Europe - Page 2
Stay up to date with the latest Europe updates from the global tunnels industryA mixed approach to metro construction Engineering innovations, tenacity and skill are finally bearing fruit on the extraordinarily difficult North-South line metro project in the historic city of Amsterdam. Technical writer Adrian Greeman gives this report from Holland
Crossrail planning dock breakout When Crossrail took over the ancient Connaught Tunnel as part of its route through east London, it was envisaged that it would be brought up to standard with a fill and re-excavate procedure, but further site investigations led to concerns that will now be tackled by open excavation through the Royal Docks
Back to basics with cut and cover Cut and cover. Bachy Soletanche UK’s director Chris Merridew and business development manager Paul Hodgson get back to basics on the cut part of the method, while Alex Conacher speaks to Bernhard Lindner of Germany-based Peri about the concerns of formwork manufacturers in providing the cover
New compressed air guidelines The March BTS meeting marked the launch of the joint ITA and BTS guidelines for good working practice in high-pressure compressed air (HPCA). BTS input had been through its Compressed Air Working Group. Donald Lamont, principal author of the document, summarised the guidelines. Werner Burger, chief design engineer for Herrenknecht spoke on the problems of HPCA for a manufacturer. Tony Ridley of Tony Ridley Hyperbaric Associates outlined UK experience with HPCA. And Claus Mayer, managing director of Nordseetaucher gave an account of his experiences with HPCA
Nazzano method The first tunnel in the world to be widened during continued traffic is revisited. Pietro Lunardi of Lunardi’s Geo-Engineering Office, Mario Cangiano of Stone and Andrea Belfiore of Rocksoil tell the prolonged story of a twin bore motorway tunnel widening through complex geography
Shielding tunnels with built-in fire protection Passive fire protection is an essential requirement for any type of transport tunnel, but as Promat’s marketing manager, Sean Appleton explains, choosing the right passive protection is not an easy task
Fire shields and other guardians Maurice Jones examines methods and materials used for passive fire protection in tunnels
Power up the future UK gas and electric power network operator National Grid is engaged in a major renewal programme to ensure power supplies for the future. One aspect is to install high-voltage cables underground to renew the grid in major urban areas, starting with London. Maurice Jones visited one of the current tunnel drives in a 32km-long network that started recently in north London
The drive to save on light energy Lighting is a key factor in minimising transport tunnel operating costs whilst maintaining or improving safety. New designs of low-energy, low-maintenance luminaires promise much, but equally important is how they are installed and used. Maurice Jones checks out some of the latest installations
Tunnelling induced settlements in London clay Robert Mair of Cambridge University, Jamie Standing of Imperial College and Keith Bowers of London Underground presented three papers on the effects of settlement in London Clay at a joint meeting of the BTS and British Geotechnical Association in January
Getting to the core of the matter Since there still seems to be a marked reluctance in many quarters to spend much on site investigative work before main tunnel construction commences, it is fortunate that drilling, probing, sampling and testing methods are gradually becoming more efficient in terms of speed, accuracy and, hopefully, cost. However this demands a much higher level of sophistication in the technology employed. Maurice Jones checks on what is available
Crossrail countdown With the first Herrenknecht TBM launching as T&TI goes to press, Alex Conacher takes a look back to site visits in early February as segment production had just begun, and the machines were being assembled in the west London mud
Supporting Victoria The UK’s first use of jet grouting in conjunction with shallow sprayed concrete lined tunnelling and pioneering use of building information modelling are among the many innovations on London Underground’s ultra-challenging Victoria Station Upgrade programme. Andrew Mylius of Mott MacDonald reports
Present and future state of UK tunneling Outgoing chair of the BTS Bob Ibell looks at the recent achievements of the UK tunnelling industry and the current state of works
Sweden on song Håkan Stille professor emeritus in soil and rock mechanics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), digs into what drives the Swedish tunnelling industry
Bauma 2010 With the year’s big show just weeks away, Nicole Robinson considers what Bauma will mean for the international lifting industry.