Cavico Corp. announced that Cavico Transportation, its wholly owned subsidiary, has signed a contract, estimated to be approximately USD9.43 million, for tunnel construction at Huoi Quang hydropower plant. The total length of tunnel is 9,895.89 metres. Its external diameter is 9 m and the internal diameter equals 7.5 m. The geology is porphyric rock and rhyolite. The planned method of excavation is drill and blast and conventional excavator equipped with bucket. ..

The Coentunnel Company BV consortium, formed by VINCI Concessions and VINCI Construction’s subsidiaries CFE and Dredging International, together with Dura Vermeer, Arcadis, Besix and TBI, signed on 22nd April, 2008 the concession contract for the Coen tunnel in Amsterdam with the Dutch Minister for Water and Public Works. The project, worth over EUR500 million in total, calls for the financing, design and construction of an immersed, 8-lane road tunnel, refurbishment of the existing 600 m tunnel and maintenance of both tunnels for a period of 30 years. ..

A group of engineering firms led by Pro Iter, teaming with Eng Team & Partners, C&T Engineering, Geosyntech and Spain’s FHECOR, scooped a EUR764,600 contract to prepare the final design, safety coordination during final design and associated assignments (surveying, geotechnical and geological studies, etc.) as part of the upgrading of road SS13 "Pontebbana" from the south ring road in Udine to Pordenone province's road system, first lot on the section from Ronche di Fontanafredda interchange to Ponte della Delizia. The project includes a 1.4 km single-tube two-lane cut-and-cover tunnel. Visit ..

Bemel Norge, Witt & Sohn's partner in Norway, pocketed a NOK7.2 million contract to supply 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 of road Rv 557. Visit www.bemel.no and www.wittfan.de 17/08...

Invitation for prequalification, deadline 6th June, 2008 for the main civil works of the 309 MW Upper Tamakoshi hydroelectric project (contract No. UTKHEP/03-2064/65) which consist of a 22.5 m-high and 60 m-long diversion dam; the Bhaise Khola intake structure including an approx. 60 m-long connecting shaft to the headrace tunnel;

Sociedad Concesionaria Autopista Los Libertadores S.A. was awarded the concession for the construction and operation of the 117 km Santiago-Colina-Los Andes highway under a public tender in 1997, for a term of 28 years. The operator is owned by OHL of Spain. OHL will invest USD101 million in expanding and improving the highway. The Chacabuco tunnel will be doubled and the upgrading of a 19.5 km

Invitation to prequalify, deadline unspecified, for construction of 750 mm-diameter gas pipelines. Contractors are required to have experience in tunnelling and microtunnelling. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=67831-2008, OJ S 49, or contact Snam Rete Gas, San Donato Milanese, fax +39 0252038570. Visit mevem@snamretegas.it 13/08.

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates sees need for installing stainless steel strapping and adding 900 ceiling anchors to secure the ceilings at either end of the Ted Williams tunnel. The recommendation came as part of a safety review ordered in the wake of a July 2006 fatal ceiling collapse, and is designed to act as a backup to bolts already in place. 18-19/08.

The to-do list on the USD14.8 billion Big Dig grew again on 14th April, as Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates recommended installing stainless steel strapping and about 900 support anchors in the Ted Williams tunnel. The engineering firm was hired to inspect flaws following the July 2006 fatal ceiling collapse. Visit www.wje.com

While the tunnel uses the same epoxy bolt system blamed for the fatal collapse, not all the bolts used can be inspected. In the first 75 metres at both ends of the tunnel, the ceiling panels sit flush with the tunnel roof, making it impossible to inspect the bolts. The anchors would add support to these two sections of the tunnel's ceiling that are impossible to inspect because they were designed without a crawl space. The new supports would fortify epoxy bolts, similar to the type blamed for the fatal ceiling collapse in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel that killed 38-year-old Milena Del Valle. Click here and here.

The options, the firm said, were to either remove the panels altogether, or retrofit the area with the steel strapping and additional bolts. The system devised by engineers would install 13 rows of strapping and about 900 new bolts. Precise cost estimates for either solution were not provided but it is likely to cost millions. If the ceiling is removed and inspected, it would probably cost more than adding the 900 support anchors.

Installing the additional supports, however, likely won't happen anytime soon. The panels at the tunnel's entrances use the epoxy system, have redundant support built in, they show no signs of slippage and therefore do not pose an immediate safety threat. The firm recommended the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) install the strapping and bolts in the next five years.

To make the repairs, the MTA may be able to use money generated from January's USD458 million settlement with the project's contractors, led by Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates also recommended retrofitting an additional 180 anchors in the 2,575 m Ted Williams tunnel that are bolted into unsettled or cracked concrete or where the concrete may be showing signs of leaking or slipping.

The firm also recommended adding a fire suppression system that would flush the 1,723 m Sumner and 1,545 m Callahan tunnels with water in the event of a fire. Among the other recommendations made was an upgrade to the ventilation system in these two tunnels - opened in the 1930s and 1960s - which is weaker than others and that any failure could compromise safety in the event of a fire. Visit www.bostonroads.com/crossings/ted-williams and www.masspike.com/bigdig/background/twt.html 18-19/08.