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.

Negotiated procedure, deadline 8th May, 2008 for electrical installations (high and low voltage systems) for the new 6.5 km double track railway between Lysaker and Sandvika, 5.5 km of which is in tunnel. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=71126-2008, OJ S 52, or contact Jernbaneverket, Oslo, tel. +47 91656257. Visit solgei@jbv.no 13/08.

The low bid to build the 5.1 km-long, 8.7 m-wide Óshlid single bore tunnel has been submitted by a team of Islenskir Adalverktakar (Iceland) and Marti Contractors (Switzerland) with ISK3,479,000,000. The other contenders are Istak of Iceland (ISK3,988,415,815); a team of Mestrostav (Czech Republic) and Hafell (Iceland) with ISK5,994,997,894; and Leonard Nilsen & Sønner (Norway) and Heradsverk (Iceland) at ISK3,667,297,368. The cost estimate is ISK3,950,000,000. The expected date for the contract award is 9th April, 2008. 13/08.

Negotiated invitation to tender, deadline 2nd April, 2008 for hydrogeological engineering for the 2 x 4 km Saverne tunnel on the Baudrecourt-Strasbourg section, the second stage of the Paris-Strasbourg high speed line. The contract is due to be awarded next summer. Read E-News Weekly 46/2007. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=72406-2008, OJ S 53, or contact RFF, Paris, fax +33 153943834. Visit florence.grosse@rff.fr 13/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 13th May, 2008 for construction of the southbound carriageway on the southern motorway A-4, section Venta de Cárdenas-Santa Elena. This 9 km section includes the 166 m La Cantera tunnel and the 1,823 m Despeñaperros tunnel, which is a three-lane tunnel. The tunnels will be constructed in slates, sandstone and quartzites.

Open call for tenders, deadline 6th May, 2008 for construction of the Valls-Montblanc bypass on the Tarragona-Montblanc motorway A-27. The 5.1 km section includes the Lilla tunnel, which consists of two bores of 1,565.50 m (left tube) and 1,567.41 m (right tube) whereof 1,476.80 and 1,477.47 m mined respectively. The two tunnels will be separated by 40.5 m and will have a gradient of 2.5%. Pedestrian cross-passages each 200 metres will connect the two tubes, the one in the middle being also for emergency vehicles

Negotiated invitation to tender, deadline 7th April, 2008 for detailed engineering design and development of construction plan for the 4.4 km Gevingåsen railway tunnel. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=66744-2008, OJ S 48, or contact Jernbaneverket, Trondheim, tel. +47 795989129. E-mail xbrne@jbv.no 11/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 23rd May, 2008 for construction of the 2,905 m-long 12.5 m-wide Løren tunnel on Oslo’s third ring road between Økern and Sinsen as well as the portal at Sinsen and parts of the portal at Økern. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=65460-2008, OJ S 47, or contact Statens vegvesen Region east, Lillehammer, tel. +47 22885959 or 90947695. E-mail nilsro@vegvesen.no 11/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 28th April, 2008 for safety and health coordination during construction of the Cilea interchange junction between the Circumflegrea line and Line 1 of the Naples metro. Click it/41. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=66698-2008, OJ S 48, or contact SEPSA, Naples, tel. +39 0817354291. 11/08.

International invitation to tender, deadline 13th May, 2008 for construction of the Durango-Mazatlán highway from Km 111+000 to Km 156+956. This section includes 28 tunnels and 14 bridges. It will take 1,292 days, which means the section must be completed in 2011. Work is programmed to commence on 26th June.

Invitation to tender, deadline 3rd April, 2008 for the geological and geotechnical study for the Los Hatillos tunnel, as part of the environmental upgrading project of metropolitan San José. Twenty-two core drillings, for a total of 765 metres, will be necessary. The geology is grey sound lava, with some interconnected, relatively dense small cavities.

Tender notice, deadline 31st March, 2008 for the purchase of tunnelling machinery for implementation of the 1,095 MW Punatsangchhu I hydropower project, which includes a 137 m-high concrete gravity dam, a 10.3 m-diameter 7.5 km-long headrace tunnel and an underground power house. The construction equipment required involves:

Open call for tenders, deadline 7th April, 2008 for construction of the 3.5 km Aspe-El Carrús section in Alicante province on the high speed line to the east coast. The section includes the 1,730 m-long 86 sq m El Murón tunnel, which will be built using conventional methods. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=56803-2008, OJ S 41, or contact ADIF, Madrid, fax +34 917005751. 10/08

Open invitation to tender, deadline 14th April, 2008 for project management and construction supervision for the 1,138 m single-tube two-lane bidirectional Galgenbuck tunnel. The contract covers the detailed design, tendering phase, bid evaluation, contract award proposal, execution documents, construction phase, commissioning and final as-built phase. Read E-News Weekly 49/2002. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=58768-2008, OJ S 42, or contact Federal roads office, Winterthur, fax +41 522344790. E-mail winterthur@astra.admin.ch 10/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 7th April, 2008 for construction supervision for the 4.9 km Arroyo de la Viñuela-Quejigares section, which includes the 3,343 m Quejigares tunnel. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=58711-2008, OJ S 42, or contact ADIF, Madrid, fax +34 917005751. 10/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 23rd April, 2008 for construction of the Laives tunnel on the SS 12 road bypass between Bronzolo and Bolzano. This is a 2,882 m single-tube two-lane bidirectional tunnel, with escape exits every 500 metres, semi-transverse ventilation, to be built using the drill-and-blast method.