NEWS |


Breakthrough for Baltimore B&P utility tunnel US - The B&P Tunnel Replacement Programme recently achieved a major milestone with the breakthrough of the siphon tunnel. The 105m-long utility tunnel that runs under the Northeast Corridor railway in Baltimore is an essential enabling project for the future Frederick Douglass Tunnel (FDT). Once complete, it will carry key water, sewer, communication, and electrical utilities beneath the existing and future NEC railroad tracks. Crews have worked on both shafts


and tunnel since Spring 2025. The east shaft reached its final depth in August. The west shaft reached its final level in February this year and then after breakthrough was achieved on the tunnel with the final blast. The construction team has been since


routing existing utility lines through the tunnel and shafts and reconnecting them back into the main city systems. The work is expected to finish in Fall 2027. The FDT programme, also known as


the B&P Tunnel Replacement Programme, will modernise and transform a 6.4km- long section of the Northeast Corridor in Baltimore. It includes the construction of two high-capacity tubes for electrified passenger trains, new road and railroad bridges, new rail systems and track, and a new station at West Baltimore.


Ferrovial, Budimex win rail job POLAND - Ferrovial and its Polish subsidiary Budimex have been awarded the construction contract for the Podleze-Gdow sections (F+J) of the new Podłęże–Piekiełko railway line in Poland’s Małopolskie region. The contract has an estimated value


of PLN2.58bn (€608m, US$707m) and is the first tunnelling joint venture between the companies. The job was awarded by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA, the public entity responsible for maintaining, modernising, and operating more than 95% of the country’s rail network. The new line is part of one of Poland’s


most important rail modernisation initiatives, aimed at enhancing regional mobility and strengthening connections from Kraków and the south of the country. Over the 46-month programme,


Ferrovial and Budimex are to deliver 17.5km of new electrified double-track railway, two parallel tunnels – each approximately 900m-long, and an additional 1.9km of electrified single


8 | June 2026


track. Major structures include 39 bridges and viaducts, 24 culverts, two underpasses, 18 retaining walls, and extensive ground improvement works.


Tunnelling completed on Sydney’s metro projects AUSTRALIA - The final breakthrough on Sydney Metro West, in March, marked the end of tunnelling on Sydney’s four metro projects. The milestone was marked when TBM


‘Jessie’ broke through rock into the future Hunter Street station on the Sydney Metro West line, ending 34 months of tunnelling to build the four lines. Across the four metro projects –


including Sydney Metro North West, City, Western Sydney Airport, and West – a total of 128km of new metro tunnels have been built, with 19 TBMs excavating 14.7 million tonnes of earth to carve out the twin tunnels for each line. For Sydney Metro West alone, more


than 2,900 people and six TBMs worked to deliver Australia’s longest rail tunnels, at 24km long. More than 141,400 precast concrete segments for the line were manufactured on site at a purpose-built facility in Eastern Creek. TBM ‘Jessie’ arrived after TBM ‘Ruby’,


which reached Hunter Street at the end of 2025. The machines spent 21 months driving tunnels from The Bays, via Pyrmont and below Darling Harbour, to reach Hunter Street. Focus of work is shifting to fit-out.


Sydney Metro West is due to open in 2032 and will double rail capacity between Parramatta and the CBD.


Finish for Ingenbohl tunnel SWITZERLAND - Excavation of the Ingenbohl drainage tunnel has been completed with the breakthrough in Brunnen achieved in late February. The Ingenbohl drainage tunnel is being


developed by the cantons of Schwyz and Uri, and is part of the A4 Neue Axenstrasse. The tunnel will divert mountain water run-off directly into Lake Lucerne. A consortium of Implenia and Frutiger Gruppe began the drive for the 3.8m-diameter, 1.23km-long tunnel in September 2024 with a TBM from CRCHI. Implenia thanked the tunnelling


teams, which it said faced the project’s challenges and completed with the work without any accidents. “The successful breakthrough of the TBM


is the result of precise planning, a high level of technical expertise and disciplined


implementation under demanding conditions,” said Implenia’s head of the civil engineering division, Erwin Scherer.


Start on Hinkley fish tunnel UK - Engineers at Hinkley Point C project are set to start tunnelling the second of three fish protection measures at the nuclear power station in Somerset. The fish return system will be


620m-long and 1.8m in diameter. The TBM for the work has been named ‘Sarah Guppy’ by local schoolchildren after the pioneering 19th Century engineer. Project developer EDF Energy says that,


with two other systems in place, Hinkley Point C will have more fish protection than any other power station in the world. The facility’s other fish protection systems


are, respectively, a specially designed intake heads to slow the speed of water entering the cooling tunnels and a new type of acoustic fish deterrent to keep fish away.


Madrid advances projects SPAIN - Progress is pushing ahead on two separate transport project in Madrid. FCC Construcción is making progress on


Lot 1 of the capital’s A5 project’s underground section project, known as the Paseo Verde del Sureste. The project will place a section of the A5 motorway below ground to create a pedestrianised boulevard at street level. About 80,000 vehicles travel the route daily. Two separate 800m- and 500m-long


galleries have been connected in the vicinity of the Batán junction, excavated in the southern section of the project. The tunnel is nearing completion and later works (ventilation, emergency exits, cameras, extractors) will connect to Calle 30. Separately, Acciona and Dragados


have reached a new milestone on Lot 2 of Madrid’s A5 project, connecting the excavated sections of the south tunnel. The project, known as Paseo Verde


del Sureste, involves putting part of the A5 underground to reduce the impact of surface traffic and reclaim urban space. The capital is also further advancing


its metro system with tunnelling recently started for the extension to Line 11. TBM ‘Mayrit’ was launched from


Comillas station to begin the 6km-long drive to Conde Casal. The Herrenknecht shield is to excavate about 90% of the project’s underground route, where the alignment is at depths of 20m-30m. Approximately 600m of the line


extension will be excavated by the traditional method.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53