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.

Open call for tenders, deadline 23rd January, 2008 for construction and 25-year operation of the 2 x 1.1 km Serra da Grota Funda tunnel, which will link Baixadas de Jacarepaguá and Guaratiba, in the west area of Rio de Janeiro. The project is budgeted at BRL900 million. Contact Secretaria Municipal de Obras e Serviços Públicos, Rua Afonso Cavalcanti nº 455 - 9º andar, sede da Gerência de Licitações, Cidade Nova, Rio de Janeiro. Tel. +55 25032633 or 25032567 and e-mail odli@pcrj.rj.gov.br or visit www.rio.rj.gov.br/smo 52/07-01/08.

Open call for tenders, deadline 10th January, 2008 for delivery of 53 booster fans for the Nøstvet tunnel on highway E6 between Vinterbro and Assurdalen. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=280700-2007, OJ S 230, or contact Statens vegvesen Region east, Lillehammer, tel. +47 81522000. E-mail olegri@vegvesen.no 50-51/07.

Restricted call for tenders, deadline 28th January, 2008 for design and construction contract for the heavy refurbishment of the 1,750 m Croix-Rousse tunnel in Lyon. This includes also boring a safety tunnel parallel to the existing road tunnel. Read E-News Weekly 43/2007. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=286140-2007, OJ S 235, or contact Communauté urbaine de Lyon, Lyon, fax +33 478957097. 50-51/07.

Section B of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high speed line includes tunnel #1 (3.5 km) named Akad, north of Latroun. Six candidates are competing for the final contract. The bidders are Shapir Civil & Marine Engineering and Alpine Mayreder; Solel Boneh Building & Infrastructure and Zueblin; Minrav and China Railway Third Group Corporation; Danya Cebus and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC); A. Arenson and Zschokke (Implenia); and Ashtrom and Bamtonnelstroy of Russia.

Open call for tenders, deadline 31st January, 2008 for construction of 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 http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=214124-2007, OJ S 174, or contact EDP, Lisbon, fax +351 210012320 or 220013509. E-mail antonioferreira.costa@edp.pt or antonioabreu.aguiar@edp.pt 49/07.

Open call for tenders, deadline 22nd May, 2008 for fire protection of the Bjørvika tunnel in Oslo. The contract includes delivery and installation of fire protection on the roof and walls (approx. 39,400 sq m and approx. 10,850 sq m, respectively), delivery and installation of fireproof seals in structure joints (approx. 350 m of element joints in the immersed tunnel section, approx. 1,300 m of segment joints in the immersed tunnel section and approx. 3,300 m, of section joints in the cast-on-site section of the tunnel), engineering design/detailed planning of fire protection/fireproof seals as described above. Read E-News Weekly 39/2007, 40/2005, 28/2005, 26/2005, 23/2005, 4/2005, 18/2002 & 10/2002. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=279483-2007, OJ S 229, or contact Statens vegvesen region east, Lillehammer, tel. +47 81 522000 or fax +47 24058774. E-mail kjell.furre@vegvesen.no 49/07.

Restricted call for tenders, deadline 8th January, 2008 for construction of the first section of the Valtrompia highway, which will connect highway A4 with the Trompia valley in Brescia province, segment Ospitaletto-Sarezzo, section Concesio-Sarezzo. Click it/117 for details. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=271878-2007, OJ S 223, or contact ANAS, Rome, fax +39 064456224 or 0644462009. E-mail s.pisani@stradeanas.it 49/07.

Open call for tenders, deadline 15th January, 2008 for construction supervision and quality control of the 2-lane, 8 m-wide, 5.1 km Oshlidargong tunnel in northwest Iceland between Isafjordur and Bolungarvík. Included in the project are also two concrete bridges and 3.7 km-long access roads. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=279490-2007, OJ S 229, or contact Vegagerdin, Reykjavik, fax +354 5221079 or 5221609. E-mail rg@vegagerdin.is or ge@vegagerdin.is 49/07.

Open call for tenders, deadline 16th January, 2008 for approx. 560 loudspeakers, approx. 155 cameras, video detection, video management system, fire alarm systems, etc. in four tunnels (Effner, Richard-Strauss-Strasse, Leuchtenberg, Innsbrucker Ring) on Munich’s middle ring road. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=282683-2007, OJ S 232, or contact Landeshauptstadt München, Munich, fax +49 8923360215. E-mail submissionsbuero.bau@muenchen.de 49/07.

Invitation for bids, deadline 14th March, 2008 for civil works (contract MR 77/2007) for the Nadarivatu hydropower project, which includes several structures. Among these, a water conveyance system consists of two options, either a 1,936 m low pressure tunnel, surge/drop shaft, 1,349 m high pressure tunnel and tunnel discharge isolating valve, or a 1,936 m low pressure tunnel, surge chamber, tunnel discharge isolating valve and 1,448 m high pressure penstock. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=279507-2007, OJ S 230, or contact Fiji Electricity Authority, Suva, fax +679 3311882. E-mail tdelairewa@fea.com.fj 49/07.

International competitive bidding (tender notice No. 10/WSD/07), deadline 30th November, 2007 for the ground investigation works for Inter-reservoirs Transfer Scheme (IRTS), water tunnel between Kowloon Byewash Reservoir and Lower Shing Mun Reservoir.

Negotiated call for tenders, deadline 14th December, 2007 for supply, installation and commissioning of radio systems in the 10,651 m-long Arlberg tunnel. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=271027-2007, OJ S 222, or contact OEBB, Innsbruck, fax +43 51293000 83864841. E-mail werner.winkler@oebb.at 48/07.

Open call for tenders, deadline 20th December, 2007 for detailed design of Valencia’s cross city high speed rail tunnel. The new cross city railway project in Valencia consists in connecting the central railway station with the Valencia-Barcelona line to the north to convert the station into a through station and eliminate the cul de sac, thus avoiding train movements forth and back in and around the station. 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. More in E-News Weekly 47/2007. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=264377-2007, OJ S 217, or contact Ministry of development, Madrid, tel. +34 915979342 or 915978470. E-mail vrpascual@fomento.es or cpublic@fomento.es 47/07.

Negotiated procedure, deadline 4th December, 2007 for planning and follow-up of the 4.5 km Gevingåsen rail tunnel between Hommelvik and Hell (detailed design, quality assurance, construction management, land acquisition, information strategy, environmental study and follow-up, and safety). Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=258180-2007, OJ S 212, or contact Jernbaneverket, Oslo, tel. +47 22455041. E-mail lis@jbv.no 47/07.

Open call for tenders, deadline 15th January, 2008 for impulse ventilators with a combined driving power of 72-80 kN for fire ventilation in a new 2.6 km-long tunnel on Bergen’s west ring road, section Dolvik-Sandeide. The maximum impeller diameter of the ventilator is 1.6 m. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=269769-2007, OJ S 221, or contact Stateng vegvesen Region west, Leikanger, tel. +47 281544010. E-mail gunnlo@vegvesen.no 47/07.