| NEWS


First breakthrough on Second Gotthard Tunnel SWITZERLAND – Second Tube Joint Venture has made its first breakthrough on Lot 243 of the Second Gotthard Tunnel. The consortium of Implenia (40%),


Webuild & CSC SA (40%) and Frutiger (20%) launched TBM ‘Carla’ in August 2022 to drive the access tunnel to the north fault zone in the Gotthard massif. The group also has Lot 241 for the main


northern section of the Gotthard road tunnel’s second tube, which includes a 7.3km-long, 12.3m-diameter tunnel to be excavated by TBM. The tunnel connects to a 160m-long stretch at the start, which will be excavated conventionally. The contract also includes 430m of


conventional tunnel construction through the northern disturbance zone, which will be excavated from the 4km-long northern access tunnel completed by TBM ‘Carla’. TBM Carla, which has a diameter of just


over 7m, made an average daily advance of 17m, with a daily record of 45.4m, achieved in rather soft gneiss. The new Gotthard tube runs 70m to the


east of the existing road tunnel, which opened in 1980. The tunnel has been carrying traffic in both directions and once the new tunnel is completed will be refurbished, then each tube will have traffic in one direction only. Implenia said excavation of the access


tunnel, which runs parallel to the future second tunnel tube, provided important insights for construction of the northern part of the main tube, due to start in 2025. The JV will deploy four TBMs on the


project with machines ‘Carla’ and ‘Delia’ building the access tunnels, while the two larger TBMs will bore the main tunnel, working simultaneously from the north and south.


Boring completed on West Gate Tunnel AUSTRALIA – CPB Contractors and John Holland Joint Venture has completed tunnelling on West Gate Tunnel. West Gate Tunnel, due to open in late


2025, is designed to ease congestion on the West Gate Freeway and West Gate Bridge, and reduce the number of trucks on residential streets. The project is a public private partnership (PPP) between the Victorian Government and Transurban, a toll road operator. CPB Contractors and John Holland Joint


Venture (CPBJH JV) was awarded the design and construction contract and Aurecon and


Jacobs carried out the design work. The two Herrenknecht earth pressure balance machines (EPBMs) – ‘Bella’ and ‘Vida’ – have been used on the project and are the largest TBMs in the Southern Hemisphere, each 15.6m-diameter, 90m long and are 4,000 tonnes. TBM ‘Bella’ completed a 4km bore


between Williamstown and Millers Road, in South Kingsville, to complete the tunnelling recently. Prior to that, in February, TBM ‘Vida’


finished its drive of a 2.8km-long tunnel, The EPBMs were chosen because of the


presence of residual basaltic clays with sections of weak to solid rock and alluvial silty clays in addition to a section with hard basalt up to 250MPa. The 14.1m i.d. tunnels have precast


concrete segmental rings (10 + 0), held together by 20 circumferential bolts. The segments are 500mm thick with a 40mm universal taper.


Thames Tideway marks secondary lining achievement UK – London’s Tideway super sewer project has reached another milestone with the secondary lining of the Greenwich Connection Tunnel now passing the Earl Pumping Station, in the east side of the capital. The shuttering machine constructing


the lining for the 4.5km-long tunnel has now covered 2.8km – two-thirds – of its journey to Chambers Wharf in Bermondsey. The primary lining was completed by TBM ‘Annie’ in spring 2022. The TBM was cleaned inside the shaft


at Earl Pumping Station before being relaunched to complete the drive. This also allowed the shaft internal walls at Greenwich Pumping Station to be completed. The Greenwich Connection Tunnel


will help tackle the problem of sewage overflow into the Deptford Creek and River Ravensbourne, directing the flows into the new super sewer. Much of the excavated spoil from the


main tunnelling operation was removed from site at Greenwich by barge via new marine infrastructure in Deptford Creek. The secondary lining on the western


section of Tideway project was completed late last year. Six TBMs were used to bore the 25km


super sewer, which will reduce sewage overflows into the River Thames. It is due to be operational in 2025.


Toronto set for stormwater bore CANADA – TBM launch will be soon for Toronto’s largest basement flood prevention project to date, on the Fairbank Silverthorn Storm Trunk Sewer System project. The 270-tonne TBM will be lowered into a 40m-deep shaft in Fairbank Memorial Park, from where it will construct a 3km- long, 4.5m-diameter storm sewer. The new storm sewer will collect, store


and convey stormwater from the Fairbank- Silverthorn area of the city to Black Creek to help reduce flood risk as part of the city’s long-term Basement Flooding Protection Programme. Once complete, the new sewer will


hold and store stormwater and release it gradually into Black Creek at a controlled rate. A series of smaller storm sewers, totalling 17km in length, will also be constructed and connected to local catch basins to feed rainwater to this large new storm sewer. The project also includes installing more


than 320 devices to control rainwater flow in catch basins to reduce the risk of basement flooding and combined sewer overflows. The project started in 2021, is to


be completed in 2026, and includes an approximatively one-fifth budget contribution from the Canadian Government’s Disaster Mitigation and Adaption Fund.


Philippines rail contract THE PHILIPPINES – Two contract packages have been signed for the North-South Commuter Railway, the longest commuter rail project in the Philippines. The project is to cut in half, to two


hours, the travel time from Clark Airport to Calamba in Laguna. The rail link will include 35 stations and carry 800,000 passengers daily. Leighton-First Balfour JV signed the


contract for Package S-03B (CP S-03B), which includes the civil engineering, tunnel and building works for approximately 6.1km of the project, with 4.7km underground. The route will run alongside a section of the South Luzon Expressway. It also includes the construction of the


FTI Station, tunnelling works to connect to the Metro Manila Subway Project Senate station, and M&E and other ancillary works. Construction starts in late 2023 to finish


by 2029. July 2023 | 7


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