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.

NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has awarded a 5-year, $6.8 million (NZD) professional services contract to Transdyn, Inc. to design, build, and support a new advanced Traffic Management Software System to manage the New Zealand state highway network.

On Saturday, 15th November, a wide section of road over the alignment of the 48 km-long No. 1 line of Hangzhou metro construction on Fengqing Avenue in Xiaoshan district collapsed, creating a 75 m-long, 15 m-deep crater into which 11 vehicles fell. Five people are now confirmed dead, 19 were taken to hospital, and 16 are currently listed missing.

After five months of tunnelling, a 6.52 m-diameter Robbins EPBM working for Continental Engineering Corporation (CEC) and Soma JV has completed the first 1 km of the 5.3 km Udyog Bhawan-Green Park section of Delhi metro on September 29, 2008, holing through into the Race Course station box. Availability of over 90% contributed to advance rates of up to 19 rings/day. Electric drive motors allow the cutterhead to maintain rotation in the sticky, soft clays. A second Robbins EPBM is already underway boring the parallel tunnel. The tunnels are part of more than 120 km of new rail being built for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Click here and in/11. Visit www.delhimetrorail.com and www.robbinstbm.com 46/08

L-surF Services, a grouping of Ineris, SP, STUVA and VSH is running a workshop “New energy carriers in tunnels and underground installations” in Frankfurt, Germany on 20th November, 2008 for 40 participants. Visit www.lsurf-services.com 44/08.

“Those companies that invest in their brands during a recession do better than those who don’t.” “Parts of the western world will show flat or declining GNP growth in 2009, but this will be balanced by continued growth in cash-rich economies that now have to satisfy higher expectations of their populations, such as China and India.” “Digital media will grow faster than traditional media.” Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP, 30.10 2008 44/08

Norwegian Roads Administration Statens Vegvesen has awarded two-year contracts to four companies to conduct risk analyses to evaluate traffic safety for new road projects and new and existing tunnels across the whole of Norway. Successful bidders were Proactima of Stavanger, Ramboll of Drammen, Safetec Nordic of Trondheim, and Matrisk/HOJ Consultin of Brunnen. An option for up to two years extension is built into the agreements. Contact SV gry.rogstad@vegvesen.no tel +47 2207 3681. 44/08.

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.