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.

With the increasing amount of traffic in towns and cities, more new roads are being built underground. The Madrid M-30 orbital motorway upgrading include an expanded distance of 99 km - of which 56 km is tunnels - interchanges, underground water pipes, and green belt construction, with a total cost of EUR3.7 billion. This major urban renewal project aims to reduce the volume of traffic within Madrid city centre, and to improve the urban infrastructure and the environment for the city's inhabitants, and it is expected to greatly invigorate the local economy. The works have been divided into north, south, east, and west sections.

In order to reduce the effect on the environment, the tunnels are equipped with electrostatic precipitator (air cleaning) systems to purify emission gases. Panasonic, the leading brand for which Matsushita Electric Industrial is known, received last year orders for half of the west section (28 km) to supply electrostatic precipitator (air cleaning) systems to Dragados and Ferrovial. The systems include electrostatic precipitators, high voltage generators, washing systems, water treatment systems, and control panels. Matsushita Ecology Systems, a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial, is responsible for the design and production of these systems. Processing capacity of the air is 1,670 cubic metres per second, evacuated from nine stations. Click es/104.

Panasonic has supplied electrostatic precipitators, the major component of these systems, to 52 sites in 27 tunnels within Japan since 1979, and currently boasts the top share in the field in the country. Panasonic is expanding this proven technology to the global market, and in 2005 completed the installation of a similar system in the Hai Van tunnel in Vietnam. Click vn/11. The M-30 order in Madrid is the first Panasonic air cleaning system to be installed in Europe and the company expects to further expand such installations in other European and Asia Pacific countries.

Electrostatic precipitators are particulate collection devices that remove particles from the air by ionising the particles when air is passed through polar plated with high voltage. Using this highly efficient system, over 90% of the particles can be eliminated, making it ideal for improving internal and external environment of underground tunnels. Visit http://panasonic.net.