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 invitation to tender, deadline 30th June, 2008 on the technical and financial aspects related to the long horizontal (approx. 5,000 m) and/or vertical geological and geotechnical exploratory boreholes of the deep zone (300 m of water, maximum penetration of 250 m and extraction of samples of about 100 mm in diameter) along the path of the planned tunnel under Gibraltar Strait. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=144954-2008, OJ S 108, or contact SECEG, Madrid, tel. +34 915720088. E-mail rdzoido@secegsa.com 24/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 21st July, 2008 for engineering design services for the 24,360 m stretch Holand-Sommarset, of which 11,680 m in tunnel, on national road Rv 78 Holand-Leirosen, also called Toven tunnel with adjoining roads. A total of approx. 35 km of roads shall be constructed. The project includes three tunnels of 230 m, 750 m and 10,700 m respectively. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=145214-2008, OJ S 108, or contact Statens vegvesen Region north, Mosjøen, fax +47 75171322. E-mail anne-lise.sather@vegvesen.no 24/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 5th August, 2008 for construction of the 1.7 km Lian tunnel on county road Fv 15 between Dale and Alvestad on Grytøya, just outside Harstad. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=143747-2008, OJ S 107, or contact Statens vegvesen Region north, Harstad, tel. +47 95079205 or 77617093. E-mail paal-eirik.pedersen@vegvesen.no 24/08.

Mexican engineering and construction company ICA is teaming up with Mexico's Carso Infraestructura y Construcción (Cicsa) and France's Alstom to bid on Line 12. ICA leads the consortium, in which Alstom will be responsible for electrical and mechanical aspects and ICA and Cicsa for construction. Their bid is worth MXP19 billion, of which MXP10 to MXP12 billion for civil engineering.

Five engineering joint ventures, with Colombian partners, and one fully Spanish candidate have been shortlisted among the 56 candidates who participated in the bidding process for the conceptual design of the first metro line of Bogota. The successful joint venture will have to determine the alignment of the first line and its costs along with the technical, legal and financial scope of the system. The

In April, the board of Endesa Chile approved a USD273 million investment for the construction of the Los Cóndores hydroelectric plant in the Andes foothills in the Maule region VII, which will have nominal capacity of 150 MW and an estimated average annual generation of 529 GWh. The plant will use waters stored in Lake Maule which will be channelled through mixed adduction (pipes and tunnels) over some 16 kilometres. Corema, the Maule region environment commission, unanimously approved in mid April the environmental impact assessment (EIA). Endesa Chile, meanwhile, will launch tenders for the plant's works as soon as formal environmental permits are issued.

The government of New South Wales has invited expressions of interest to find a shadow operator for Australasia’s first metro line in Sydney. The primary purpose of the shadow operator is to ensure that a central focus on delivering a safe, attractive and efficient end-product for passengers is maintained, particularly prior to the appointment of the actual operator. The shadow operator will have the capability and expertise to assist throughout the project in providing executive advice up to the commencement of construction in 2010 and providing technical support required by management and other working groups.

There are SIX tenders included in this update - Tender notice, deadline 14th July, 2008 for design, construction and completion of the Marina Coastal Expressway (Marina Wharf), contract 481. Contact Land Transport Authority (LTA), Tender Division, 1 Hampshire Road, Block 2, Level 1, Singapore 219428 or Ms Chan Mei Yin and Ms Low Bee Eng, tel. +65 63961190 / 1202, fax +65 63961124, e-mail lta_contracts@lta.gov.sg 22/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 4th December, 2007 for construction of a 4.8 km section in Bavaria of the Ebensfeld-Erfurt high speed link, including the 2,975 m Reitersberg dual-track tunnel. The NATM will be used. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=132448-2008, OJ S 98, or contact DB Netz, Erfurt, fax +49 3614300189 or 3412342399. E-mail gabriele.georgi@bahn.de or jochen.ehrhardt@bahn.de 22/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 10th July, 2008 delivery and assembly of the medium voltage supply for the Kaltenbach and Kirchdorf tunnels, respectively 2 x 1,150 m long and 2 x 2,800 m long, on the Stausee Zkatten-Maustatt section of expressway S 35. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=131722-2008, OJ S 98, or contact Asfinag, Vienna, fax +43 5010814420. E-mail baumanagement@asfinag.at 22/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 19th June, 2008 for construction of a 2.7 km double tracking between Loiola and Herrera stations, including a 1,628 m tunnel, a 141 m in situ concrete box, the Herrera partially underground station and the Intxaurrondo underground station. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=127126-2008, OJ S 93, or contact ETS-RFV, Bilbao, fax +34 946572601. E-mail ets@ets-rfv.es 21/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 26th June, 2008 for construction of a 1,920 m rockfall protection tunnel, Norwegian profile T5.5, and connecting roads of approx. 450 metres between Bjørke and Leira on county road Rv 41 in Ørsta municipality. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=126091-2008, OJ S 92, or contact Statens vegvesen Region central, Molde, fax +47 71274101 or 70175044. E-mail firmapost-midt@vegvesen.no or lars.brautehaug@vegvesen.no 21/08.

Invitation to participate, deadline 15th August, 2008 in the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the USD1.2 billion Reforma motorway tunnel project in Mexico City. This is a toll tunnel to connect Santa Fe with the National Auditorium, with estimated length ranging from 8 to 16 km. The contract is scheduled to be signed on 30th September, 2008.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 26th June, 2008 for construction of lot KAT 1 of the Koralm tunnel on the Graz-Klagenfurt high speed line. This is the first lot for the Koralm tunnel, including 2 x approx. 2 km of mined tunnels to be built in NATM in mixed face conditions using explosives and excavator or roadheader, 2 x approx. 300 m of cut-and-cover tunnels and sections at grade. The diameter of the tunnels is approx. 10 m. The geology is Tertiary sediments (silty sands, clay, silt, sandstones). Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=115834-2008, OJ S 85, or contact ÖBB Infrastruktur Bau, Vienna. E-mail markus.reiterer@bau.oebb.at 21/08.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 16th June, 2008 for detailed design, preparation of tenders, bid evaluation, contract award proposal, execution documents, construction phase, commissioning and final as-built phase of the safety and operation equipment for the 1,138 m single-tube two-lane bidirectional Galgenbuck tunnel. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=119133-2008, OJ S 87, or contact Federal roads office, Winterthur, fax +41 522344790. E-mail winterthur@astra.admin.ch 20/08.