| NEWS


Final breakthrough for Semmering Base Tunnel AUSTRIA - The second and final breakthrough was made recently on the Semmering Base Tunnel’s Lot SBT 1.1. A consortium of Implenia, Hochtief and


Thyssen Schachtbau made the breakthrough on the Gloggnitz Track 1 / Göstritz Ost Track 1. The group is responsible for the construction of Lot 1.1 of the Gloggnitz Tunnel, the approximately 7.4km-long north-eastern section. The first bore for Lot 1.1 was completed a


few months earlier, in September 2024. The Semmering Base Tunnel is being


built from five locations, with 14 drives, for the Austrian Federal Railway. The twin- tube railway tunnel between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag will link the two federal states of Lower Austria and Styria. The Semmering Base Tunnel is due to come into service in 2030.


Tunnel start for Coffs Harbour Bypass AUSTRALIA - Excavation is starting on the Roberts Hill Tunnel on New South Wales’s Coffs Harbour Bypass. At 160m long, Roberts Hill is the shortest


of the three tunnels on the bypass. Transport for NSW said preparatory work


at the northern and southern portals would be completed before controlled blasting and 24-hour construction operations started. Work on the project includes installing


horizontal piles and steel arch frames to support the tube canopy; stabilising the top exterior of the tunnel portals with bolts and reinforced shotcrete; excavating the entrance to the tunnel portals; installing noise barriers; establishing a temporary work site; building a temporary water treatment plant; installing a ventilation system and air quality monitoring; and, building site access and internal roads. The portal preparation work is to last


into early 2025 and then the team starts the controlled blasting and 24-hour working.


Lowest bidder changes on Dubai Blue Line UAE - A consortium of FCC, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and Alstom emerged as the lowest bidder for Dubai Metro’s Blue Line extension after revised bids were submitted in late November, T&TI sister publication Meed has reported. The team submitted an offer of


AED19.8bn (US$5.4 bn) after the project


client, Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), asked bidders to submit proposals with alternatives to reduce the price. The consortium’s price is nearly 18%


lower than its original base offer of AED24.1bn submitted in October. The RTA had received another round of


updated offers in mid-November. That time the Limak/Mapa/CRCC team had submitted the lowest bid with a price of AED21.7bn. For the first round of revised offers, on


7 November, the group of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering (CTCE), Egypt’s Arab Contractors, the local Binladin Contracting Group and Spain’s CAF submitted the lowest-priced revised base offer of AED22.2bn. They had also submitted the lowest base


offer when the bids were first submitted in October. The design-and-build contractor for the


Blue Line will be responsible for all civil works, electromechanical works, rolling stock and rail systems. After completing the project, the contractor will assist with maintenance and operations for an initial three-year period. The Blue Line will connect the existing


Red and Green lines. It will have a total length of 30km – 15.5km of which will be underground and 14.5km above ground. The line will have 14 stations - five


underground, including one interchange station.


Fehmarnbelt trials lower carbon concrete DENMARK - The Fehmarnbelt immersed tube tunnel project is participating in a trial casting of concrete with a reduced carbon footprint. The contractor consortium, Femern Link


Contractors (FLC), is conducting the trial casting using a new type of concrete at a specially allocated area at the tunnel construction site in Rødbyhavn, Denmark. The trial is part of a larger collaboration


on the concrete, known as Calliste, in which the Fehmarnbelt client, Femern A/S, is involved, together with Aalborg Portland, the Technological Institute, several universities, concrete suppliers and public and private developers. Fehmarnbelt is the world’s longest


immersed tube tunnel project, at 17.6km in length, to be set in a trench on the sea bed between Denmark and Germany. The project is constructing a rail and road fixed link. Kim Smedegaard Andersen, deputy technical director at the Fehmarnbelt


project, said: “We have strict requirements as regards strength and durability for the construction of mega projects, such as the Fehmarnbelt tunnel, and this is of particular relevance when building in the marine environment.” Anderson added: “We’re also firmly focused on reducing the CO2


footprint


from our construction project through new technologies and we want to give additional impetus to the development of concrete of the future.”


Martin Herrenknecht receives innovation award GERMANY - The German Association of Transport Sciences (DVWG) has honoured Herrenknecht founder and chairman Martin Herrenknecht with the Innovation Award of the German Mobility Industry. The award, in the Personality category,


was recently announced at the 10th German Mobility Congress. “We are proud to have Martin


Herrenknecht in our ranks, a unique doer who drives mobility solutions made in Germany around the world,” said Professor Knut Ringat, managing director of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) transport association, and jury chairman of the innovation award. DVWG president and jury member


Professor Jan Ninnemann said Martin Herrenknecht’s vision and entrepreneurial courage had changed the thinking about infrastructure projects. Dr Herrenknecht said it was an honour to


receive the award, which he also accepted on behalf of the company’s employees.


ITA highlights underground space solutions at WUF EGYPT - The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) recently raised the profile of underground urban spaces and also such infrastructure’s role in mitigating the challenges of growing urbanisation, when attending the World Urban Forum (WUF12) in Cairo. in November. ITA and its committee on underground


space, ITACUS, advocated the potential of subterranean urbanism in creating resilient cities with minimised long-term maintenance and operational costs. For the ITA/ITACUS team, it was a


concern how little reference there was to underground urbanism and infrastructure at WUF12. The event logo implied that urbanisation existed from the ground surface up, said ITA.


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