NEWS |


Porr readies CPK launch shaft POLAND - Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) has handed over the construction site at the Retkinia launch chamber to contractor Porr to prepare to excavate a 4.6km-long, 14m-diameter high-speed rail tunnel. The launch chamber was completed by


Budimex which enables Porr to prepare for the major tunnelling works. CPK’s high- speed tunnel will be the country’s longest and widest single-bore railway tunnel. The TBM is scheduled to start boring in


the second half of 2026. It will be launched from the Retkinia chamber and bore towards the Fabryczna chamber, located next to Łódź Fabryczna station and the Łódź Cultural Centre. The tunnel depth will vary from around


23m-34m below ground from Retkinia to the emergency chambers, five of which are to be constructed along the alignment. The chambers will house technical systems for tunnel operations as well as have staircases to the surface.


S Korea cable tunnel finish SOUTH KOREA - A slurry TBM jointly developed by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Ltd (CRCHI) and Hoban recently completed continuous slight uphill excavation of the 2.044km- long Seosan power cable tunnel project in South Korea. The tunnel traverses complex geological


formations, including hard rock and weathered rock, with compressive strengths up to 71MPa. The power tunnel alignment has a maximum slope of 1.3% and minimum horizontal curve radius of 120m. The TBM has a 3.26m excavation


diameter and is 135m long. It achieved a monthly advance rate of 223m on the drive. CRCHI’s R&D team developed a solution


featuring a double-articulated steering system and a high-capacity slurry circulation system for the TBM. The shield also had an ultra-low clearance segment hoist and a side-mounted, coiled, pipe extension system. The machine was the fourth TBM that CRCHI has exported to South Korea.


Naples sees milestones ITALY - A start and a finish have taken place on tunnel projects near Naples, Italy: the former a TBM launch for a water diversion tunnel at Campolattaro Dam project; the latter the completion of Casalnuovo Tunnel rail tunnel on the high- speed Naples-Bari line.


8 | December 2025


The Campolattaro Dam project is


located in Benevento, north-east of Naples. Originally designed in the 1960s by the Cassa del Mezzogiorno for irrigation purposes, the project was halted, leaving it incomplete. Ghella and Itinera are responsible for the


design and construction of two of the three sections for the project, which involves the construction of a major reservoir. The first section includes construction


of a 5m-diameter diversion tunnel, approximately 7.5km long. The project will improve drinking water supplies for more than 2.5 million people and provide irrigation for approximately 15,000ha of agricultural land. The Casalnuovo Tunnel is one of the most


complex engineering works on the Naples- Bari railway line, being developed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Webuild used hyperbaric tunnelling to


excavate 650m of the 3.3km-long tunnel on the Naples-Cancello lot. The Naples-Cancello and Cancello-


Frasso sections are to open by year-end, reducing journey times between Naples and Bari from four hours to two hours and 40 minutes, and allowing direct travel. The opening of the Naples-Cancello


section will also allow Naples-Bari trains next year to reach the Napoli Afragola station. In total, the Naples-Bari high-speed line


will be 145km long, with 15 tunnels, 25 viaducts and 20 stations. The line is part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the TEN-T network, and through Italy and the rest of Europe.


Tunnelling complete for Madrid drain SPAIN - Tunnelling has been completed on Madrid’s Pozuelo de Alarcón collector- interceptor project. TBM ‘Lady Madrid’, an earth pressure


balance machine (EPB), reached her final destination at the Los Álamos arrival shaft after excavating more than 4.5km in the suburb of the capital. The tunnel has an internal diameter of


4.5m and crosses four construction pits, along which floodwaters will flow towards the Manzanares, Madrid’s main river. Denys and Eurohinca were subcontracted


by Asch Infrastructuras Y Servicios and Grupo Marco to undertake the tunnelling works for the project. The Pozuelo de Alarcón project is to


improve drainage management and enable the development of 7,500 new homes.


HS2 backs rail exhibition UK - HS2 recently teamed up with Thinktank, Birmingham’s Science Museum as part of nationwide Railway 200 celebrations, which mark 200 years since the birth of the modern railways. The project’s year-long exhibition


showcases the city’s connection to the railways, starting late September, the anniversary of the world’s first passenger train journey, which took place on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The exhibition ranges from historic


details of Kilsby Tunnel, constructed by hand over five years on the route of the original London to Birmingham railway, to recent construction of the first section of the HS2’s 5.6km-long Bromford Tunnel – linking North Warwickshire and Birmingham – in 22 months. An immersive audio-visual experience


presents a range of HS2’s civil engineering works and technology employed, including sounds of working TBM and a short film on shield assembly and launch. Two cutter discs, taken from one of HS2’s TBMs, are on display. The story of working underground on


HS2 is described by Tunnelcraft pit boss, Steve Rocke, who managed the team on the Bromford Tunnel, which is being delivered by Balfour Beatty Vinci.


Coffs Harbour digs done AUSTRALIA - Tunnel basting is finished on Australia’s Coffs Harbour Bypass. Blasting crews have completed the


160m-long Roberts Hill Tunnel, the last of the three tunnels on the road project. The Ferrovial Gamuda JV removed half a million tonnes of rock using 280 tonnes of explosives across 570 controlled blasts. Tunnelling was completed for the


320m-long Shephards Lane Tunnel earlier this year and the 410m-long Gatelys Road Tunnel in 2024. With all three tunnels broken through


on the AUD$2.2bn (US$1.45 billion) project in New South Wales, work has shifted to preparing them for traffic. This includes installing drainage systems and laying road pavement. Before opening to traffic in late 2026,


each tunnel will be fitted with mechanical, electrical, fire, safety and electronic signage. Each tunnel will contain two traffic lanes


plus a bicycle lane. When complete, the bypass will allow


motorists on the Pacific Highway to skip traffic lights in the Central Business District.


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