NEWS |


Engineers pivotal to climate change solutions, says Dix


Snowy 2.0 success and incline drive next AUSTRALIA – Future Generation JV has completed excavation of a second tunnel at Lobs Hole for the Snowy 2.0 pumped-hydro project. The 2.93km emergency, cable and


ventilation tunnel (ECVT) has been excavated and fully lined with 13,140 concrete segments by TBM ‘Kirsten’. It follows the excavation of the adjacent main access tunnel last year. Drill & blast excavation will open up cross passages between the tunnels. Snowy Hydro said around 6km of


tunnelling by TBMs has been completed, TBM ‘Kirsten’ will be modified to excavate a steeply inclined 1.45km-long pressure shaft. Modifications to the 11m-diameter TBM


Above: ITA President Arnold Dix


GREECE – Engineers’ role in providing climate resilience and sustainable solutions needs to be better communicated and understood, ITA president Arnold Dix said at the World Tunnel Congress (WTC) in Athens, Greece, in May. Dix said people worldwide were


anxious about climate change and that politicians, who want popular support, were ill at ease – but engineers could provide “a solid and reliable place of truth”. He added: “We want to be able


to say to a politician, to a person anywhere on the planet, ‘you can trust us because for thousands of years people like us have been delivering the fresh water, the sewage systems, the food, transport, all this real stuff’. They can rely on us. “As president of the ITA, if I have


a plea for you, it is to understand that we are not political, we are empowering people. Our missions are all about making life better for everyone, no matter where you are on the planet. That’s what engineers do. Engineers are good-hearted people but they need to stand up and that’s what we’re doing now at the ITA.” To address the urgent issues


facing the world, the ITA is bringing together engineers, scientists and


8 | July 2023


social scientists, and he said that WTC 2023 was the first conference where that mission had been “hatched”. He added: “There are young people coming from all around the world with energy that we’ve not seen.” As part of the ITA’s sustainability


initiatives, it is developing a tool to assess projects. “Some projects might be restudied if they’re driven by the wrong motivation and we want to restudy some of them,” said Dix. The ITA was also developing


new contracts to help clients deliver projects that embraced sustainability. Its first generation of new contracts have been adopted by the World Bank. Dix also reiterated the ITA’s policy


of diversity and inclusivity. ITA gave headline figures from the


latest world tunnel market survey. The global value of projects


has risen from €90bn (US$98bn) in 2016 and €125bn (US$136bn) in 2019 to €150bn (US$163bn) in 2022. China is by far the biggest market, accounting for nearly 50% of value with €71bn worth of projects, while Europe’s projects are valued at €23bn (US$25bn). China has around 3,500km of


tunnels under construction; Asia has 1,000km and in Europe there are 600km of tunnels being built.


include altering the levels of tanks and mechanical equipment to remain horizontal on the incline, and converting walkways to steps and ladders. Drill & blast excavation will soon start on


for the underground powerhouse caverns, which the owner says will be one of the deepest located in the world. Snowy 2.0 has been seeing successes as


well as some problems, such as a halted TBM on the Tantangara headrace tunnel after a surface depression appeared above the machine when moving from soft to harder ground. The project could be delayed by up to


two years due to four factors, said the owner: the soft ground at Tantangara; some complex design elements needing more time and cost; programme setbacks from the Covid-19 pandemic; and, global supply chain disruptions for workers, materials, and shipping.


CGL finishes 10th river


crossing or gas pipes CANADA – Coastal GasLink has completed micro-tunnelling under the Morice River in British Columbia, marking the 10th and final major river crossing for the 670km-long pipeline project. With excavation over, the gas pipe will


be pulled through the concrete tunnel and connected with the rest of the project route which will take natural gas from north- east BC to the LNG Canada processing facility in Kitimat. Hydrotesting will then be carried out on the Morice River crossing. CGL said micro-tunnelling was chosen


for the Morice River crossing because it was the safest method with low environmental impact.


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