The construction contract for the EUR133 million Lai Chi Kok Transfer Scheme, advertised at tunnelbuilder.com earlier this year, has been awarded to Leighton Asia. The project includes two 4.9 m-diameter storm water drainage tunnels with total length of 3.7 km between West Kowloon reclamation and Lai Chi Kok and Sham Shui Po districts, six intake shafts, a stilling basin, an outfall adit into Victoria Harbour, and 270 m of 3 m-diameter connection adits. Work starts immediately for completion in 2012. More from Quinnie Lee, tel +852 2823 1427, e-mail quinnie.lee@leightonasia.com 47/08..

Contract valued EUR414,000 awarded by Norwegian Railway Infrastructure Administration to Norconsult AS of Sandvika to provide technical and detailed plans of tunnels for the joint project E6 road and Dovrebanen, lot Minnesund-Kleverud, which includes one twin-tube 0.6 km-long road tunnel and 3.1 km of single railway tunnel over a 17 km-long alignment in Eidsvoll and Stange municipalities. ..

Contract for telecommunications installations for 6.5 km section of new double railway track in Baerum municipality for Lysaker-Sandvika, of which 5.5 km in tunnel, awarded by Jernbaneverket to T Connect AS of Manglerud, Oslo. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=292852-2008 More from Olaf Bjerknes, tel +47 9943 4144, e-mail olbj@jbv.no 46/08. ..

Bemel Norge AS of Majorstuen, Oslo has been awarded the contract to supply ventilation fans to the 5.37 km-long Atlantic Ocean tunnel between Kristiansund and Bremnes on National Road 64 in the value EUR555,000...

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.

Prior information notice for construction works, value EUR24.86 million, for a undergroung cut-and-cover tunnel from Pabellon Moises Ruiz to Plaza de Barcelona, 1,1 km, with 0.8 m-thick base, 1.0 m-thick walls and 1.0 m-thick roof, on Carretera de Ronda, in Almeria. The works will include intermodal station.

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.

Ascom Security Solutions has been awarded the contract to deliver the operational communication system for the Gotthard base tunnel. The contract volume amounts to CHF3.6 million. 31/08.

The Ministry of development opened to commercial service a tunnel for suburban trains in Madrid on 10th July, 2008. This is the second south-north tunnel between Atocha and Chamartin main railway stations, while tenders have been invited to build a third one, which will be used by high speed trains. 30/08.

The Swiss authorities are to test a new anti-fire system at the Gotthard tunnel, the scene of a horrific blaze in 2001 in which 11 people died. Designed by innovative Swiss software firm ECTN, the device detects heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) that are overheating. It is said to be the first of its kind in Europe. 30/08.

Bombela’s tunnel boring machine hit a “transition phase” of soft soil and “decomposed granite” that led to a subsidence that left an 84 sq m hole in Oxford road in northern Johannesburg. The immediate damage caused by the sinkhole has been repaired and the integrity of the Gautrain tunnels "has been maintained". 29/08.

Global concern for improving tunnel safety and security has lead to the 3rd International Symposium on Tunnel Safety and Security (ISTSS) held in Stockholm in March this year. The programme of ISTSS 2008 was divided into a number of sessions covering the following themes: case studies, design studies and criteria, active and passive fire protection, security in tunnels, incident management, threat and risk assessment, threat deterrence, and emerging research. The pdf versions of the presentations are available at: www.sp.se/en/units/fire/news/ISTSS2008/symposium_program/Sidor/default.aspx. The 4th ISTSS will be held 17th-19th March, 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany. Visit www.sp.se/en/units/fire/news/ISTSS2010/Sidor/default.aspx. More information, including call for papers, will be available after the summer. 28/08.

Keymile's multi-service access node UMUX is one of the key elements in the axle counter application in the new Gotthard base tunnel and makes a vital contribution to line and train safety. 28/08.

The newly-opened Sentvid tunnel that leads towards the Gorenjsko region was closed because of falling fire protection coating just six hours after being opened to traffic, as part of a key 5.5 km section of the A2 north-south motorway through Slovenia. 28/08.

Two years after the collapse of a Big Dig tunnel ceiling in Boston, some experts say there are still lessons to be learned from the failure. Engineers need to understand basic failure modes of polymers such as creep resistance and rely less on supplier data sheets, says Myer Ezrin, a failure analysis expert and fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers. 27/08.

The geotechnical Visualisation Tool (gVT) is being used to chart the route for the Devil’s Slide tunnel excavation. Engineers use the tool to watch rock layers as they separate and observe the orientation of the fractures. The new system is a precious tool to safely excavate the twin roadway tunnel beneath a landslide-prone stretch of California's Highway 1. 27/08.

VICATS (acronym for Video Content Analysis for Automated Traffic Surveillance) is a project which aims at developing novel real-time and robust video content analysis algorithms for video surveillance and traffic monitoring, with a special focus on tunnel surveillance. This EUR1.5 million R&D project is financially aided by the European Union. It will last 36 months from October 2007 to October 2010. 26/08.