Features Archive

Hammersmith connection Tunnel
27 March 2020 The September BTS meeting saw a presentation on the Thames Tideway project’s Hammersmith Connection Tunnel. The talk was presented by Peter Coppenhall of Morgan Sindall, working as the designer’s representative in Thames Tideway West, and Ed Batty of BAM Nuttall, currently working as a Tunnel Manager in the Frogmore Connection Tunnel. This report was prepared for Tunnels and Tunnelling by Rosa Diez, project director for Mott MacDonald

Fire exposure
27 March 2020 Fabio Di Carlo assistant professor at University of Rome Tor Vergata, Department of Civil Engineering and Computer Science Engineering (DICII), Alberto Meda, professor at DICII, Zila Rinaldi, associate professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering (DII) analyse the bearing capacity of Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) sections exposed to fire

Still charging
27 March 2020 Paola De Pascali spoke with Franck Boudreault, Epiroc global product manager electrification, to understand how the battery vehicle field test is being undertaken in Finland

Under the Swan River
27 March 2020 Alex Conacher travels to the Forrestfield-Airport Link in Perth, Western Australia to speak with Salini Impregilo, NRW project director Richard Graham and tunnel construction manager Carlos Zapico

TBM Moves
27 March 2020 Two tunnels on opposite sides of the Atlantic will improve the water quality of their cities. But without a TBM on site, there is no project. Alex Conacher reports

Drill and blast tunnelling
04 March 2020 Did you know... rock blasting has been used since the preexplosives time, when rock tunnels were excavated by building fires at the face and cracking the rock by throwing cold water on the hot surfaces? Later on, blasting with black powder was invented and since then, there have been steady developments in explosives, detonating and delaying techniques, and in our understanding of the mechanics of rock breakage by explosives.

CONEXPO 2020
04 March 2020 The heavy equipment expo held every three years is back this March with new products and technologies on show from more than 2,800 exhibitors

The real world
04 March 2020 Liuna Local 183 is breaking ground on a tunnel training centre that will help the Greater Toronto Area access on-site training for tunnelling and safety skills, Nicole Robinson reports

Fit for duty
04 March 2020 Establishing baseline cognitive response times that can be compared over time helps mitigate or even avoid accidents on the job. Christina Lindstrom, Obayashi, explains this entirely new approach to ensuring a safe and healthy working environment

Health, safety and wellness
04 March 2020 Reducing on-the-job injuries is vital, but so is staying well. T&T highlights improvements in the industry

Ship shape
04 March 2020 Construction has started on Seattle’s Ship Canal stormwater tunnel, Paola De Pascali reports

Spotlight Seattle
04 March 2020 The fast-growing city is under pressure to provide congestion relief to crowded streets and affordable housing, Nicole Robinson reports. New tunnel projects are being designed to do both

ASA publishes position statements for underground shotcrete
20 February 2020 Axel Nitschke, tunnel practice leader (NATM), for WSP USA , is chair of the ASA Underground Committee. He gives background on two new papers from the association

Underground Maze
20 February 2020 Paola De Pascali visited the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade (BSCU) site, which is placed in the City of London within historical buildings and Roman archaeological remains

Encountering Pingoes
20 February 2020 A slurry TBM encountered an unexpected drift filled hollow (DFH) on the Lee Tunnel drive. Three contributors told their part of the story: project geotechnical engineer Tim Newman gave a description of the project and some of the GI undertaken ahead of the drive, tunnel construction manager John Corcoran spoke about tunnel operations and consultant geologist Jackie Skipper about emergency response site team, forensic ground investigation to gauge extent of DFH, what is a DFH and tell-tale signs. Martyn Noak from Jacobs reports

Hunting the record
20 February 2020 Romed Insam from Brenner Base Tunnel SE and Michael Rehbock-Sander, head of engineering at the Brenner Base Tunnel North JV, working for Amberg Engineering, report on the challenges and the current state of the future longest tunnel in the world

Alan Thomas Winter (1952-2019)
20 January 2020 It is almost a year since Alan died unexpectedly in January 2019. Those who worked with Alan respected his immense knowledge and vast practical experience that he brought to bear for the benefit of numerous projects and clients. In addition, Alan was also well known and admired for his sense of humour and quick ability to add wit to alleviate the stress of crisis.

Long-term effectiveness of PVC Geomembranes
20 January 2020 Tests detailed in this paper verified the effectiveness of geomembranes up to 100 years. The authors are Andrea Luciani, Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino; Daniele Peila, same; Enrico Dal Negro, Underground Technology Team Director, Mapei; Maurizio Leotta, Synthetic Waterproofing Division Director, Mapei; Enrico Pavese, Underground Technology Team Waterproofing Specialist, MAPEI; and Sara Cadamuro, Synthetic Waterproofing Membranes R&D, Mapei

Abu Dhabi Gyroscope
20 January 2020 A case study from Abu Dhabi of the NAV24 gyroscope system

The Valley of Toluca
20 January 2020 A new rail line will connect the Valley of Toluca Metropolitan Area with the west of Mexico City. TBM tunnelling had to deal with a heterogeneous massif, adverse terrain, and an alignment characterised by the presence of faults and zones with elevated hydraulic loads of up to 7 bar over the tunnel keystone. The authors of this paper are geotechnical tunnels head José Ramos Gómez, tunnel section director Rubén Díez de la Fuente, and TBM expert advisor Ignasi Castellvi Moyes, all from Sener