Today on Tunnels & Tunnelling International

LATEST NEWS

• Mesaimeer tunnel approaches halfway point
  QATAR - Almost 50 per cent of works on the first phase of the Mesaimeer tunnel project in Doha have been completed, according to local media. The project will discharge surface and groundwater into the sea once it has been completed.
  

• Rotten ceiling beams culprit in hydropower collapse
  VIETNAM - Rotten ceiling beams caused the Da Dang-Da Chomo hydropower tunnel collapse according to a project investor. The chairman of the plant’s board of investors apologised to Lam Dong Province authorities for the collapse last month.
  

• Investment deals signed between Russia and India
  RUSSIA/INDIA – The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Indian financial services company IDFC will each invest USD 500M in infrastructure projects in the two countries. The agreement was signed during a state visit by Russian president Vladimir Putin last month.
  

• Petition forces Gotthard referendum
  SWITZERLAND - Opponents of plans to build a second road tunnel through the Gotthard in central Switzerland have gained enough signatures from the public to force a referendum on the issue. A Swiss public-owned media agency reported that the country’s parliament had approved the CHF 2.7bn (USD 2.65bn) needed to build a second tunnel and renovate the existing bore later this year.
  

• Old wine for New wine
  POPE FRANCIS delivered a pep talk to the European Parliament last month. In it, he gently styled the continent as feeling haggard and elderly. No longer able to meet its challenges with vigour or vitality.

• Remember the fifth of November
  In a couple of months it will be the 410th anniversary of the first attempt at the Gunpowder Treason in the UK. By the time this issue reaches you, Guy Fawkes Night (‘Bonfire Night’ in the UK) itself will have passed. But less well known is an attempt, 11 months earlier, to blow up the British Parliament with a tunnelled cache of explosives, rather than the less exciting option of a cellar rented beneath the seat of government itself.

• Young members matter
  In the last 15 months there has been a flourish of countries establishing Young Member Groups in tunnelling organisations, and that includes both Canada and the US. In May the ITA General Assembly in Brazil approved the creation of an ITA Young Members Group. Its mission is to “bridge the generation gap and provide a technical network platform for young professionals in the tunnelling and underground space industry."

• Oh Canada
  With the autumn conference season upon us the tunnelling community is next month heading to Vancouver to take part in the Tunnelling Association of Canada’s biennial conference.