The consortium Spie Sud Est/Yvroud Europeenne des Fluides, Feyzin secured the EUR7.6 million contract for equipment maintenance in the Grand Lyon tunnels, the most important of which are Fourviere (1,850 m), Croix-Rousse (1,750 m), Brotteaux-Servient and Vivier-Merle (336 m). For more, contact Communaute Urbaine de Lyon, fax +33 478 957097, or visit http://marches.grandlyon.com. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=058386-2010. 11/10...

Gähler und Partner AG of Ennetbaden have secured the EUR2.28 million contract for PM designer for safety refurbishment in 1.14 km-long Mosi tunnel on A4, near Brunnen. Contact OFROU, Zofingen, tel +41 6274575-11, fax -90, e-mail beschaffung.zofingen@astra.admin.ch. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=062920-2010. 11/10...

IG BP2, c/o Bänziger Partner AG of Zurich, secured the EUR2.63 million contract from BAMO for 5.7 km-long N3 Kerenzer tunnel. Contact OFROU, Winterthour, tel +41 522344-711, fax -790, e-mail winterthur@astra.admin.ch. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=062921-2010. 11/10..

Construction contract for Kuechelberg tunnel awarded to PAC SpA consortium, value EUR34,695,272 excluding VAT. More from PAC in Capo di Ponte, tel +39 0364331037, fax +39 036442303, e-mail info@pacspa.it and client APB in Bozen, tel +39 04714125-14, fax –39, e-mail gare-11.5@provincia.bz.it Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=071475-2010. 11/10...

Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA is inviting companies to prequalify for civil engineering work on railway tunnels in Italy. Further information and documents from Iacomino Raffaele at Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato in Milan, tel +39 02637 148-19, fax –20, e-mail dns-qs@rfi.it to whom requests to participate should be sent. Visit

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.

Norfolk Southern (NS) has officially begun working on a three-year engineering project, which will increase intermodal freight capacity on an NS rail line known as the Heartland Corridor, which runs between the port of Hampton Roads, Virginia and Chicago. This project, which is expected to be completed in early 2010, will increase capacity by raising vertical clearances in 28 tunnels located along the Heartland Corridor.

The current route used to reach the Midwest from the Virginia ports ranges between 1,930 and 2,090 kilometres. And the Heartland Corridor would enable NS to serve that market with double-stacked trains that would cut that route down to just about 1,610 kilometres. This reduction in mileage will give NS more capacity on the line, because it is double-tracked, which will enable the carrier to utilize double-tracked trains. This will also enable NS to move higher volumes of traffic through the Heartland Corridor, which will also become shorter.

The benefits of a cleared corridor are huge, allowing for efficient double stacking from NS and other rail carriers. This effort will help take many trucks off the road with all sorts of public benefits such as congestion, road wear and taxes, safety, emissions, and lower consumer prices that were recognized by the states involved, especially Virginia, and other government agencies.
The way things are currently set up on the Heartland Corridor, which stretches across Virginia, through southern West Virginia and north through Columbus, Ohio, requires double-stacked trains to take longer routes via Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or Knoxville, Tennessee.

Stack trains require a minimum vertical clearance of ­6.33 metres. The methods of increasing clearances vary from lowering track to notching corners into an arched roof to digging out and installing a new roof. In one case, the top of the tunnel may be removed altogether, turning the tunnel into a “cut,” a process known as “daylighting”. Tunnel lengths range from 53 metres (the one to be daylighted at Big Four, West Virginia) to the 1,007 m Cowan tunnel. Read   ENewsWeekly  40/2007.

Early next year, NS will begin working in three tunnels in Virginia near Eggleston and Pembroke and eight tunnels along 17 kilometres of track in southern West Virginia between Antler and Gordon. The remaining tunnels, which are mainly on West Virginia and one in Kentucky, will be modified in two more phases. One phase will proceed east to Coopers, West Virginia and then west. Overhead clearances will be increased on seven railroad bridges, three overhead bridges, three railway signals, and three sets of overhead wires.

This effort is the result of a public-private partnership (PPP) among NS, the states of Virginia, Ohio, and West Virginia, and the federal government. Also included in this project are new intermodal terminals in Columbus, Ohio, Prichard, West Virginia, and the Roanoke, Virginia region. The federal government has authorized USD95 million toward the USD151 million cost (estimated in 2005 dollars) of the tunnel clearances, and Virginia has authorized USD22.35 million for terminal construction and clearances of the four tunnels within the state. Public funding was made available because of the project’s public benefits, adding that double-stack container service will spur economic development opportunities in those regions served by the Heartland Corridor. Visit www.nscorp.com 49/07.