Prior information notice of start of award procedures on 27.05.2010 for general safety upgrade and restoration of six road tunnels to RABT 2006 standard, value EUR26.5 million, commencing winter 2010 with Herkulestrasse, value EUR7.54 million. For further information contact Stadt Koeln, tel +49 221221-23647, fax –28715, e-mail zentrales-vergabeamt@stadt-koeln.de. For details of all tunnels involved in this project visit tunnelbuilder archive de/106. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=062973-2010. 10/10...

Vicenzetto Srl of Villa Estense have secured the EUR587,987 contract for test drilling and boring work in Brenner Base tunnel. Contact Johann Hager at BBT SE in Innsbruck, tel +43 5124030, fax +43 5124030-110, e-mail ava@bbt-se.com. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=062301-2010 and www.vicenzetto.it. ..

The CPV consortium, formed by CSC SA (Lugano) and Pizzarotti SA (Bellinzona), signed the EUR43 million contract for the construction of Lot 854 at Vezia, the main lot of Ceneri Base Tunnel, including the south portal, 200 m of cut-and-cover tunnel, as well as drilling, blasting and lining both tunnels along a length of 300 m. Works at Vezia will continue until 2016. Commercial operation of the Ceneri Base Tunnel with scheduled train services is planned to start at the end of 2019. Of the total of 40.19 km of the Ceneri Base Tunnel, at the end of February 2010, 7,673 m, or 19.1%, had been ..

Imtech Austria Anlagentechnik GmbH of Linz have secured the contract for supply, installation and commissioning of ventilation equipment for the tunnel section of the Harter Plateau tramway line. For more, contact Ing. Harald Grogger at Managementservice Linz GmbH in Linz, tel +43 7323400-7982, fax -157982, e-mail h.grogger @ linzag.at. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=059736-2010. 10/10...

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.

The European Tunnel Assessment Programme or EuroTAP project has produced a video to highlight the lack of safety in tunnels throughout Europe. For many years safety in European road tunnels has been overlooked. Since 2005 EuroTAP have gone some way to change this by excamining 150 road tunnels throughout Europe and publishing their findings each year to show which tunnels are classed as 'very good' through to those considered 'bad' please read article "European tunnel condition report for 2008". In conjunction with this release they have released a small video to learn more about EuroTAP and their Safe Tunnels campaign please view their latest video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67WBUKZNJv8 .

Earlier this year the European Tunnel Assessment Program EuroTAP reported the worst results for five years. After testing 31 tunnels in 11 countries it was found that every third tunnel failed to make the grade. Results from Norway and Italy were the worst, while those from Austria and Switzerland were positive. Click http://www.tunnelintelligence.com/casestudies-in-detail-18.html for the full text of the press release.

The family of Milena Del Valle, killed when a Big Dig tunnel ceiling panel collapsed on her car, has reached a USD28.09 million settlement with 15 parties named in their wrongful death lawsuit. Improperly epoxied bolts gave way, dropping a section of concrete-and-steel tunnel ceiling on her car as she and her husband drove to Logan international airport. 41/08.

Drive safely on the expressway, that is the message the Land Transport Authority (LTA) sent to motorists in the run up to the official opening of the 12 km-long Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) in Singapore. To help motorists, many activities and signs are set up to ensure motorists have detailed knowledge of the rules for driving within and around the KPE. 40/08

Investigations at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which operates and built the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland, have indicated that the most likely cause of a large helium leak was a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator’s magnets.

Passengers have started taking their first rides on board of trains of the new Line 2 of the Lausanne metro, Switzerland’s only subway line. Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva. 39/08.

Serious damage to the Channel tunnel could have been avoided if Eurotunnel had acted on lessons from previous blazes, fire fighters and tunnel experts have claimed. The fire broke out on 11th September on a shuttle train in the twin bore crossing's north tunnel, 11 km from the French entrance. The source of the blaze, which burned for 16 hours, was a lorry reportedly carrying chemicals. The fire spread to other trucks destroying six carriages and one locomotive. No one was killed but 700 metres of the tunnel was damaged. 39/08.

Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel tunnel between Britain and France, reopened the tunnel on Saturday 13th September 2008 and traffic was resuming progressively after firefighters extinguished a blaze on a cargo train that closed it on Thursday 11th September. Traffic will operate this week at about a third of usual volume. 38/08.

The actual breakthrough in Germany for ballastless track technology on high speed lines took place on the new route between Cologne and the Frankfurt. For the first time, Deutsche Bahn applied this new technology on a full section of track, with extremely high levels of technical quality and perfect safety. 36/08.

In the heart of the Swiss Alps, Cleuson-Dixence Construction is rehabilitating the Cleuson-Dixence pressure shaft, in particular in an area where the penstock burst in December 2000. The actual area where the accident occurred has been bypassed by taking the penstock further underground into the mountain. The last tests are scheduled for the last quarter of 2009 prior to putting the hydroelectric scheme back to service on 1st January 2010. 34-35/08.

Air chain hoists, air hoists, hoists, chain hoists, pneumatic hoists, cranes, trolleys, lifting equipment and winches are used in the automotive, chemical industry, on and offshore industry, in shipyards and in tunnel construction. By the use of compressed air, applications know no bounds and explosion protection is guaranteed in every lifting device. 34-35/08.

Over the past year, tunnelintelligence has made great strides in identifying, collating and reporting safety and health issues in tunnelling, resulting in recognition by illustrious companies such as Sick Maihak, our newest sponsor. In the field of analyzers and process instrumentation, Sick Maihak provides global support for its products, offering complete solutions suited to specific applications, together with comprehensive service packages. Whether measuring gas, water, dust, liquids or levels, Sick Maihak provides innovative technology and expertise from planning, engineering and production, right through to quality assurance. For more about this dynamic company, click on www.sick-maihak.com or on their logolink at the top of our front page.

The 1,710 m-long 7 m-wide 4.3 m-high Grands Goulets tunnel, located in the Vercors gorges in southeast France, opened on 28th June, 2008. The tunnel is opened to light vehicles, HGVs, cyclists and pedestrians. 32-33/08.

Stockholm, Sweden, 19th August, 2008: Atlas Copco today announced that it has signed a global cooperation agreement in the field of ground control and geotechnics for the mining, tunnelling and civil engineering markets with Minova International, the ground control division of the Orica Group.

A European consortium for the management, maintenance and operation of Aragnouet-Bielsa cross-border tunnel between France and Spain has been set up on 2nd June, 2008 by France’s Upper Pyrenees county council and the government of Aragon. 31/08.