At the end of October 2014 the final sections of track were laid in the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT). This means that the world’s longest rail tunnel can now be negotiated over its entire 57 km length...
Tucked away on a small jobsite in a quiet neighbourhood bordering a busy interstate highway, a Robbins Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine underwent Onsite First Time Assembly (OFTA). On November 17, 2014 the 6.65 m (21.8 ft) TBM rumbled to life and began its journey south into the city of Seattle, Washington, USA. The machine, for contractor JCM North Link LLC (a joint venture of Jay Dee, Coluccio, and Michels) is excavating for the North Link Project, which is an extension of Seattle’s light rail system. The project requires twin 5.8 km (3.6 mi) tunnels through glacial till and sand.
The Swedish construction company NCC has been commissioned by the Norwegian Road Administration to construct the Bjørnegård Tunnel on the E16 expressway between Sandvika and Wøyen in Norway. The...
In November 2014 the Deutsche Bahn launched measures for building a new rail tunnel between Ispringen and Pforzheim on the route between Karlsruhe and Mühlacker. The existing 903 m long tunnel was...
The 4847 m long Steinbühl Tunnel and the 8806 m long Boßler Tunnel, both with single-track bores, are part of the 14.5 km long Albaufstieg 2.2 planning approval section, which is an element of the...
The part-section with the 3.1 km long, two-bore Jagdberg Tunnel between the Magdala and Jena/Göschwitz hubs has a key role to play in the upgrading and new development of the federal motorway A4 in...
The SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) awarded the main contract section for the four-track upgrading of the Olten–Aarau route in November 2014. The contract worth some 274 million Swiss francs was awarded to the Marti Eppenberg JV. It involves the roughwork for the Eppenberg Tunnel as well as its accesses in the Wöschnau and in Gretzenbach. The SBB embarked on the preliminary work for the tunnel and its access sections in early September 2014. The main operations are scheduled to start in spring 2015 and will last until late 2020. The upgrade to create a four-track route is being accomplished within the scope of the ZEB major rail infrastructure project.
In November 2014 the Deutsche Bahn commenced work on the Imberg Tunnel on the 60 km long new Wendlingen–Ulm rail route on the Alb Plateau. First of all construction pits were produced at both ends for the subsequent production of tunnel sections created by cut-and-cover. The tunnel will then be built by using the shotcrete method as from April 2015 onwards between the two cuttings produced by cut-and-cover.
The 27.3 km long New Semmering Base Tunnel (SBTn) is a major element of the new Austrian southern rail route. In spite of a four month long hold-up in construction lasting until June 2014 on account of objections by local residents and environmental organizations, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) still intend completing the project as scheduled in 2025. The “Gloggnitz Tunnel” section is being produced from the portal construction site at Gloggnitz and an intermediate point of attack in Göstritz (municipality of Schottwien) by mining means using shotcrete. As the ongoing preliminary operations were concluded on October 10, 2014, the tunnel drive will probably start from Gloggnitz in spring 2015 providing that all required permits are available.
After five years of construction and a considerable longer period of planning, the Gmünder Einhorn Tunnel was opened on 25th November 2013 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. With the completion of the...
