NEWS |


Final Mont Cenis tunnelling contract awarded


Sydney Metro faces technical, budget risks AUSTRALIA – Sydney Metro faces significant technical and budget risks, according to an independent Government review. Three projects comprise the Sydney


Metro scheme: City & Southwest; West; and, Western Sydney Airport. The review’s interim report says


Sydney Metro should continue to target a 2024 opening for full services on the City & Southwest section, which is now undergoing testing and commissioning, but it will need a cash injection of Aus$1.1bn (US$720m). It adds that the technical and budget risks “are not insurmountable but will require a sustained and concerted effort to project manage over the next 24 months”. The report also warns that any revision to


the procurement timings of the remaining Sydney Metro West packages is highly likely to affect its 2030 opening date. The review panel said the leadership was


Above: TBM FAT in mid-2023, for part of works on the Saint-Martin-la-Porte and La Praz section of Mont Cenis base tunnel. Celebrating were, from the left, Herrenknecht’s Martin Herrenknecht; Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin (TELT) deputy general director Maurizio Bufalini; TELT president Daniel Bursaux; and, DG Move European Commission representative Wojciech Sopinski PHOTO CREDIT: TELT


ITALY, FRANCE – Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin (TELT) has awarded a consortium of Itinera, Spie Batignolles and Ghella a €1bn (US$1.08bn) contract for the Italian side of the Mont Cenis base tunnel. The contract for the 28.5km


of tunnelling works between Maddalena di Chiomonte and Susa is the final tunnelling contract to be awarded on the 57.5km-long Mont Cenis tunnel, the longest underground part of the Lyon- Turin high-speed, cross border, rail project in the south west of the Alps. Two dual-mode TBMs will be


employed on the 91-month contract which, as well as the two tubes of the base tunnels, includes the Maddalena 2 tunnel, from where the TBMs will be launched, connecting tunnels and a cut-and-cover tunnel at the eastern entrance to Susa. TELT general director, Maurizio


Bufalini, said the contract was a milestone for the Alpine crossing and that the project could not


6 | November 2023


have been achieved without “the commitment of the technicians, the support of the Italian and French institutions and social partners, and the great support of Europe.” In July, the first of seven TBMs to


be employed on the project passed its Factory Acceptance Test (FAT). The 10.4m-diameter, 180m-long


Herrenknecht TBM will be operated by CO 6-7, a French-Italian group of companies comprising Vinci Construction Grands Projets, Webuild, Dodin Campenon Bernard and Campenon Bernard Centre Est. The TBM will excavate the 9km


of the northern tube of the base tunnel, between Saint-Martin-la- Porte and La Praz, running parallel with the section completed in 2019 by the TBM ‘Federica’. The 2,300 tonne machine has 61 cutters and will install rings comprising eight segments of reinforced concrete. It was designed, manufactured,


and assembled in a record 10 months at Herrenknecht‘s plant in Schwanau.


“highly experienced, engaged, and very capable” but face significant challenges because of dealing with various factors, including: historically, poorly coordinated infrastructure planning plus ambiguous decision-making within government; the impact of Covid; and, delays in decisions arising from complicated, lengthy governance arrangements, and disjointed planning and delivery efforts. “Complex, sprawling governance


and conflicting understandings of accountabilities are key risks to efficient and integrated investment outcomes,” the report says.


Hudson River ground stabilisation shortlist US – The Gateway Development Commission has shortlisted three groups for the Hudson River Ground Stablisation project (HRGS) on the US$16bn Gateway Programme. The three teams are: Weeks Marine Inc;


Walsh Traylor Bros JV; and, Cashman Trevi Icos JV. The Gateway Programme involves new


works of building a 3.9km-long two-tube tunnel under the Hudson River, between Newark, New Jersey, and New York City’s Penn Station. The design and build HRGS lot is to fortify and stabilise the riverbed on the New York side leading to the Manhattan Bulkhead. The work will improve conditions for the new tunnel to be bored through the eastern portion of the project.


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