On May 7, the Münster Tunnelling Colloquium took place at the Münster University of Applied Sciences, chaired by Prof. Dietmar Mähner from the Institute for Underground Construction (IuB). Around...
From June 10 to 12, 2015 the Swiss Tunnelling Society, a specialist association of the Swiss Engineers and Architects Association (SIA), staged the 14th Swiss Tunnel Congress at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL). Around 800 visitors participated in the high-grade lecture programme. It was accompanied by the Swiss Tunnel Colloquium, a parallel exhibition and excursions to topical Swiss tunnelling projects on the final day.
CIMIC Group’s company, Leighton Contractors, has been selected by WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) to design and construct Sydney’s M4 East Motorway, in a joint venture with John Holland and Samsung C&T. 7 km in total length, the M4 East will join the M4 Widening at Homebush Bay Drive and provide a 5.5 km tunnel with three lanes in each direction.
In April 2015 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai) approved a 15 km extension of Dubai metro’s Red Line. The so-called “Route 2020” project is planned to branch off at Nakheel Harbour & Tower Station, leading to the Expo 2020 site near Al Maktoum International Airport. The future Red Line branch includes an 11 km elevated section with five stations and a 4 km underground route with two stations.
Dr.-Ing. Karl Morgen, 1st deputy chairman on the board of STUVA, the Research Association for Underground Transportation Facilities Inc., was delighted to accept the Emil Mörsch Commemorative Medal presented by the German Society for Concrete and Construction Technology (DBV). The DBV presented its highest award to mark Dr. Morgen’s achievements in a wide range of disciplines.
With the breakthrough of Crossrail’s tunnel boring machine Victoria at Farringdon Station on May 23 at 5.30 am, London has made tunnelling history: Victoria is the last of eight Herrenknecht TBMs which together have dug 42 km of tunnels right through the heart of the English capital within three years, from May 2012 to May 2015. With the end of the mechanized tunneling operations, the Crossrail programme is 65 % complete.
One of the highlights of the workshop “Aging Tunnels – Safety in Operation and during Refurbishment” and the annual ITA COSUF meeting in Dubrovnik (Croatia) has been the presentation of the winner of the ITA COSUF Award 2015, Karl Fridolf (Sweden). The young engineer and research scientist at SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden has been honoured for his thesis on evacuation in rail runnels.
As part of its strategy to further enhance tunnelling and underground space awareness on an international level, the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA) launched its own Tunnelling Awards program in March 2015. Since the registration opening on 10 April, more than thirty candidates have applied.
A short-list of pre-selected projects will be officially presented in September 2015. The preselected candidates will ensure a presentation of their projects on 19 November 2015, date of the Prize Awards Ceremony, during a one-day conference at the Hagerbach Test Gallery in Flums Hochwiese, Switzerland. The winners will be announced during a banquet the same evening.
The DB Projekt Stuttgart-Ulm GmbH broke through the almost 220 m long mined section of the Imberg Tunnel on the new Wendlingen–Ulm rail route on June 30, 2015 following a three-month construction period. In spite of tricky conditions – the Imberg partially consists of karstified limestone – according to the DB work is forging ahead as scheduled.
At the Semmering Base Tunnel (SBT) ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG has awarded a joint venture of Implenia, Hochtief Infrastructure Austria and Thyssen Schachtbau the contract for section SBT1.1 „Tunnel Gloggnitz”, worth 457 million euros.
