Latest from Tunnels and Tunnelling
Getting a picture
Fugro’s Rod Eddies, Simon Brightwell and Ray Wood discuss how tunnelling risks related to the ground and built structure can be managed into better stakeholder outcomes - such as accelerated construction, extended asset life and optimised return on investment - through integrated and appropriately phased use of modern geoscientific technologies
Read more
The difference is in the detail
The tender process of the Rijnlandroute tunnel project in the West of the Netherlands adopted the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) principle. This meant that the pricing offer of all bidders was reduced to a certain degree, based upon each bidder’s score for predefined criteria. Criteria such as reduction of hindrance, reduction of risks and request for a damage-free lining led to an incentive for innovation
Read more
One big bore
Rail projects across North America are considering single tunnel drives, Nicole Robinson reports
Read moreLATEST NEWS
Switzerland – Scientists and engineers at CERN have submitted the concept design report for the Future Circular Collider (FCC). This is a 100km-circumference particle-smashing machine that dwarfs the existing 30km Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and of course it will also need to be tunnelled.
-
DEP release Schoharie Reservoir update
US – The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) provided an update to the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors on the USD 400M program to upgrade water supply infrastructure on January 18.
-
Hyperloop Challenge taken up in Britain
Great Britain – The British Tunnelling Society (BTS) has formed a task force to take on the Hyperloop Challenge. Hyperloop is a rapid transit concept that involves propelling pressurised capsules down reduced-pressure tubes across great distances at enormous speeds. The challenge is to demonstrate a means to reduce the cost of tunnelling by a factor of ten or more, and so make the Hyperloop concept viable.
-
MTA awards contract for an East Access tunnel
US – Skanska USA announced January 10 it has signed a contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to work on East Side Access.
-
Algiers Metro TBM factory acceptance
Algeria – A CREG TBM has undergone factory acceptance ahead of delivery to the Algiers Metro Extension project. The 10.5m-diameter EPBM will bore a the 9.5km from El Harrach Station to Houari Boumediene International Airport. The contractor is Seli Overseas.
LATEST FEATURES
Sequential excavation method tunnelling
Sequential excavation method (sem) is a type of tunnel design and construction that started to gain popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. The essential component of the SEM approach is to take advantage of the natural capacity and strength of surrounding geology to support the tunnel with minimum cost and time required.
Sequential excavation method (sem) is a type of tunnel design and construction that started to gain popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. The essential component of the SEM approach is to take advantage of the natural capacity and strength of surrounding geology to support the tunnel with minimum cost and time required.
-
UCT 2018
T&T’s guide to UCT and highlights from the technical sessions
-
TAC Awards 2018
From rising stars to nationally acclaimed projects, the Tunnelling Association of Canada (TAC) presents its annual awards each fall to recognize the deserving individuals and engineering accomplishments in the Canadian tunnelling sector. The 2018 awards were presented on November 8 in Edmonton.
-
Time to travel
Bauma, the largest trade fair in the world, opens its doors in April 2019 in Germany. This year it will feature Canada as the partner country. Event organizers Messe Munchen and VDMA invite readers to attend the show
-
Corridor Connections
Federal, state and other agencies are working to bring super conducting maglev technology to the United States with an initial rail line between D.C. and Baltimore. Nicole Robinson looks at what the projects entails and what the tunnelling industry can expect
LATEST Blogs
Changing everything
I recently hosted a breakout session at a conference on ‘disruptive technologies’. These technologies were: the Internet of Things, Robotic Process Automation, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. It was interesting, and will be covered in a subsequent issue. But for tunnelling I can think of one historical change that was far more significant, which has recently been recognised with an award.
I recently hosted a breakout session at a conference on ‘disruptive technologies’. These technologies were: the Internet of Things, Robotic Process Automation, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. It was interesting, and will be covered in a subsequent issue. But for tunnelling I can think of one historical change that was far more significant, which has recently been recognised with an award.
-
Goodwill to some, not all
In what is possibly a nod to the season of good cheer, Ipsos Mori has published its annual veracity index. This poll by the market research company has the accolade of being the longest-running poll on trust in professions, having been taken consistently since 1983. The poll is simple; it asks respondents to say whether they trust different types of people to generally tell the truth.
-
Telling tales
Every few months I have a meeting with the magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, in which I ask their advice, plan future issues and weather some constructive criticism (this editorial will be reviewed at about 11.30am on 18 January 2019 – not that I am feeling self-conscious).
-
Half a Degree
As T&T went to press the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change, announced that limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C would provide clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems, and goes hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society.
-
Science of the small
It has been a while since I wrote about tunnelling efforts to further humanity’s understanding of particle physics.
LATEST EVENTS
-
4th Annual Urban Underground Space & Tunnelling
Serena Pereira
