeo and Bernd Gebauer Ingenieur secured a EUR1.4 million contract to supervise the job. Visit www.porr.at/tunnelbau, www.intergeo.at and www.bgebauer.de 34-35/08.

The Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) as a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) is stepping up efforts to implement the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) during the next six years to establish a tunnel that will cater to the immediate, short and long-term needs of Abu Dhabi's wastewater and drainage issues.

Preliminary work for the construction of a traffic diversion route system has begun at the entrance of Abu Dhabi to pave the way for three years of construction work that involves the 3.1 km Al Salam tunnel, which is set to be the longest road tunnel in the Middle East. A joint venture of South Korea-based Samsung Engineering and Abu Dhabi-based Saif Bin Darwish has won the contract for the main construction works.

The Canarian government awarded a joint venture of FCC, Corsan-Corviam and Petrecan a EUR111.7 million contract for the construction of the Puerto Rico-Mogan highway in Gran Canaria Island. The 6.3 km section includes 3,805 metres of tunnel (seven twin tunnels which account for 60% of the route) and 1,130 metres of viaduct.

A joint venture of Domtra 57 and Intecsa-Inarsa has been entrusted with the detailed design of the high speed rail section between Seville's Santa Justa railway station and San Pablo airport. The project includes a 10 km tunnel and forms part of the Seville-Malaga high speed line. Their contract is worth EUR3.5 million. Visit www.intecsa-inarsa.es 32-33/08.

A 9.4 m-diameter NFM Technologies EPB tunnel boring machine was officially launched on 10th June, 2008 by officials, as part of the 2007-2010 transport expansion programme, to bore the 3.4 km extension of Line 11 from La Peseta to La Fortuna in Leganes. The machine was last used to build a previous extension of Line 11 from Pan Bendito to La Peseta in Carabanchel. Previously, it completed the Atocha-Nuevos Ministerios section of the newly opened cross-city railway tunnel connecting Atocha and Chamartin central stations in Madrid, sections of the Metrosur Line 12 and a Line 2 extension. Click here. The construction contract has been awarded to Dragados. Of the 3,400 metres in tunnel, 25 metres to connect with La Peseta will be mined manually using Madrid’s traditional method. Visit www.nfm-technologies.com and www.dragados.com 32-33/08.

CMC, in joint venture with the South African contractor PG Mavundla, has been awarded the main underground works contract for the construction of Ingula (previously Braamhoek) pumped storage scheme, a 1,340 MW capacity hydroelectric plant, situated western of Durban, within the Little Drakensberg mountain range, worth approximately EUR600 million. The project mainly includes the construction of an intake canal, two headrace tunnels with a total length of two kilometres, an underground powerhouse which will house four 335 MW Francis turbines, a transformer cavern, a 2,450 m tailrace tunnel, ventilation and surge shafts, a tailrace outlet canal and the intake and outlet structures. Click here to read more. Visit www.cmc.coop 32-33/08.

Bento Pedroso Construções, the Portuguese branch of Norberto Odebrecht of Brazil, and Lena Engenheria e Construções won a EUR257.3 million contract to build the 170 MW Baixo Sabor scheme in Bragança district, including a 123 m-high upstream dam and a 43 m-high downstream dam, which will house underground two generating units each fed by independent tunnels. A tunnel will also divert the river on its left bank. Visit www.odebrecht.com 32-33/08.

The Secretariat for communications and transport (SCT) has awarded three civil works contracts to complete the Durango-Mazatlán highway. The three contracts have a value MXP8,721 million and the project has to be completed in early 2012.

A joint venture of Vidoni and Alma CIS scooped a EUR44.9 million contract for executive design and construction as part of the upgrading of road SS13 "Pontebbana" damaged by flooding in 2003. There is a 1 km tunnel. Visit www.vidonispa.it and www.almacis.it 32-33/08.