| NEWS


Neutrino research cavern digs completed


BART II orders TBM US – Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has ordered the TBM for the BART Silicon Valley Phase II Project (BSVII). The US$76m Herrenknecht machine will


have a 54ft (16.5m) diameter and bore a 5 miles-long (8km) tunnel to extend the rail service from Berryessa/North San Jose through Downtown San Jose into Santa Clara. The inner diameter of the tunnel is 47ft


(14.6m) and it will house twin tracks and three station platforms. Kiewit Shea Traylor joint venture (KSTJV)


was awarded the Design-Build contract for the tunnel and trackwork in 2022. Geology consists of sands, gravel, silts,


and clays, and the water table is high. The TBM is to advance at approx 29.5ft-39.4ft (9m-12m) per day. The machine is expected to take three to


Above: Completion of DUNE cavern excavation in South Dakota for neutrino research PHOTO CREDIT: MATTHEW KAPUST, SANFORD UNDERGROUND RESEARCH FACILITY


US – Excavation has been completed on three large caverns in South Dakota that are to hold the massive particle detectors for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Work to create the caverns began


in 2021and the excavation removed nearly 800,000 tons of rock. Hosted by the US Department


of Energy’s (DOE) Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), DUNE scientists will use large equipment installed in the caverns to study neutrino particles. The rock caverns, which are


located 5,250ft below the surface at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, will provide space for four large neutrino detectors – each one about the size of a seven-storey building. The detectors will be filled with


liquid argon and record the rare interaction of neutrinos with the transparent liquid. Scientists will look for neutrinos


from exploding stars that research Earth, and also be examining the behavior of a beam of neutrinos produced at Fermilab, which is located nearly 800 miles east of Chicago. From there the beam will travel straight through earth and rock to the DUNE detectors in South Dakota.


“The completion of the excavation


of these enormous caverns is a significant achievement for this project,” said US project director Chris Mossey. “Completing this allows the project to begin detector installation later this year.” Workers will shortly start the


fit-out phase of the major project with installation of the systems needed for the DUNE detectors and the daily operations of the research facility. Later this year, the project team plans to begin the installation of the insulated steel structure that will hold the first neutrino detector. The goal is to have the first detector operational before the end of 2028. “The completion of the three


large caverns and all of the interconnecting drifts marks the end of a really big dig. The excavation contractor maintained an exemplary safety record working over a million hours without a lost-time accident. That’s a major achievement in this heavy construction industry,” said Fermilab’s Michael Gemelli, who managed the excavation of the caverns by Thyssen Mining. “The success of this phase of the project can be attributed to the safe, dedicated work of the excavation workers, the multi-disciplined backgrounds of the project engineers and support personnel.”


four years to build the tunnel. Last October, the VTA revised the cost


of the project from US$9.3bn to US$12.2bn and pushed the opening date back six years to 2036. It had been due to open in 2030. The VTA board has established an ad hoc committee to monitor delivery.


Hudson Tunnel enters new phase US – The Gateway Development Commission has celebrated the milestone start of construction on the Hudson Tunnel Project in New York and the third, and final, phase of the Concrete Casing project – needed to protect the tunnel alignment under the Hudson Yards development on the west side of Manhattan. The first and second phases of the Casing


project were completed in 2014 and 2018, respectively. The third section extends the casing on a


diagonal alignment from the western edge of 11th Avenue to 30th Street, where it will connect with the new Hudson River Tunnel, providing access into Penn Station. It is due for completion in 2026. The US$16bn Gateway project involves


building the new 2.4 miles-long (3.9km) two-tube tunnel under the Hudson River, between Newark, New Jersey, and New York City’s Penn Station, and refurbishing Amtrak’s existing 112-year-old North River rail tunnel. The US government recently pledged


another US$3.8bn to the Project, taking the federal share to more than 70%. Senator Charles Schumer is a key supporter of the project.


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