A qualitatively high-grade tunnel lining requires the tunnel segment annular gaps to be properly grouted. At the same time, this provides a decisive contribution to a high rate of advance during mechanised excavation. The STUVA in Cologne has devised a complex and intricate unit for testing annular gap mortars in order to ensure that annular gap grouting is further optimised.
Dipl.-Ing. Edgar Schömig celebrated his 60th birthday at the beginning of October 2016. Schömig is member of the Ed Züblin AG board and the STRABAG Österreich board. In addition he heads the...
In February 2016 construction company Bessac completed work on the Norris Cut protection tunnel in extremely difficult geology in South Florida. Norris Cut is a shallow inlet between Fisher Island and...
Having already won the contract for the “Lot GC01” section of the Grand Paris Express project at the end of June 2016 (for which construction was scheduled to begin in October), Implenia secured a...
In early September 2016, one of the longest-running Robbins TBMs embarked on its most extensive project yet. The Main Beam machine with a diameter of 6.2 m, owned by the Shea-Kiewit (S-K) JV, is boring the 8.5 km long White River Tunnel as the first in the next phase of the DigIndy wastewater tunnels below Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. In addition to that work, the machine will bore the Lower Pogues Run, Fall Creek, and Pleasant Run Tunnels – a scope of work totaling about 28 km through limestone and dolomite rock.
The DB Projekt Stuttgart–Ulm GmbH began building the S-21 Tunnel “Untertürkheimer Kurve” at Untertürkheim in mid-October 2016. The first construction phase entails producing the trough for the...
The 11th InnoTrans wound up after four action-crammed days on September 23 with its best ever result. New records were recorded for exhibitor and trade visitor participation. Some 145 000 trade visitors from more than 140 countries attended this year’s leading fair for transport technology in Berlin; 2955 exhibitors from 60 countries displayed their products on the fairgrounds. The “International Tunnel Forum” of the STUVA (Research Association for Tunnels and Transportation Facilities Inc.) was again a feature over two days at this year’s fair.
The capability to vary the density of the support medium between bentonite suspension and remoulded earth depending on the currently excavated ground is the essential feature of the Variable Density TBM (VD-TBM) from Herrenknecht. Especially for this type of machine, a support medium with an increased density has been developed, which reliably covers the transition from fluid to pasty – the High Density Support Medium (HDSM). On their first application for the Klang Valley MRT-Project in Kuala Lumpur, the VD-TBMs bored through karstic limestone in mixed face conditions with hard rock and soft ground. With the aid of the HDSM, the face support can be reliably maintained in otherwise problematic geology.
The pumped storage hydropower plant Obervermuntwerk II should be completed in 2018 to become one of the most ambitious power stations in Europe. The construction project in the Austrian state of...
The 34th Geotechnics Conference “Baugrundtagung” of the German society for geotechnics DGGT with accompanying specialist exhibition took place in September 2016 in Bielefeld. About 1200...
