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.

The elite of the world's tunnelling industry is meeting in Melbourne, Australia this week from 4th to 7th May to discuss engineering in a changing environment. With the current high level of tunnelling activity in the country, including the 4.7 km-long Brisbane North South Bypass with two large TBMs, and the Melbourne Water/Yarra Valley Water Northern Sewerage Project with three TBMs, the conference should prove interesting.

AN Abstract of a paper to be presented by P S SMith and C Macdonald from Connell and Wagner Pty Ltd at the 13th Australian Tunnel Conference in Melbourne Australia

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will invite applications on 2 May 2008 for prequalification of tenderers for two construction contracts, Contract no. DC/2007/23 and Contract no. DC/2007/24, which form part of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme Stage 2A Project. The closing date and time for submission of the application is 12:00 noon on Friday, 27 June 2008.

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 Turkish motorway management authority, KGM, is currently building a new 350 km-long four-lane road from Espiye to Sarp Batumi along the coast of the Black Sea. Over 20 tunnels with a total length of 28 kilometres will be equipped with Traficon’s video detection system. Six existing tunnels will also be integrated in the overall traffic management structure. 18-19/08.

Mott MacDonald has issued a prequalification notice for the refurbishment of Cuilfail tunnel in south-east England. Click here for details. 17/08.

The organizers of the recent ISTSS conference in Munich were very pleased by the higher than expected attendance of 263 delegates and the fact that over 30 countries were represented. The conference has certainly become an internationally recognized event. Furthermore, it was gratifying to see that so many of the attendees stayed for all presentations, and the auditorium was full for most of days 1 and 2, with good attendance on day 3.

Kapsch TrafficCom pocketed a contract from Australia. Through traffic under the North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT) in Brisbane will be tolled with Kapsch equipment. 17/08.

A protocol of intent was signed in December 2007 between Roma Metropolitane, Metro C - the contractor appointed to build Line C of the Rome metro -, consortium Fastigi, Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari, Ansaldobreda and consortium Train to organise a fire safety test in December 2008. 17/08.

Mobile phone user in London, Paris or New York may feel aggrieved when they get on the underground or the metro or the subway and their phone becomes useless, starved of vital radio communications. Similarly, tunnels often present a radio coverage problem. When drivers enter road tunnels, radio reception gradually vanishes and re-obtained as they exit the tunnels. Larger tunnels require a dedicated radio zone, which often requires construction of a full communication site to provide coverage. A good example of safety improvement thanks to radio coverage is the Grand Saint-Bernard cross-border tunnel between Italy and Switzerland. 17/08.

Two trains collided in a single-track tunnel in Algeria, killing the driver of one of the trains and injuring four railway workers, one of them severely. One of the trains was transporting fuel. A fire erupted and propagated gradually to the 15 carriages, triggering a chain of explosions, and to the seven carriages of the other train. Rescuers could not get into the tunnel for two days due to extremely high temperatures. 16/08.

The tunnel boring machine digging the tunnel for the North Shore Connector in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reached the banks of the Allegheny River on 3rd April, 2008 as it followed a sloping path beneath the river bed toward Downtown. 16/08

The Melbourne coroner has ordered that an expert tunnel emergency systems report on last year's fatal Burnley Tunnel crash not be released for publication and all details be suppressed. This is to protect the fairness of the trial for the driver of the truck accused of causing the crashes.

Anti-intrusion solution provides 4D-based incident detection that can be used with existing infrastructure to manage traffic, security and safety operations. Video-based detection systems enable rapid detection of incidents and can be tailored to instantly identify and alert management about various incidents. Managers of such resources can more effectively address security and operations efficiencies in today’s more safety and security conscience environments. 16/08.

Arup director Mike Glover became in 2007 the seventh winner of the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering’s Sir Frank Whittle Medal in recognition of his achievement in the planning, design and construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) now announces it will honour Mike Glover with the 2008 IStructE Gold Medal, for his outstanding contribution to the design and construction of major multi-disciplinary projects around the world. 15/08.