Seven COWI tunnel engineers recently became Nationally Certified Tunnel Inspectors after passing a national certification program developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). ​The firm says that the certification is important to maintaining its position as a leader in tunneling across North America.

The 2015 FHWA ruling that implemented the national tunnel inspection standards (NTIS), mandates not only the nation’s first standardized tunnel inspection program, but also that all public vehicular tunnels be inspected, inventoried, and reported on every two years. The first deadline for inspections is fast approaching, that of August 2017.

RELATED: FHWA Launches New National Tunnel Inspection Program

To perform NTIS inspections, tunnel inspectors must take and pass the FHWA certification program. COWI engineers attended training classes in Baltimore, Maryland, and New York City. The following engineers now have the NCTI designation:

-Stanley Niemiec, PE, NCTI
-Leszek Glodkowski, PE, NCTI
-Keith Gaspar, PE, NCTI
-Ivona Tarchala, PE, NCTI
-Kristi Latimer, NCTI
-Radenko Kasikovic, NCTI
-David Tarchala, NCTI

With the recent class of certified inspectors and COWI’s experience with tunnel projects including the Port Authority of NY & NJ’s Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority’s (TBTA) Queens Midtown and Hugh L. Carey Tunnels, the firm says it is prepared to help both local tunnel owners and tunnel owners nationwide meet the 2017 deadline.

RELATED: COWI UK Integrates Acquisitions

The post COWI Adds 7 Certified Tunnel Inspectors appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

In fall 2016, drilling contractor PPI Chrobok S.A. installed two new gas pipelines in Poland. The alignment runs along existing gas lines and through geologically challenging terrain. With the laying of the 700- and 464-m long pipelines, Herrenknecht‘s Direct Pipe technology was used in Poland for the first time.

With the construction of a new north-south pipeline connection, Poland is reacting to the increasing local demand for gas. Part of this network expansion is the Czeszów-Wierzchowice Gas Pipeline Project in the southwest of the country. So far, only horizontal directional drilling technology had been used for crossing rivers or roads during pipeline projects in Poland. Used for decades, the method has proved its worth for large numbers of boreholes, but it reaches its technical and economic limits in heterogeneous, non-stable grounds.

The sandy, sticky clay of the pipeline crossings in Wierzchowice and Czeszów presented the drilling crew with just such project conditions. Furthermore, the two alignments with lengths of 700 and 464 m, respectively, run along existing gas lines. Uncontrolled deviations during the drilling process thus had to be avoided at all costs. In view of these requirements, main contractor PGNiG Technologies S.A. together with drilling contractor PPI Chrobok S.A. opted for the innovative Direct Pipe technology from Herrenknecht. This method combines the advantages of microtunneling and HDD technology. In a single step, the required borehole is created and the prefabricated pipe is simultaneously installed without a trench.

RELATED: Michels Completes Record Direct Pipe Installation

Thanks to the gyrocompass navigation system that allows for an exact steering of the TBM, the drilling crew precisely installed the two pipelines with an outer diameter of 1.047 m underground in just 13 and 16 drilling days, respectively. In doing so, they safely crossed, among others, beneath an ecologically sensitive fish pond. The sticky ground that typically tends to cause blockages is not a barrier for the Direct Pipe method. Even at very high levels of friction resistance, the 500 tonnes of thrust provided by the Pipe Thruster in the launch shaft is more than enough. Despite the small overcut of only few centimeters, no damages were detected at the coating after the pipe laying.

Overall, a very positive conclusion was drawn after successful completion of the project. With a daily best performance of 147 m, Roland Kośka, Planning & Monitoring Manager for client GAZ-SYSTEM, summed it up as follows: “As a combination of HDD and microtunneling, Direct Pipe overcomes the respective limitations which, to a large extent, are no longer obstacles to pipeline construction. This will also allow us to pursue new projects in the future and complete them economically, quickly and with minimal impact on the local infrastructure and environment.”

RELATED: Herrenknecht TBMs Boring Hong Kong Metro

The post First Direct Pipe Project Completed in Poland appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Simba S7 D is a long-hole drilling rig adapted for small- to medium-sized drifts.

Dynamic tunneling package by Atlas Copco is a new automation software for face drilling rigs, which gives improved accuracy of the excavation thanks to the fact that drill plans always will be fitted for the current section. With this software the drill rig can create its own drill plans directly at the face of the tunnel. Simply by downloading the contours of the tunnel or mine drifts to the drill rig together with a drill rule file and the drill rig can create drill plans tailored for the section it is navigated within. No more going back and forth with drill plans is needed.

Improved Production at a Lower Cost

“Today, in tunneling projects, especially large ones in urban areas, there are differences in the cross section. You go up and down with your drill plans ”, said Johan Jonsson, Product Manager Boomer, Atlas Copco. “The Dynamic tunneling package helps you so you don’t have to go up and down anymore. The drill plan is made on the drill rig and at the face. ”

Successful Pilot Project in Norway

Atlas Copco’s customer Veidekke and their RV80 project in Bodø, Norway, was one of the pilot projects for Dynamic tunneling package.

“Veidekke is working on the State highway 80 project in Bodø. There’s a tunnel that’s two times 2.5 km where we are going to excavate about 500,000 cubic meters of rock ”, said Jon-André Nilsen, Manager Surveying Technic Underground, Veidekke. “The collaboration with Atlas Copco to develop the Dynamic tunneling package went well. Atlas Copco were responsive to our feedback and made adjustments to the program. Today, the drill rig operators make niches manually. They can turn out way too big or way too small. Dynamic tunneling package makes our drilling more precise. We can make changes to drill plans directly on the rig. We can move cuts or drill-holes. We are more flexible at the tunnel face compared to making all changes at the office. We use the Dynamic tunneling package to make niches (areas of the tunnel with larger cross section). This makes the work more precise.”

RELATED: Atlas Copco Simba S7 Provides Precise Production Drilling

More Precise Drill Plans

Today all tunneling models exist in a 3-D model. Previously you imported the model into Underground manager (an Atlas Copco software used for planning and reporting of drill rig data and information) and then do all the drill plans manually in Underground manager. With Dynamic tunneling package you still import the 3-D model but you only need to set up a set of rules (a rules file) in Underground manager. The set of rules and the 3-D model is then brought to the drill rig by USB or WiFi-connection. The drill rig will then make its own drill plans based on where in the tunnel it is navigated and according to the tunnel model. Due to this, the drill plans will always be precisely made for the section and size that should be excavated.

Powered by Automation

Dynamic tunneling package is an automation offer for face drilling rigs within Powered by Automation. “Powered by Automation” means that Atlas Copco is not only talking fully autonomous products, but different steps of automation based on the task at hand and on the current level of automation in a mining or construction operation. The Powered by Automation-concept contains four steps – from data monitoring and product function control, to calculated optimization and in the end full autonomy. When these steps are applied to various parts of an operation,

RELATED: Atlas Copco Appoints Cheney, Blais to New Roles

The post Atlas Copco Introduces New Drilling Automation Software appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Sandvik Mining & Rock Technology will showcase its latest developments in Mineral and Ground Tools for mining, trenching and road planing during CONEXPO-CON/AGG, March 7-11, 2017, in Las Vegas.

Sandvik’s latest generation of patented carbide grades, manufactured using an innovative process technique with completely new raw materials, has made it possible to create new, extra-coarse, super-tough alloys with perfectly uniform grain structure. The benefit is that the tip’s material grade can be better matched to hard rock and soft rock applications.

RELATED: Sandvik Forms New Business Area – Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology

Sandvik constantly develops new hard material alloys to function in the most demanding environments. One result of its extensive research projects in this field is the development of the new carbide grade generation – providing larger, stronger and more efficient tools. Demands on tool performance, particularly relating to cemented carbide tip material and its resistance to wear and fracture, become more critical as operations progress into harder rock and mineral formations. Larger continuous cutting machines are being used to replace the traditional drill-and-blast process in many mining projects. This continuous cutting process offers a lower cost per ton of excavated material, ensures better worker safety and also has a positive effect on the environment.

Sandvik is the world’s leading supplier of machines and tool systems for all rock, surface and mineral excavation applications. The company delivers millions of tools annually for numerous applications – from road planing and ice scraping, to projects that require roof drilling bits for all types of coal and soft minerals, to tools that meet the needs of the biggest tunneling, trenching and surface mining applications. Sandvik tools are manufactured globally to the highest quality standards, using the strongest materials and most stringent manufacturing processes to ensure their hardness and superior performance in the field.

RELATED: Sandvik Introduces DT912D Jumbo

The post Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology to Showcase Latest Tools appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

DFI President Dan Brown (left) receives the gavel from John Wolosick, immediate past president.

Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, takes the helm as the 24^th President of Deep Foundations Institute (DFI). Brown is president and senior principal engineer for Dan Brown and Associates, PC. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas.

Brown spent 22 years on the faculty of Auburn University, and now remains active in deep foundation practice through his consulting engineering firm, Dan Brown and Associates. Brown has been recognized with the ASCE Martin Kapp Foundation Engineering Award, DFI Distinguished Service Award and ADSC Outstanding Service Award. He has authored numerous technical papers and was the lead author of the 2010 FHWA manual Drilled Shafts: Construction Procedures and LRFD Design Methods.

He takes the reins from John Wolosick.

You can read Dan’s first president’s message from the Jan/Feb issue of Deep Foundations. 

RELATED: DFI Educational Trust Establishes Tamaro Scholarship

The post DFI Names New President appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

DSI Tunneling LLC announces the addition of Mike Burnson, P.E., to the tunnel engineering staff as Civil Structural Engineer.

Burnson joins DSI following 9 years of service at Kiewit Infrastructure Co. where he developed multiple skills in design and construction supervision of complex underground structures. Burnson’s experience is in the application of sequential excavation methods (SEM) incorporating the use of DSI lattice girders, spilling, pipe canopies, bolts and other soil reinforcement techniques. Additionally, Burnson has supervised shotcrete placement, equipment selection, safety planning, quality assurance and management support, including SEM product selection and estimating.

RELATED: DSI Signs Agreement with NMP of Sweden

As a graduate of Purdue University, Burnson provides an added dimension to DSI’s tunnel engineering group with significant construction experience that will provide insight and leadership as DSI further expands directly into SEM design and product sales across the Americas.

Burnson will be based in DSI’s Louisville, Kentucky, location where he will add directly to the tunnel design staff and travel with DSI’s sales leadership team to further the company’s expansionary role in design and installation of SEM products.

The post Burnson Joins DSI Tunneling appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Robert J. Slimp, P.E., has been named chairman, president and CEO of HNTB Holdings Ltd. Slimp has held a number of leadership roles within HNTB since joining the firm in 2005. He continues to serve in his role as chief executive officer for HNTB Corp., a post he has held since 2013.

“Under Rob’s leadership, HNTB continues to grow and prosper,” said Harvey Hammond, chairman of HNTB’s Holding Company. “Throughout his time with HNTB, he has remained dedicated to the HNTB goal of providing outstanding service to our clients and modeling HNTB’s values as a company.”

Slimp has more than two decades of industry leadership and client service experience on large-scale infrastructure and transportation programs throughout the United States.

RELATED: Zlatanic Named National Tunnel Practice Chair for HNTB

“It is an honor to be appointed to this role,” Slimp said. “I share a deep appreciation and respect for HNTB’s 103-year-old legacy and look forward to leading the firm’s talented professionals in service to our clients.”

Throughout his time with the firm, he has been promoted to roles of increasing responsibility, including Austin, Texas, office leader; Southeast Division president; Northeast Division president; and CEO.

Slimp earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

The post Slimp Advances to Chairman, President and CEO of HNTB Holdings appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Del Nero

When a contractor has been prequalified for a project, it increases the chances of success on many fronts, making it an effective risk management tool. In fact, if the request for qualification is well-conceived and the prequalification process conducted strategically, it can be argued that contractor prequalification is the industry’s most effective risk management tool.

Unfortunately, the full benefit of contractor prequalification is often not realized because the prequalification process is a victim of misadministration and with an evaluation process that is highly subjective. Specifically, prequalification documents are commonly ambiguous, too qualitative and subjective, and without clarity on how the shortlist of contractors will be developed. As a result, constructors walk away from the prequalification process believing that process bias in some form was involved, there was inequality in the prequalification criteria, too many contractors were shortlisted, and they were generally not given a fair shake.

RELATED: Scholarships Available for Veterans to Attend 24th Annual Microtunneling Short Course

Ultimately, an owner wants healthy competition among a pool of capable bidders. To ensure that that happens, it is important to keep the following points in mind in developing the prequalification development process (PDP).

Project Awareness

This step in a prequalification development process (PDP) may seem unnecessary to the unsophisticated or inexperienced, but there are good reasons for project promotion in today’s market. Like never before, owners are in competition with other owners to attract the best contractors, and few contractors are local to major tunnel projects. Additionally, there is a strong trend for European and other international contractors entering North American. To address this, project awareness and contractor outreach programs are recommended. Outreach should include notification of the project in as many industry media outlets and forums as possible to foster awareness.

Outreach should be started no later than the 30 percent design stage of a typical design-bid-build project and preferably three months before the RFQ for design-build delivery. The ultimate goal of a project awareness campaign and outreach program is to attract qualified, responsive and responsible contractors. Contractor interest in pursuing a project will be gaged by many factors, and owners should be aware of what can undermine the level of confidence a constructor has in an individual owner.

Typically, constructors will “walk” (not bid) if one or more of the following factors exist:

• Multiple bids are due in the same timeframe,
• Time to prepare qualification too short,
• Overall marketplace saturation exists,
• Unaccounted for risk in bid proposal,
• Unbalanced risk management program (i.e., risk shedding and not risk sharing),
• Use of non-standard front-end clauses,
• No geotechnical baseline report or other contractual risk tools (i.e.. escrow bid documents, dispute review board, differing site condition clause, value engineering change proposal, etc.),
• Use of non-standard technical specifications,
• Owner has a bad reputation and/or is typically slow to pay,
• Too much emphasis on subcontractor qualifications,
• Highly prescriptive specifications that include too much engineer-derived means and methods,
• Poorly written, highly subjective, and ambiguous prequalification process,
• Project funding not secured,
• Use of a non-proven contract delivery vehicle, and
• The owner has never constructed a major tunnel project.

Key Early Decisions

The number of contractors to shortlist is one of the most important of all decisions to be made in the PDP. Constructors can spend $50,000 or more to prepare a complex qualification package. Additionally, it is normal for a constructor to spend $100,000 or more in preparing a proposal for a major tunnel project. If the shortlist contains more than four to six constructors, it is likely some of the constructors will choose to decline bidding or simply “throw a number at it.” This is often a cause for wide bid scatter on a project.

The author recommends five constructors be shortlisted such that if two drop-out, there are still three, giving many jurisdictions enough of a pool to award the work. The decision on the number of constructors to shortlist is even more important on a design-build project. The design-build team will spend upwards of $1 million or more to prepare a proposal for a major tunnel project. If more than five teams are shortlisted, then there is inequity as the chances for award to anyone one team diminishes. If more than five teams are shortlisted, the owner should seriously consider a stipend for proposal preparation to foster fairness in the process. The other key early decision is to develop questions that can help assess the validity of criteria used to compare constructor qualifications. Many agencies struggle with how to select the correct criteria to differentiate between prequalifications.

The following questions will help in this regard.

• Are the criteria fair, concise, complete, and unambiguous?
• Are the criteria onerous for the constructor to address?
• Are the criteria relevant to the decision process?
• Are the criteria too subjective?
• Can the criteria be manipulated in the prequalification package?
• Will the criteria conflict with the Quality Assurance article contained in most thee-part technical specifications?

It is not unusual for an owner to send out a draft of the RFQ for contractors for review and comment. This will engender confidence in the contractors that the owner is fair and balanced and likely translate into lower bid prices. If owners give contractors a “fair shake” in the RFQ process, they will likely find a level of interest beyond what they might expect otherwise.

Develop List of Project-Specific Criteria

Development of project-specific criteria to apply in the comparison of prequalification packages is one of the more critical steps in the PDP. Criteria can generally fall into technical and non-technical criteria. Specific categories of criteria to be considered include financial, legal, equipment inventory, staffing, safety performance, backlog, and work history (i.e., schedule adherence and total project cost compared to initial bid cost). Considering that successful tunneling is primarily related to staffing and means and methods, the criteria should focus heavily on those areas.

Provided below are tunnel-specific criteria to consider in evaluating how prequalifications will be compared.

• Staffing Capabilities
• Equipment Inventory
• Financial Capacity
• Work/Project History

Various levels of detail are available for each of the above topics, and it is not necessary to delve deeply into each depending on the nature of the project. The prudent thing to do is to evaluate the project schedule, cost, complexity, risk profile, funding, and funding source then compare these factors to help select the most appropriate criteria.

RELATED: 2015 Trenchless Technology Roundtable: Discusses Industry Trends and Issues

Select Prequalification Scoring Method

To properly assess the quality and capability of a contractor, some type of scoring or rating system should be applied to the prequalification review process. The key considerations in selecting a scoring method are fairness and objectivity, which is easily said but hard to accomplish. In general, courts have ruled that scoring systems are appropriate as long as they are rational and documented. (The author will let attorneys define rational!)
Discretionary scoring is discouraged but can be used if some framework is applied so the subjective judgements by evaluators are bounded or bookended. Hardly ever is the comparison of contractor prequalifications completed on a purely ordinal ranking (prequalifications ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) without some scoring basis, although this method has held up in courts. The author is not a fan of ordinal rankings with only subjective observations and evaluations as this approach has been fraught with bias and protests. One person views qualifications in a different way that another person might.

The author strongly recommends some form of a scoring system be applied for the comparison of prequalification packages. The primary reason is that scoring systems are an efficient way to aggregate complex information. Although no scoring system is perfect and all scoring systems have some degree of subjectivity in them, they do provide a framework within which rational comparisons can be made. Very often, contractors are in the dark about how the shortlist was developed. One of the key benefits of a scoring system is the reduction in ambiguity in the contractor selection process. The ideal situation is that whatever scoring method is used it provides the selection committee with the tools to make an informed and intelligent decision.
There are many rating or scoring systems that can be applied. Any system can be used as long as it provides meaningful distinctions among prequalifications of various merits.

An example combination method for evaluation and scoring of respondents packages from a major metropolitan agency is reflected below.

• Organizational Management Approach – 20 points
• Past Project Experience and Performance – 40 points
• Key Personnel Qualifications and Experience – 30 points
• Safety Program and Performance – 10 points
• Pass/Fail Criteria

Although this example seems appropriate, it falls short in several areas. For one, equipment inventory is not considered. Means and methods of construction are where a project is won or lost, so not including some evaluation of equipment is not recommended. Also, the point totals for each category were not defined in some framework to establish how the points are assigned. Without that framework, a high level of subjectivity is introduced into the process.

RELATED: Stantec Finds Key Niche in Trenchless Market

A scoring system with a small number of gradations (poor, fair, and good) will not provide enough discrimination between various levels of proficiency. Even systems that use adjectival descriptions like excellent, good, fair, and poor are less useful in communicating the differences between prequalifications than systems with far more gradations. A vital requirement for an owner is to document the relative strengths, deficiencies, significant weaknesses, and risks supporting the evaluation of contractor prequalifications. Also, the review process of contractor prequalifications should include the same evaluators for each package submitted.

Conclusions

The author believes contractor prequalification is one of the most significant risk management tools for the tunnel industry, but one that is greatly underutilized. It is often an ineffective risk management tool because the PDP does not receive the critical thinking needed along with the process often involving significant subjectivity. When the PDP is done methodically and strategically, it has numerous benefits. If the recommendations in this paper are followed, it is much more likely our highly esteemed owners, who provide us a living and a career, will be much more satisfied with the outcome of infrastructure development.

Acknowledgement

This paper is condensed from a paper titled “Contractor Prequalification – An (In)Effective Risk Management Tool,” which presented at the 2014 Tunnelling Association of Canada (TAC) conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Don Del Nero is a vice president with Stantec and the tunneling and trenchless engineering practice leader.

The post Contractor Prequalification Can Be an Effective Risk Management Tool – If Properly Applied appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

All jib cranes will be commissioned by the end of March and will remain onsite until project completion in 2020.

New South Wales, Australia-based Ranger has installed five (with the potential to become seven) 1.5-tonne working load limit jib cranes for a major highways infrastructure project that will construct a predominantly underground motorway system to the west of Sydney.

The WestConnex tunnels will link the M2, M4 and M5 motorways up with other new tunnel systems, providing crucial support for Sydney’s long-term economic and population growth. Most of the new WestConnex highways will be in underground motorway tunnels to minimize the need for land acquisitions and remove through-traffic from local streets.

The original jib crane specifications covered their use for both man riding/evacuation and general lifting. However, upon discussion with lifting, rigging and safety specialist supplier Ranger, a decision was taken to restrict their use for man riding/evacuation only. The cranes feature 6.5-m underslung height with 6-m reach and offer heights of lift ranging from 26 to 70 m.

RELATED: Jacobs JV Wins Contract for WestConnex New M5 Project in Australia

Ashley Thacker, general manager at Ranger, said: “WestConnex needed a second point of evacuation from each of their shafts in the case of an emergency where workers needed to be stretchered out. The shafts range from 26 to 70 m deep, hence the varying heights of lift. If the cranes were also used for goods lifting there was potential for rescue operations to be delayed, which is why it was suggested in consultation to limit their use.”

All jib cranes will be commissioned by the end of March and will remain onsite until project completion, scheduled for 2020. Regardless of what will be limited or zero duty, the cranes will be checked for full operation daily as a part of the site’s pre-start requirements.

Ranger chose 3-tonne electric chain hoists from Swiss manufacturer GIS that were downgraded to 1.5-tonne capacity to facilitate man-riding. All were fitting with overload protection, a load cell with read out, pendant and remote controls.

Thacker said: “Given the high profile nature of the site we only sourced from the best manufacturers in each component area. Even then, the hoists needed to be enhanced to comply with Australian standards for man-riding. We only worked with suppliers who not only excel in manufacturing, but support that with professional paperwork, top quality engineering drawings and flexibility to work within the most stringent project-specific requirements.”

RELATED: Two JVs Shortlisted for Sydney Metro Tunnels

Thacker explained that lifting the columns from horizontal to vertical presented challenges as there were no dedicated lifting points, while working near open shafts came with inherent safety issues that needed to be addressed during the planning stages. Further, he said, the environment was also challenging in that the temperature reached 37 degrees Celsius during installation of one of the cranes.

Upon successful installation, Ranger conducted load testing with water bags and completed training sessions with WestConnex personnel. It is also committed to providing monthly inspection and maintenance for the duration of the project.

The post Ranger Supplies Jib Cranes for Emergency Personnel Lifts on Tunnels Project appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

The Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) has announced that Richard J. Finno, P.E., Ph.D., D. GE, currently a professor of civil engineering at Northwestern University, will present the Osterberg Memorial Lecture. The lecture will be presented as the opening lecture of SuperPile ’17.

Finno has conducted research in the areas of full-scale performance of deep excavations and tunnels, adaptive management methods in geotechnical engineering, numerical analysis, inverse analysis techniques, failure processes in soil, small strain behavior of clays and nondestructive testing of deep foundations.

The annual Osterberg Memorial Lecture and Award was established by DFI Corporate Member Loadtest, in conjunction with the DFI Educational Trust, in honor of Dr. Jorj O. Osterberg, one of the true pioneers of geotechnical engineering. The Lecture and Award recognize innovations in the deep foundations construction related to engineering design, testing or education – all aspects of Dr. Osterberg’s lifelong contributions.

RELATED: DFI Names New President

Dr. Osterberg has long been recognized for his innovations in soil sampling and testing (including his inventions: the Osterberg Sampler and the Osterberg Cell). Dr. Osterberg enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a teacher and consultant; he was Professor Emeritus of civil engineering, at Northwestern University.

The Memorial Lecture and Award are presented annually as the opening lecture of the DFI SuperPile conference. DFI will provide an annual donation to the DFI Educational Trust Scholarship Fund from the proceeds of the SuperPile Conference.

RELATED: DFI Announces Board of Trustees Election Results

The post Osterberg Lecturer Announced appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors on Jan. 26 awarded a $1.37-billion contract to the joint venture team of Tutor Perini/O & G to build the second section of the Metro Purple Line Extension Project to Century City. The Board also established a budget of $2.4 billion for the project.

The award is based on the firm’s competitive proposal, which was about $500 million lower than other competitor bids.

“Today’s contract award to Tutor Perini brings us one step closer to fulfilling our promise to bring fast, reliable, high-capacity subway service to the Westside,” said John Fasana, Metro Board Chair and Duarte City Council Member. “We now have the funding in place and the contractor onboard to expedite delivery of this high priority, regionally beneficial transit project for Los Angeles County.”

In early January, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in new federal grants and loans to Metro to build section two of the project.

In recommending the contractor for the award, Metro conducted a thorough and extensive competitive bidding process. The Tutor Perini team was deemed to have the best overall proposal through a combination of technical, project management and price components. All three proposals submitted were comparable on their technical merits, but the Tutor Perini team had the best value proposal.

RELATED: Tutor Perini-O&G Recommended to Build LA Purple Line Phase 2

Tutor Perini/O&G and its major subcontractors have delivered subway tunnel projects for the Central Subway project in San Francisco, the University Link in Seattle and the East Side Access project in New York.

Another large project the contractor successfully helped construct is the World Trade Center – Greenwich Street Corridor for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Completion of the second subway section is anticipated no later than 2026 per a funding agreement with the Federal Transit Administration and Metro is aiming to possibly finish the project at an earlier date. The second section will add another 2.6 miles to the Purple Line with one station at Wilshire/Rodeo in downtown Beverly Hills and a station in the heart of Century City.

A third and final section will extend the subway to the Westwood/VA Hospital. Construction of the third section is planned to begin as early as 2019.

Metro is now building the first section of the Purple Line Extension between the current subway terminus at Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/La Cienega with three new stations.

Tutor was involved in construction of the original Metro Red Line. The contractor built segments 2 and 3, completing section 3 to North Hollywood six months ahead of schedule and within the project’s budget.

RELATED: LA Metro Christens TBM for Regional Connector

“This team has a recent history of delivering successful tunneling projects across the globe,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “Metro is confident this contractor will play a critical role in helping us build the world-class public transportation system we have promised to voters.”

Metro intends to implement a strong oversight plan with experienced staff to ensure the project is completed as intended and remains on time and on budget. That includes ‘executive partnering’ between Metro and the contractor up to the CEO level to resolve project claims and changes. Metro will also pursue a collaborative approach to third-party issues.

The post Tutor Perini-O&G Awarded LA Purple Line Phase 2 Contract appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

The tunnel excavation work along Line 3 of Riyadh Metro, the longest line of the massive project commissioned by the ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) and realized by Salini Impregilo, has been completed. The end of the work was celebrated in the presence of Riyadh Governor HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud at the Qasr Al Hoqm Downtown Station.

The Governor was accompanied by Civil Service Minister HE Khaled Abdullah Al-Araj, Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister HE Abdul Lateef Al-Asheikh, Transport Minister HE Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Head of Public Transport Authority HE Rumaih Mohammed Al-Rumaih, National Water Company CEO HE Abdulrahman Mohammed Al-Ibrahim and Riyadh Mayor and ADA President HE Ibrahim bin Mohammad Al-Sultan.

RELATED: Salini Impregilo Reaches Milestone in Riyadh

Also known as the Orange Line, Line 3 is more than 40 km long, but only about 11 km will be underground, excavated by the TBM and the “cut and cover” method. Once completed, it will have 22 stations.

Located near the Riyadh governor’s palace in the heart of the city, the Downtown Station will be one of the iconic stations, with two underground metro lines passing through it. Covering 20,000 square m, it was designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta together with One Works and Crew. Its entrance will be covered by a massive inverted cone made of stainless steel that will provide shade for passengers and channel sunlight into the underground station.

Salini Impregilo leads the ArRiyadh New Mobility (ANM) consortium, one of three involved in the $23 billion, six-line Riyadh Metro project that will cover 176 km. The metro system will reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in a city whose population is expected to rise from 6.5 million today to 8.3 million by 2030.

RELATED: Parsons Awarded Deep Wastewater Tunnels Project in Dubai

The post Riyadh Metro Line 3 Completed appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

ABC VENTILATION SYSTEMS

ABC Ventilation Systems was founded in 1968 and has grown to become the industry leader in underground ventilation products. ABC’s engineers will design the ventilation system and offer design suggestions to give the best ventilation system at the best price. Our product line consists of fans, ducting, VFD’s, air heaters, cassettes, and deduster systems. ABC’s newest edition to the product line, Hardline Performance Ducting, is a semi-rigid polymer ducting designed to replace steel and fiberglass ducting. With low airflow resistance and low leakage couplings, there is a decrease in energy consumption and number of fans needed for ventilation designs. Hardline is applicable for positive and negative pressure and meets international fire resistance standards. Hardline’s lightweight design allows for a safer and faster installation, and is reusable and recyclable to reflect ABC’s environmentally responsible culture. Hardline ships compressed, which allows for much lower freight costs when compared to other rigid products.
abcventilation.ca

AIRGAS

Airgas is a company of hard-working men and women dedicated to helping our customers work safely and productively. When challenges arise, we work with customers to provide the solutions, leveraging our many years of industry process expertise and our extensive gases, welding, and safety products offering. We are North America’s leading provider of gases, welding equipment and supplies, and safety products. As part of Air Liquide, we combine Air Liquide’s unrivaled global footprint and strength in technology and innovation with the unique Airgas multi-channel distribution network and nationwide presence. Airgas provides a complete line of gas detection equipment, both fixed and mobile, as well as respirators, emergency escape systems, fall protection products and services, and SCBAs for professionals in the tunneling industry. For more information, contact Miggy Lontok, Senior Airgas Total Access Representative at 1-855-625-5285, ext. 5654.

airgas.com

ARUP

As a leading technical and management consultancy, Arup has for many years been working with the owners/operators and users of underground structures to improve the quality of tunnel ventilation design and engineering. At the forefront of design and management of complex projects, Arup continuously devises and implements world-class design solutions, ensuring safe and efficient systems for underground structures of all types. The firm routinely advises on entire road, rail and subway system concepts, examining reliability, availability, maintainability and safety, as well as carrying out value engineering and evaluations of the economics of the mechanical and electrical systems to achieve the right balance between capital investment, operating costs and energy. Arup’s experience extends from short pedestrian subways, to long tunnels for highways, railways and mass rapid transit underground systems, as well as tunnels for specific purposes such as conveying water, materials and sub-sea HV electrical cables.

arup.com

GOMEZ INTERNATIONAL

GOMEZ INTERNATIONAL Inc. (GII) custom designs temporary ventilation systems and equipment for the mining, tunneling, and construction industries. Providing nearly 880,000 liner feet of ventilation design to date, GII engineers have a profound knowledge in mechanical and electrical design of complex underground systems. This allows for implementation of equipment and methods proven reliable and specific to ventilation in various underground construction and excavation methods. GII designs negative and positive pressure ventilation systems for gassy, potentially gassy and non-gassy environments. These designs, tailored to the specific project, exceed all applicable standards including USBR, Fed-OSHA, Cal-OSHA, and MSHA. In addition to submittal and drawing preparations, GII offers for sale or lease complete turnkey packages, including sound attenuated axial vane fans, air doors, cooling systems, dust abatement equipment, and power and control systems. For the complete line of products and services please call (602)268-9275 or visit www.gomezinternational.com. 1415 E Elwood St, Phoenix, AZ.

gomezinternational.com

HNTB

HNTB’s award-winning tunnel expertise provides full service fire/life safety solutions, including ventilation analysis with active and passive fire protection systems, roadway lighting modeling, systems power, fire alarm and controls. In order to mitigate risks of loss from hazards such as fire, high concentrations of pollutants and intentional acts of terrorism, HNTB utilizes CFD analysis programs, including FLUENT and FDS, SES modeling and other fire hazard analysis programs to develop pragmatic solutions for ventilation and fire protection. Ventilation design project system selections include longitudinal and single point extraction systems with integrated design and analysis of deluge fixed fire suppression.

hntb.com

HOWDEN AMERICAN FAN COMPANY

Howden American Fan Company, the leading manufacturer of high-quality industrial fans and blowers, offers a wide range of fans ideal for large tunnel ventilation projects. Howden specializes in consulting with ventilation engineers to custom-design fans to meet performance requirements, space constraints, and sound criteria for tunnels in subway or road transportation projects. With more than 60 years’ experience manufacturing tunnel fans all over North America, Howden fans have been installed in major projects around North America, including those for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, New York City Transit Authority, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Howden manufactures fans tailored to each project’s specific life safety, clean air, environmental, and tunnel personnel safety requirements. Designs include 100 percent reversible or unidirectional tunnel ventilation fans. All fans are NFPA 130 compliant, suitable for operation in conditions up to 400°C and are rated based on flow and pressure.

americanfan.com

The post PRODUCTS – Ventilation Showcase appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles
Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project
Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors

This $1.278 billion project for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), being built by a joint venture of Walsh and Shea, is an 8.5-mile light-rail line that will run between the Expo Line on Exposition Boulevard and the Metro Green Line. NTP was issued in September 2013 with revenue service expected by October 2019.

The project consists of twin bore tunnels, about 1-mile long each, connecting three underground stations. The tunnel is 21-ft OD (19-ft ID) and is approximately 70 ft below ground. Ground conditions are soft ground/alluvial, leading to the choice of an EPB TBM.

On Oct. 20, the Herrenknecht TBM “Harriet” broke through into the Leimert Park Station. From there it was disassembled and trucked back to the launch shaft to begin the parallel tunnel. The second tunnel was about 35% percent complete (1,800 ft) as of Jan. 13.

Parties affiliated with the project: TBM Manufacturer – Herrenknecht (Germany); Consultants: HNTB; Construction Support Services: Stantec; Tunnel Engineering: Arup; Systems: L.K. Comstock; Structural Engineering: SC Solutions; Community Outreach: Los Angeles Urban League; Civil Engineering: Jenkins/Gales & Martinez; Electrical: Neal Electric; Quality Control: QEI; Survey: Psomas.
Key Project Personnel – Deputy Executive Officer, Project Director (Metro): Charles H. Beauvoir; Interim DEO, Deputy Project Director (Metro): Kimberly Ong; RE (Metro): Dana Rogers; Project Manager (WSCC): Jim Gardner; Deputy Project Manager (WSCC): Dave Preston; Construction Manager (WSCC): Carl Christensen.
Los Angeles
Regional Connector Transit Project
Regional Connector Constructors (Skanska-Traylor JV)

The tunneling portion of the $1 billion Regional Connector project for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority involves 5,795 ft. of twin tunnels with an excavated diameter of 22 ft. The ground conditions range from alluvium soils to siltstone of the Fernando formation with potential for perched groundwater, methane, hydrogen sulfide gas, and possible boulders. The groundwater table is generally above the tunnel alignment. EPB TBM tunneling is required using precast, concrete segments with double gaskets as the tunnel lining system. The tunnel depth (cover) ranges from 25 ft to approximately 100 ft and crosses below the existing Metro Red Line heavy rail tunnels with less than 7 ft of clearance. The Regional Connector includes approximately 2,100 ft of cut-and-cover and retained cut guideway and three cut-and-cover subway stations. The bored tunnels will pass through two of the cut-and-cover stations, requiring coordination of cut-and-cover and tunnel excavation.

NTP was issued July 7, 2014, with an original project completion date of May 29, 2021. The TBM was shipped from Tacoma, Washington, to the project site in April 2016. Tunneling is expected
to commence in January 2017. The 1st & Central Station, from which tunneling will start, has been excavated to full depth, and the concrete invert is completed. The TBM will be brought from the TBM assembly pit across Alameda Street to the launch site at the west end of the station.

Soldier piles for support of the approximately 90-ft deep excavation at 2nd & Broadway Station are being installed as utility relocations are completed. Excavation of the approximate 100-ft deep 2nd & Hope Station is in progress and expected to be completed in December 2016. The downtown Los Angeles urban location of the Regional Connector provides challenges in the coordination of the project work with multiple third parties. The Regional Connector will be the first tunnel subway project to connect to two operating rail systems at either end, the Blue Line on the south and the Gold Line on the north.

Other parties affiliated with the project – Tunnel Designer for the Contractor: Hatch Mott McDonald; Metro’s Construction Management Consultant: Arcadis; TBM Manufacturer: Herrenkecht. Preliminary design was completed by CPJV (AECOM/PB JV), which is also performing design services during construction. Key Project Personnel – Metro Project Executives: Gary Baker, Project Manager; Girish Roy, Deputy Project Manager; Metro Design Consultants: (AECOM/PB JV), Bill Hansmire, Tunnel Design Manger; Metro Construction Manger Consultants: (Arcadis), Patrick Jolly, Construction Manager; Ron Drake, Technical Advisor; Resident Engineer, Glen Frank; Contractor Project Executives (Regional Connector Contractors RCC: (Skanska) Mike Aparacio, Mike Smithson; (Traylor) John McDonald.

Los Angeles
Westside Purple Line Extension Project Section 1
Skanska/Traylor/Shea JV

The Westside Purple Line Extension Project is a 9-mile long project that consists of three Sections that are being planned to be built and opened for revenue service before the end of the next decade. Section 1 is a 3.92-mile long subway alignment with three stations that is being constructed under Wilshire Boulevard in gassy ground and tar sands with prehistoric fossil deposits utilizing the design-build delivery method.
NTP for the $1.636 million design-build contract was issued on Jan. 12, 2015. Tunneling operations are planned to begin in late 2018. The tunneling operations will be staged through the shoring box of the Wilshire/La Brea Station excavation. The Revenue Service Date per the Full Funding Grant Agreement is Oct. 31, 2024.

The scope of work includes 17,900 ft of twin-bore tunnel: Reach 1 is 9,600 lf between Wilshire/La Brea Station and Wilshire/Western TBM retrieval shaft; Reach 2 is 4,400 lf between Wilshire/La Brea and Wilshire/Fairfax Stations; and Reach 3 is 3,300 lf between Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega Stations. There is also 600 lf of tail track at Wilshire/La Cienega Station.

The tunnel is 18-ft, 10-in. in diameter with 12-in. thick precast concrete lining. Depth varies from 40 ft and 100 ft. The alignment includes three stations and the western retrieval shaft and 23 cross passages. Tunnels are planned to be mined by two Herrenknecht EPBMs. Cross-passages are planned to be mined by the sequential excavation method using variety of localized ground support systems.

Anticipated ground conditions include: Soft ground consisting of Pleistocene-age (San-Pedro) and Pliocene-age (Fernando) formations; Some alluvium deposits and artificial fill areas above the tunnel; Tar sands comprise almost 25% of tunnel alignment; Expected water table up to 90 lf above tunnel crown; Presence of methane and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gases (tunnels are deemed “gassy” by OSHA).

The project is 14% complete. Production of tunnel precast concrete Liners began in November 2016. TBM manufacturer Herrenknecht is near completion of the EPBM design. TBM assembly is expected to 3rd quarter of 2018. Jet grouting of cross-passages began in November 2016; Wilshire/La Brea Station excavation (tunnel launch point) began in July 2016.

Tunnel Designer: PTG/CH2M; Construction Manager: WEST JV (Stantec/Jacobs Engineering/AECOM); Major Subcontractors – TBM Manufacturer: Herrenknecht; Precast: Traylor precast; Support of Excavation/piles: Condon Johnson; Jet Grouting: Malcolm Drilling; Geotechnical instrumentation: Group Delta; Dewatering: Moretrench; Standpipe: Link Nielsen.
Key Project Personnel: James Cohen, Deputy Executive Officer, Program Management LACMTA; Ashok Kothari, Project Director, Parsons Brinckerhoff; Mike Aparicio, Executive Vice President, Skanska; John McDonald, Tunnel Manager, Traylor.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington
Anacostia River Tunnel
Impregilo Healy Parsons JV

This is a $253 million design-build job for DC Water involving the construction of 12,300 lf of 23-ft ID tunnel 100 ft deep with six shafts. Crews are using a Herrenknecht EPB TBM to tunnel through heavy clay and sand/clay with up to 3 bar pressure. NTP was issued on June 4, 2013, with final completion expected by March 13, 2018.

The job is 75% complete by schedule. Crews completed a TBM drive on Nov. 5, 2016, crossing under the Anacostia River, several fragile utility lines, and several freeways without damage. All shafts are now concrete lined and crews are proceeding with internal shaft structures, and excavating and shoring for near surface structures.

Unique aspects of the project include extensive use of slurry walls; depressurizations of lower artesian aquifer while leaving upper aquifer undisturbed; TBM advance using conveyor belt system through multiple curves with vertical belt storage unit exterior to the shaft; steel fiber precast segmental lining; extensive use of geotechnical instruments for monitoring TBM excavation performance; and use of compensation grouting to cross under fragile critical utilities.

Designer: Parsons Professional Corp.; Construction Manager: Gilbane; Major Subcontractors: Moretrench, Con-Seg, Bulldog Construction, SECA; TBM Manufacturer: Herrenknecht; Conveyor Manufacturer: H+E.

Project Manager: Shane Yanagisawa; Deputy Project Manager: Phil Colton; Construction Manager: Daniele Nebbia; Quality Manager: Rick Munzer; Business Manager: Todd Burford; Design Manager: Jonathan Taylor; General Superintendent: Frank Flannelly; Equipment Manager: Chuck Tedford; Electrical Superintendent: Bruce Haught; Concrete Superintendent: Jimmy Hill; Tunnel Superintendent: Brad Krumel; Senior Concrete Engineer: Andrea Sessena; Construction Manager: Scott Shylanski. Information: John Kennedy, (702) 524-0438.

Washington

Oregon Avenue NW Sewer Rehabilitation Project – DC Water Contract 150130
Bradshaw Construction Corp.

Bradshaw is beginning construction on a $16 million sewer project the DC Water. The project consists of approximately 4,300 ft of 24-in. sewer interceptor, including 2,600 lf to be installed by microtunneling in four drives, with the longest being 1,860 ft along Oregon Avenue at depths of up to 90 ft. A 60-in. casing will be tunneled using a Herrenknecht AVN-1200 MTBM, in which the 24-in. PVC carrier pipe will be installed. Subsurface conditions will consist of Tonalite rock ranging from slightly weathered to highly decomposed. The project also includes the installation of nine access shafts, 1,500 ft of open-cut sewer installation, three live connections to the existing sewer system and the abandonment of the existing 15-in. sewer that is being replaced. All work will be installed within Oregon Avenue, bordering a congested, residential area, and Rock Creek Park, owned by the National Park Service. Shaft excavation is schedule to begin this winter, with an estimated completion of fall 2018. Information: Todd Brown, Project Manager; tbrown@bradshawcc.com.

GEORGIA

Atlanta
City of Atlanta Water Supply Project
Atkinson Construction

Atkinson Construction in July began assembling the 12-ft Robbins tunnel boring machine that will complete the City of Atlanta Water Supply project. The TBM arrived to the jobsite in sections on more than 70 trucks. The TBM was assembled on the quarry floor and will be used to excavate a five-mile tunnel to connect the Chattahoochee River and the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant to the former Bellwood Quarry. The Water Supply Project, scheduled for completion in 2018, will increase the City of Atlanta’s water reserve from 3 to 30 days. The TBM “Driller Mike” had advanced 1,000 ft as of Jan. 11.

INDIANA

Indianapolis
Deep Rock Tunnel Connector, Eagle Creek Deep Tunnel
Shea-Kiewit JV

The Deep Rock Tunnel Connector is a 42,000-lf, 20-ft, 2-in. diameter bored tunnel with an 18-ft finished concrete lining (approximately 250 ft deep). There are two bifurcations in the final alignment and three CSO connecting structures/deaeration chambers and adits. The Eagle Creek Deep Tunnel is a 9,175-lf, 20-ft, 2-in bored tunnel with an 18-ft finished concrete lining. The Deep Rock Tunnel Connector was awarded for a contract price of $179 million with the Eagle Creek Deep Tunnel added through a $32 million change order. The work is for Citizens Energy Group’s DigIndy project, which is a CSO reduction program including six deep rock tunnels totaling over 28 miles.

Tunnel lining consists of 12-in thick cast-in-place concrete liner. Concrete is pumped from the surface from various drop holes along the tunnel alignment. The tunnel was cast using seven Everest 35-ft form sections. Tunnel lining is complete, and construction of the adits and deaeration chambers is also ongoing. Substantial completion is anticipated in the spring of 2017.

Subcontractors: Platt Construction – Dick Platt; Steppo Supply & Construction, Inc. – Eileen Stepanovich; Acura Inc. – Domenico DiGioia

Key Project Personnel – Construction PM: Stuart Lipofsky, P.E.; General Superintendent: Shannon Jennings; Assistant Project Manager/ Project Engineer: Percy Townsend; Safety Manager: Kyle Shickles; Equipment Superintendent: Keith Walter; Field Engineers: Eric Haacke, Zack Heinrich, Kendall Gadd, Chris Monahan, Max Engen. Inspection PM: Alex Varas, P.E. (AECOM), Assistant PM: Mark Guay (AECOM). Owner: Citizens Energy Group – Manager of Construction: Mike Miller, P.E.; Supervisor Technical Lead: Tim Shutters; Construction Supervisor: John Morgan.

Indianapolis
White River Tunnel, Lower Pogues Run Tunnel
Shea-Kiewit JV

The White River Tunnel is a 30,600-lf, 20-ft, 2-in. diameter bored tunnel with an 18-ft finished concrete lining (approximately 250 ft deep). There are two bifurcations in the final alignment and seven CSO connecting structures/deaeration chambers and adits. The Lower Pogues Run Tunnel is a 10,200-lf, 20-ft, 2-in. bored tunnel with an 18-ft finished concrete lining, which bifurcates from the White River Tunnel alignment, and includes two CSO connecting structures/deaeration chambers and adits. The work is for Citizens Energy Group’s DigIndy project, which is a CSO reduction program including six deep rock tunnels totaling over 28 miles.

The contract was executed in late June 2016, and the contractor has finished refurbishing and reassembling the Robbins TBM that was used to mine the Deep Rock Tunnel Connector and Eagle Creek Deep Tunnel. Mining started in September 2016 from a 35-ft diameter shaft that was previously constructed as the retrieval shaft for the Deep Rock Tunnel Connector alignment. As of the end of November, mining of the White River Tunnel alignment extended approximately 4,800 ft, at which point the TBM turned into the Lower Pogues Run Tunnel alignment, where it has mined approximately 1,000 ft. Following completion of the Lower Pogues Run Tunnel, the contractor will back the TBM down to the bifurcation, and will then continue on with the remainder of the White River Tunnel.

Key Project Personnel – Construction PM: Stuart Lipofsky, P.E.; General Superintendent: Shannon Jennings; Assistant Project Manager/ Project Engineer: Percy Townsend; Safety Manager: Kyle Shickles; Equipment Superintendent: Keith Walter; Field Engineers: Eric Haacke, Zack Heinrich, Kendall Gadd, Chris Monahan, Max Engen. Inspection PM: Sam Cain, P.E. (AECOM). Owner: Citizens Energy Group – Manager of Construction: Mike Miller, P.E.; Supervisor Technical Lead: Tim Shutters; Construction Supervisor: John Morgan.

MARYLAND

Columbia
US 29 Transmission Main
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw recently completed the installation of 470 ft of 60-in. steel casing under U.S. Route 29 for a 36-in. water transmission main. The project was performed for the Howard County Department of Public Works, designed by O’Brien & Gere, with Marona Construction serving as the General Contractor. The 60-in. MTBM was a Herrenknecht AVN-1200. Tunnel depths ranged from 6 to 30 ft below the surface, with the alignment passing beneath the water table through dense silty sands and partially weathered rock. Bradshaw constructed a 32-ft diameter, 27-ft deep steel rib-and-liner plate launch shaft to facilitate tunneling activities, and the MTBM was recovered out of a trench box on the far side of the highway. The access shaft was constructed in a potential flood zone within 10 ft of active sanitary sewer and water lines, and within 50 ft of the Little Patuxent River. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

Columbia
US 29 Water Transmission Main – Route 108 Crossing
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw will soon begin construction for the next phase of the U.S. 29 Water Transmission Main project, installing 760 lf of 60-in. steel casing under Route 108 for a 36-in. water transmission main. Bradshaw recently completed a similar 470-ft drive as part of the previous phase to this project. The project will be performed for the Howard County Department of Public Works, designed by O’Brien & Gere, with W.F. Wilson & Sons serving as the General Contractor. Crews will use a 60-in. Herrenknecht AVN-1200 MTBM. Tunnel depths for the single drive will range from 6 to 30 ft below the surface, with the alignment passing beneath the water table through dense to loose silty sands. Bradshaw will construct a 32-ft diameter, 38-ft deep steel rib-and-board launch shaft to facilitate tunneling activities, as well as a 16-ft diameter, 20-ft deep rib-and-board shaft to recover the MTBM. The alignment will pass beneath an existing 24-in. RCP sewer with very low clearance, requiring precise control of tunnel grade. Tunnel construction is currently scheduled to begin in late spring 2017. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

Hyattsville
Coakley Terrace II
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw will soon begin construction of 830 ft of 43-in. steel casing under the Baltimore Washington Parkway for a 16-in. DIP water transmission main. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (Owner) contracted KCI Technologies (Engineer) and Sagres Construction (General Contractor) to construct the project, with Bradshaw being selected as a subcontractor. The 43-in. MTBM is a Herrenknecht AVN-800. Tunnel depths range from 8 to 35 ft below the surface, with the alignment passing beneath the water table through loose and dense silty sands. A 30-ft x 16-ft x 16-ft deep steel sheeted launch shaft will be driven to facilitate tunneling activities, and the MTBM will be recovered out of a trench box at the end of the alignment. The alignment will pass under existing 48-in. storm drains and an existing 12-in. gas line with minimal clearance. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

NEVADA

Las Vegas
Low Lake Level Pumping Station (L3PS) Project
Barnard of Nevada, Inc.

In May 2015, Barnard entered into a $440 million Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) contract with the Southern Nevada Water Authority for the L3PS project. The team began work on design completion of the underground work first. Barnard’s multi-discipline team worked with SNWA, construction manager Parsons, designers MW/HILL A Joint Venture, and other stakeholders to provide constructability, value engineering and cost estimate input during design completion for the shafts, cavern and 34 each pump well shafts. Once design and pricing were finalized, the underground construction work began in September 2015. To date, work has progressed on the Access Shaft excavation to approximately 450 ft deep, including concrete final lining and work as begun on the Surge Shaft Connection Tunnel. Of the 34 each well shafts, 19 each of the 8-ft diameter blind bore shafts and 6-ft diameter steel pump well casing have been completed. Work has also begun on the 144-in. Discharge Aqueduct pipelines. Concurrent with the underground construction, the above-ground pre-construction work continues with focus on the pumping station, including design, constructability and cost estimates. All work is estimated to be completed in 2020.

The underground work includes: 525-ft deep x 26-ft diameter Access Shaft; bulkhead to allow for future expansion; 80-ft deep x 26-ft diameter Riser Shaft to connect to existing Intake No. 3 connector tunnel; 33-ft wide x 36-ft high x 400-ft long horseshoe-shaped Forebay Cavern; Forebay Connector Tunnel; and 34 each drilled 8-ft diameter x 500-ft deep pump well shafts with steel-lined 6-ft diameter casings. The above-ground pumping station and accompanying appurtenances includes: 34-each 30 MGD submersible pumps; valves and discharge headers; surge tanks, electrical controls and starting equipment for the pumps; electrical control building; electrical feed from an onsite substation; and 5,550 lf of 144-in. discharge aqueducts for connecting the new pumping station to the existing water treatment plants.

Key Project Personnel – SNWA: Peter Jauch, Director of Engineering; Erika Moonin, Project Manager; Parsons: Kevin Ulrey, Construction Manager; MW/HILL: Ted Davis and Steve Hunt, Lead Engineers; Barnard: Operations Manager, Dan Schall; Project Manager, Jordan Hoover; Project Superintendent, Andy Granger; Chief Engineer, Brad Bush; Construction Superintendent, Mike Gilbertson; Superintendents, Engineers, and Safety: Tyler Askin, Chad Brinkerhoff, Nick Bowerman, Alex Casilla, Jeff Porter, Klaus Herbert, Dave Meyer, Steve Alsept, Tyler Komenda, Bill Kiehl, Pryde Lahr, Jimmy McGauley, Joerg Moser, Jake Richardson, Aaron Rustan, Bob Schaffer, Terry Swindle, Peter Turlington, Dan Heroux, Devin Weekly, and Leo Weiman.

NEW YORK

Newburgh/Wappingers Falls
Delaware Aqueduct – Rondout West Branch Tunnel
Schiavone Construction Co. LLC (BT-1); Kiewit/Shea (BT-2)

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) continues to work on its Delaware Aqueduct bypass tunnel project to address two leaking sections from the aqueduct. The $101 million BT-1 contract comprises two shafts on either side of the river. Shaft 5B (in Newburgh), a 30-ft finished diameter, 838-ft deep structure, and Shaft 6B (in Wappingers), a 33-ft finished diameter, 673-ft deep structure, are both complete.

Contract BT-2 is a $706 million contract construction a 2.5-mile long, 22-ft diamater bypass tunnel to replace the leaking portion. The headframe has been erected over Shaft 5B that will be used to lower the Robbins TBM and remove muck cars from the tunnel. Delivery of 40-steel tunnel sections from Louisiana by barge have begun. The steel tunnel sections are being used for extra support in the cracked and faulted limestone ground conditions. Crews have begun test blasting for the construction of the bellout chamber at the bottom of the shaft.

Gilboa
Schoharie Reservoir Low Level Outlet
Southland/Renda JV

This $142,636,000 project for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was given NTP on June 29, 2015, and has an estimated completion date of July 27, 2020.

Since the last update many major activities have been started and several others completed. The retaining wall and integrated planters have been completed and backfilled to the subgrade of the finished access road to the Gate Shaft. Phase 1 grading is complete site wide, including the dredge spoils pond. All marine equipment has been mobilized for the intake construction including the 230-ton crawler crane on the barge. Hydraulic dredging is nearly 75% complete and the 35-ft liner plate and rib cofferdam is fully assembled. Once the hydraulic and mechanical dredging is complete the cofferdam will be set on a leveling slab under 160-ft of water and the tremie concrete cast around it; this will serve as the underwater receiving pit for the MTBM. The manufacturing of the Permalok pipe has begun and is in full production; manufacturing is inspected by DEP at the plant and stored there until it is ready to be installed.

The pre-excavation grouting of the Gate Shaft is complete as well as the soft ground excavation and support. Blasting of the shaft started in August and will likely continue into the beginning of next year. The 40-ft diameter shaft is being excavated in 10-ft lifts through hard sandstone and supported by bolts, mesh and shotcrete. Groundwater infiltration has been minimal to this point thanks to the extensive grouting program installed by SRJV. The upper 80-ft of the rock excavation was blocky with multiple sand and clay seams but has tightened up considerably since then. The local power company made the temporary power drop and the power setup for the MTBM is complete.

SRJV proposed and DEP accepted an alternate support of excavation for the Valve Chamber; a soil nail wall in lieu of the soldier pile and lagging with tiebacks shown in the plans. The soil-nail wall is nearly complete with only the tie-in to the O-piles remaining. The upper level working slab with block-outs for the 12-3/4” caissons has been installed; the installation of the caissons in this area will begin early next year. All of the 30” O-piles have been installed and the 42” piles have been started. The O- piles were installed using an innovative” two-pass” system due to the dense gravels, cobbles and boulders within the overburden.

The duct bank across the stream has been installed and a portion of the stream excavation and armoring has been completed prior to the end of year work restriction due to the proximity to the eagle’s nests.

Upcoming work includes the completion of the Gate Shaft excavation, MTBM setup and testing, O-pile installation at the portal and caisson installation for the pipe supports. Intake construction on the reservoir will continue as long as weather permits to include mechanical dredging, cofferdam installation and tremie placement.

Other Major Parties Affiliated with the Project: DEP AM, Emory Chase; Project Designer (Gannett Fleming/Hazen Sawyer), Everette Knight; Tunnel Designer (COWI/Jenny Engineering), Leszek Glodkowski; Resident Engineer (HAKS/D&B/WGI), John Gerlach; MTBM Manufacturer, Herrenknecht

Key Project Personnel: SRJV Project Manager, John Arciszewski; Chief Engineer, Jim Delmonte; Project Engineers, Tim Bray and Joe Janke; General Superintendent, Dennis Proper; Safety Manager, Jose Perdomo. For information call John Arciszewski @ 607-588-4080

NORTH CAROLINA

Charlotte
Briar Creek Relief Sewer Phase III
Bradshaw Construction Corp.

Bradshaw has begun work on a project to install 60-in. steel casing for 42-in. gravity sewer underneath boulevards and railroads. Once complete, three tunnels totaling 378 lf will be installed by microtunneling. The subsurface conditions vary from soft ground of clay and silt, partially weathered rock, and granite. Bradshaw is also installing liner plate launch shafts for the tunnels. The project was scheduled to be completed from September 2016 to January 2017. Information: Mike Wanhatalo, Project Manager; mwanhatalo@bradshawcc.com.

Raleigh
Crabtree & Upper Pigeon House Interceptor Tunnels Project
Bradshaw Construction Corp.

Bradshaw is in construction on a $21 million sewer project that consists of approximately 3,000 ft of 1-pass and 2-pass microtunneling at 11 locations. The City decided to let a separate trenchless general contract in advance of the 30,000 ft of future open-cut pipeline contracts. Casing size is 60- and 72-in. and the FRP pipe is 42- to 57-in. Subsurface conditions range from alluvium and residual soil to partially and unweathered hard granitic rock and mixed face. Information: Mike Wanhatalo, Project Manager; mwanhatalo@bradshawcc.com.

TENNESSEE

Chattanooga
North St. Elmo Tunnels
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw will soon begin constructing three tunnels as part of a stormwater sewer improvement project. The City of Chattanooga (Owner) has contracted Civic Engineering & IT Inc. (Engineer) and Wright Brothers Construction Co. Inc. (General Contractor) to construct the project, with Wright selecting Bradshaw as tunneling subcontractor. The three tunnels will be constructed utilizing mechanized Akkerman tunnel shields with cutterwheels, two tunnels at 86-in. diameter (Akkerman WM720C) and one at 74-in. diameter (Akkerman WM600C). The smaller diameter tunnel will be a 250 ft drive, direct jacking 72-in. FRP as the final product pipe. The two large diameter tunnels will pass underneath active Norfolk Southern Railroad lines, requiring the installation of 84-in. steel liner plates to facilitate the installation of 66-in. (195 lf) and 60-in. (135 lf) FRP. All three tunnels will be excavated through foundry sand fill, with fragments of glass and slag expected. Contaminated ground is expected, requiring extensive safety measures to be implemented to guarantee the safety of all involved with the work. Construction was expected to begin on the 72-in. direct jack in late winter 2016, with the first railroad crossing immediately after. The second railroad crossing will occur in fall 2017. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

VIRGINIA

Portsmouth/Norfolk
Elizabeth River Tunnels (ERT) Project
SKW Constructors (Skanska/Kiewit/Weeks Marine JV)

The ERT Project is a $2.1 billion P3 project ($1.5 billion construction) for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The concessionaire is Elizabeth River Crossings OpCo, LLC (ERC) (a Skanska/Macquarie JV). The New Midtown Tunnel Construction portion of the contract, connecting US 58 between Portsmouth and Norfolk via immersed tube, reached substantial completion on Aug. 26, 2016, four months ahead of the Dec. 24, 2016, scheduled completion date.

Other project deliverable include:

• Existing Downtown Tunnel Rehabilitation – Contract substantial completion date was Dec. 24, 2016; achieved substantial completion on Aug. 5, 2016 (4.5 months ahead of schedule)
• Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Construction – Contract substantial completion date is Dec. 24, 2016; achieved substantial completion on Dec. 28,
• Existing Midtown Tunnel Rehabilitation – Contract substantial completion date is May 11, 2018; currently running several months ahead of schedule.

The entire project is approximately 97% complete based on billing (as of Dec. 30, 2016).

VDOT Construction Manager/Owner’s Representative: Bradley Weidenhammer , VDOT Megaprojects Engineer – Elizabeth River Tunnels Project; Concessionaire’s Representative: Greg Woodsmall, ERC CEO; Project Lead Design: Parsons Brickerhoff (Fred Parsons); Project Director Design-Build Contractor: SKW Constructors (Wade Watson); Project Assistant Director: SKW Constructors (Tom Fulton); Project Construction Manager: SKW Constructors (Pete Guthorn); Concessionaire’s (Elizabeth River Crossings OpCo) Public Information Representative (Leila Rice at 757-932-4415 or LRice@ERCOPCO.com); SKW Constructor’s Communications Representative (Stephen Meyers at 757-879-2027 or stephen.meyers@skanska.com).

Quantico
Arkendale Third Track Slipline Repair
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw recently completed an emergency slipline repair project for KC Constructors (Kiewit-Clark JV). During the construction of a new track for CSX railroad, supportive steel sheeting was driven through an existing 60-in. RCP storm drain, requiring corrective measures. KC Constructors subcontracted Bradshaw to diagnose and repair the damage. After an initial exploration, 50 ft of 54-in. FRP was ordered and Bradshaw excavated a trench-box access shaft over the line directly downstream from the damaged joint and saw-cut an opening through the storm drain. The steel sheeting was cut and removed from inside of the storm drain, and the 50ft of FRP was installed and grouted into place. All saw-cut work performed on the RCP for access was repaired, and the storm drain is back in full operation. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

Radford
I-81 Northbound Bridge Replacement Tunnels
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw will soon begin constructing four tunnels for stormwater management for a bridge replacement along I-81. The Virginia Department of Transportation (Owner), has contracted Whitman, Requardt & Associates LLP (Engineer) and Vecellio & Grogan Inc. (General Contractor) to construct the project, with Vecellio & Grogan selecting Bradshaw as tunneling subcontractor. The four tunnels will be constructed utilizing mechanized Akkerman tunnel shields with cutterwheels, two tunnels for 48-in. diameter RCP (Akkerman WM480C) and two for 42-in. diameter RCP (Akkerman WM420C). The larger diameter tunnels will be 211 ft and 145 ft, and the smaller diameter tunnels will be 134 ft and 77 ft. The tunnels will pass through medium to dense silt and soft clay. The project is currently scheduled to begin in early Summer 2017. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

Stafford
Route 1 North Sewer Improvements
Bradshaw Construction Corporation

Bradshaw will soon begin the construction of 400 ft of 43-in. steel casing under Route 1 in for a 30-in. DIP gravity sewer. The Stafford County DPU (Owner) has contracted Whitman, Requardt & Associates (Engineer) and W.C. Spratt Inc. (General Contractor) to construct the project, with Bradshaw being selected as a subcontractor. The 43-in. MTBM is a Herrenknecht AVN-800. Tunnel depths range from 15 to 20 ft below the surface, with the alignment passing beneath the water table through silty sand, clay, and the potential for cobbles and small boulders. The project was scheduled to begin in late winter 2016. Project Information: Jordan Bradshaw – Project Manager; Jordan.bradshaw@bradshawcc.com.

WASHINGTON

Seattle
Northgate Link Extension, Contract N125, TBM Tunnels (UW to Maple Leaf Portal)
JCM Northlink LLP (Jay Dee/ Coluccio/ Michels JV)

This $440,321,000 light rail extension project for Sound Transit received NTP on Sept. 30, 2013, and had a substantial completion milestone of Feb. 11, 2018. The project consists of approximately 18,400 lf of twin bore tunnels with an internal diameter of 18-ft, 10-in. The tunnels were driven through glacially deposited soils using EPB tunnel boring machines and lined with a single-pass, pre-cast, bolted and gasketed concrete liner. This contract also includes 23 cross passages and provides the shoring and excavation of the station boxes for two underground light rail stations and a portal structure to transition the light rail tracks from tunnels to elevated guideway.

The northbound running tunnel began tunneling from the Maple Leaf Portal in July 2014 and completed the drive to University of Washington Station on March 30, 2016. The southbound running tunnel began tunneling from MLP in late November 2014 and completed the drive to UWS on Sept. 1, 2016.

Other Major Parties Affiliated with the Project – Tunnel Designer: McMillen Jacobs Associates; Construction Management, NorthStar JV (CH2M, Jacobs Engr.); Major Subcontractors include DBM, Case Foundations, Bencor, Elcon, Sundancer, Hayward Baker, Soldata. TBM manufacturers; Hitachi Zosen, Robbins. Segment manufacturer; CSI/Hanson

Key Project Personnel – Owner: Don Davis, Executive Project Director; Rick Capka, Principal Construction Manager; Brad Cowles, Construction Manager.

Contractor: Tom DiPonio, Managing Partner; Mike DiPonio, Project Executive; Gregg Olsen, Project Manager; Brian Hagan, Deputy Project Manager; Jerry Pordon, General Superintendent.

Construction Management: Paul Gasson, Project Manager; Roger Mitchell, Resident Engineer; Anthony Pooley, Section Manager; Derek Dugan, Section Manager.

Seattle
SR 99 Tunnel Project
Seattle Tunnel Partners (Dragados USA/Tutor Perini JV)

Since leaving Safe Haven No. 3 on April 29, 2016, to tunnel under the Alaskan Way Viaduct and to continue its northward journey under downtown Seattle, the TBM tunneled 5,222 ft before stopping on Dec. 20, 2016, for maintenance, bringing the total length of tunneling to 6,731 ft. Tunneling of the remaining 2,542 ft will resume on Jan. 3, 2017, to complete the 9,273 ft tunnel drive by mid-2017. Construction of the double-deck highway structure inside the tunnel continued on schedule concurrently with the TBM tunneling with over 5,000 ft of corbels (foundations for lower deck and lower walls), over 4,000 ft of lower walls, and over 3,000 of upper deck completed. Work continued on construction of the tunnel operations buildings at the north and south ends of the tunnel.

Key project personnel – Seattle Tunnel Partners Executive Committee: Jack Frost, Jose Luis Mendez Sanchez; Project Manager: Chris Dixon; Deputy Project Manager: Paco Gonzalez; Construction Coordinator: Bill Monahan; Tunnel Manager: Roger Escoda; Tunnel Construction Manager: Juan Luis Magro; Tunnel Superintendents: Tom McMahon, Jorge Vazquez; Civil Construction Manager: Joel Burch; Assistant Civil Construction Manager: Keith Burch; Civil Superintendents: Ben Taylor, Chris Whorton, Nathan Burch; Safety Manager: Dan Weathers; Quality Manager: Wally Chen. Information: Chris Dixon, (206) 971-8215.

CANADA
ONTARIO

Toronto
Eglinton Crosstown LRT
KO Constructors (West), Aecon/ACS Dragdos Canada (East)

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is an east-west light rail transit line that will run along and underneath Eglinton Avenue through the heart of Toronto from Mount Dennis (Weston Road) in the west to Kennedy subway station in the east. The LRT includes 10 km of tunneled alignment from Black Creek Road in the west to Brentcliffe Road in the east.

The tunneled portions were divided into two contracts – a West contract and an East contract. All tunneling has been completed. Crews are now working on station excavation as well as finishing work.

The West contract was awarded in September 2012 for $317.9 million to KO Constructors (a joint venture of Kenadian Contracting Ltd., Obayashi Canada Ltd., Kenny Construction Co. and Technicore Underground Inc.). The contract involved twin tunnels from Black Creek Road to Yonge Street. Tunneling was completed using twin 5.75-m ID TBMs to build the 6.5-km alignment.

The East contract was awarded in November 2013 for $177 million to a joint venture of Aecon and ACS Dragados Canada. The project involves twin TBMs, also 5.75-m ID, to mine twin 3.35-km tunnels from Brentcliffe Road westward to Yonge Street.

The post TUNNEL UPDATES appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

The Ship Canal Water Quality Project Final Supplemental EIS is now available. All documents and information about appeals are available on the project website.

The Ship Canal Water Quality Project is part of the City of Seattle and King County‘s plan to address combined sewer overflows. When completed, it will keep nearly 60 million gallons of overflow from entering the Ship Canal, Salmon Bay and Lake Union each year. The project includes a storage tunnel with an estimated nominal diameter of 14 to 18 ft and a depth of approximately 120 ft. The length of the tunnel is approximately 14,000 lf. Construction bids are estimated to be approximately $200 million.

According to the website, project design is projected to be complete this year with construction commencing in 2018. The timeline calls for the project to be operation by 2026.

Further information is available in form of a YouTube video.

RELATED: Louisville, Ky., Plans Extended Sewer Tunnel

The post Seattle Ship Canal Tunnel Posts Final Supplemental EIS appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

WIG Wietersdorfer Holding GmbH and Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company announced in December their plans to merge their European pipe businesses HOBAS Europe and Amiantit Europe including FLOWTITE Technology. Both companies are specialized in the production of high performance plastic pipe systems and plan to operate as one unit under a 50:50 ownership structure.

“HOBAS and Amiantit Europe have distinct competences that fit perfectly alongside each other. HOBAS is a specialist for ‘centrifugally cast’, Amiantit for ’continuous filament wound’ pipe systems,” according to a press release issued by both Hobas and Amiantit.

The headquarters for the new business will be in Klagenfurt, Austria. The production of pipes, which are mainly used for drinking water, irrigation, waste water, hydropower and industry, will continue in Germany, Austria, Spain, Poland and Romania. The product brands of HOBAS and FLOWTITE are essential and will be further developed by the new company.

RELATED: HOBAS Pipe Selected for Denver Outfall Project

“Through the merger both companies will concentrate strengths and grow together. Together we have a unique team of talented and experienced individuals. This is our greatest asset and guarantee of future success. Our combined product portfolio will enable more focused customer solutions and facilitate growth against traditional pipe technologies. Both businesses have a history of innovation and we are excited by the possibilities of merging the technologies,” the press release reported.

Research and development will continue in Sandefjord, Norway, and Wietersdorf, Austria. Until the relevant competition authorities approve the merger both HOBAS Europe and Amiantit Europe will operate independently. Each company currently has around 650 employees.

RELATED: Thompson Pipe Group—Flowtite Hires Rahman

The post HOBAS, Amiantit Combine European Businesses appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Portions of the TBM are lowered during an Oct. 19, 2016, ceremony for the Regional Connector project in Los Angeles. With the passage of Measure M in the November election, more projects will follow. (Photo by Gary Leonard for Metro.)

We enter 2017 on a promising note for the tunneling market in North America. The November election in the United States showed strong support for public transportation with the passage of Measure M in Los Angeles and ST3 in Seattle.

Measure M is a sales tax measure that will allocate $860 million annually for transportation projects in the Los Angeles area for the next 40 years. Measure M is a follow-on tax increase to Measure R, which took effect in 2009. The passage of Measure R has led to an expansion of the LA Metro transit system, including three mega-projects underway that include tunneling and underground construction: the Crenshaw/LAX, Regional Connector and Purple Line Extension Phase 1 projects. Metro is already moving forward with the Purple Line Phase 2 as the board was to approve Tutor Perini/O&G as the contractor.

ST3 in Seattle will provide $54 billion in funding to expand and improve transportation in the Puget Sound region, including 62 additional miles of light rail to complete the 116-mile regional system. Sound Transit is currently building extensions to the north and east, and will continue this expansion in the coming years.

In the U.S. presidential election, both candidates talked about the need to build infrastructure, which should bode well for the tunneling market as well. One of the projects most closely associated with the need to upgrade our infrastructure is the Gateway Project in the New York metropolitan area, which includes construction of a new tunnel under the Hudson River to provide additional capacity and allow the existing 100-plus-year-old tunnel to be rehabilitated.

RELATED: Is this the Golden Age of Tunneling?

HNTB’s Diana Mendes, senior vice president and leader of the firm’s transit/rail market sector, shares her views on the results of the election in this issue’s Commentary on page 50.

In this issue we present our annual Tunnel Industry Outlook in which we poll tunneling professionals across the continent on their views of the market, its opportunities and challenges as we enter the New Year. The panel, which comprises a cross-section of engineers, contractors and vendors, share the consensus that the market is rife with opportunity, although not without some obstacles that still need to be overcome – including a need for skilled workers, a lack of funding, and increasingly more complex projects. To see the full Outlook, see page 14.

As always, each new year begins with a bang in January with the presentation of the Moles and Beavers awards in New York and Los Angeles, respectively. With the World Tunnel Congress in San Francisco now a memory, 2017 also sees the return of the regular U.S. tunneling event as RETC heads to San Diego in June. I hope to see many of you at these, and other, events in the coming months.

Regards,
Jim Rush
Editor/Publisher

The post A Promising Future for Tunneling appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Dan Louis leads the PL3 Partners tunneling workshop.

PL3 Partners recently presented a free workshop to help disadvantaged businesses learn about tunneling and underground construction opportunities on upcoming contracts for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

HNTB-led PL3 Partners – a joint venture between HNTB, Jacobs, JGM and EPC – is committed to providing resources to local disadvantaged businesses. The workshop, entitled “Introduction to Tunneling and Underground Construction for Los Angeles Disadvantaged Business Enterprises,” took place in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 18, attracting more than 30 attendees.

The goal of the workshop was to promote opportunities to participate in future related work and increasing attendees’ large-project capabilities.

“Through this introductory workshop, we are pleased to offer DBEs the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals about specific projects and requirements for participation on mega-project contracts,” said Dan Louis, PE, HNTB vice president and Southern California PM/CM director and tunnel practice director.  “All of us at PL3 Partners made a commitment to provide resources to guide and mentor small businesses so they are not only aware of partnering opportunities, but are better prepared to play a meaningful role in underground mega-projects, including Metro’s Purple Line Extension Section 3.”

RELATED: Slimp Advances to Chairman, President and CEO of HNTB Holdings

Attendees had the opportunity to learn from PL3 Partners’ tunneling and mega-project engineers about challenging projects both within Los Angeles and other regions. The program agenda included: mega-projects overview, work sequencing, environmental and community issues, utility relocation, pre-tunneling activities, tunnel boring machines, station construction, rail systems, staffing needs and experience, potential training and development opportunities, and concluded with a Q&A session.

HNTB is a leading infrastructure solutions firm in the U.S., with roots to the West since beginning work on Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco Bridge in 1914, the firm’s first year of operation, and has since been involved in some of the region’s most high-profile, complex infrastructure programs.

HNTB’s many signature infrastructure projects in Southern California include the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement, Interstate 405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements project, the Tom Bradley International Terminal Expansion for Los Angeles World Airports, and the “Green Build” expansion at San Diego International Airport.

RELATED: HNTB Named CM for Thimble Shoal Tunnel

The post HNTB-led PL3 Partners Hosts Tunneling Workshop in LA appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Akkerman Inc. announced the addition of the 1325B Lubrication and Bentonite Pump to its line-up of guided boring lubrication solutions. The 1325B is a hydraulically driven, high-pressure bentonite pump for effective pilot tube lubrication and flushing of cuttings, particularly on long bores and downward slope alignments.

The robust 1325B Lubrication and Bentonite Pump is ideal for guided boring, guided auger boring and soft rock projects using the Rock Drill Adapter and Tri-Hawk drill bit as well as pressure cleaning applications.

The unit will displace a Marsh Funnel viscosity as high as 50 seconds to flush cuttings with impressive pump flow up to 6 gpm (22.7 L/min) at 2,600 psi (17,926 kPa). The pump meets a full spectrum of project requirements to handle a viscosity range of slurry up to 50 Marsh Funnel seconds.

The 325 gallon (1,230 L) tank features in-tank agitation for aggressive and continuous mixing. The 1325B can independently agitate or agitate and pump to maintain mud viscosity. The tank presents enough fluid capacity for the average 400-lf (122-m) bore.

RELATED: Akkerman Announces Dealership Agreement in Mexico

The 1325B is powered by an electric start Kohler gasoline engine with 14 hp (10 kW) and a 1.9 gal (7.3 L) fuel tank.

Not only is the 1325B Lubrication and Bentonite Pump robust, it is also simple, safe and reliable. There are few moving parts, no belts and a shrouded agitator. The stepped platform makes it easy for operators to access or fill the tank. The battery is located inside a plastic housing to eliminate contact with operators. If the pump runs dry, it will not cause internal damage. The unit’s relief valve limits the pump’s maximum pressure and pressure can be adjusted to match tooling requirements. An in-shaft control pendant comes standard and allows operators to vary flow and pressure as needed.

The unit is compact and portable on the project site and sized for quadcon container storage in colder climates with dimensions of 58-in. (1,473 mm) (h) x 88.25-in. (2,241 mm) (l) x 46.5-in. (1,181 mm) (w).

RELATED: Colorado’s Michigan Ditch Tunnel 

The post Akkerman Launches 1325B Pump appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Clark

Gordon Clark, PE, joined HNTB Corp. as technical director – tunnels and complex underground structures and vice president. Clark is based in the firm’s Bellevue, Washington, office and works with clients nationwide.

Clark has more than 30 years of experience as an engineering consultant, leading and managing the planning, design and construction of large, multidisciplinary civil infrastructure projects. He has both technical and managerial experience on several multibillion-dollar mega projects with extensive hands-on experience in the planning and design of large-diameter tunnels and underground structures.

“Gordon brings an incredibly diverse array of experience in a realm of tunnel and complex underground structures across several market areas, from the Seattle area and internationally,” said Sanja Zlatanic, PE, HNTB tunnel services practice chairman and senior vice president. “His technical and design management expertise, knowledge of planning, design and construction, and great attention to project critical elements including mitigating project risks, enable him to provide a wide range of solutions to HNTB clients for tunneling and underground projects.”

RELATED: Slimp Advances to Chairman, President and CEO of HNTB Holdings

At HNTB, Clark’s responsibilities include leading complex designs, technical investigations, innovations, analyses, and construction of tunnels and underground facilities. He also will lead a multidisciplinary group of technical staff in developing criteria, determining alternative alignments, providing innovative technical concepts and detailed designs for quality delivery. He will help Zlatanic in further expanding the national tunnel practice in the West, nationally and internationally.

Prior to joining HNTB, Clark served another consulting firm as vice president, senior engineering manager and senior project manager/senior professional associate. He has served as technical director, project manager, engineering manager, and structural designer on projects involving transit stations, bored and cut-and-cover tunnels and shafts, highways, bridges, retaining walls, light and heavy rail transit systems, physics research facilities, and municipal water treatment/drainage systems in the United States and abroad.

Clark has made numerous presentations and been published many times, including “Istanbul Strait Road Tube Crossing: Challenges, Risks and Mitigation Strategies,” at the World Tunnel Conference and “Geotechnical Baseline for the Alaskan Way Tunnel, Seattle, Washington,” at the Rapid Tunneling and Excavation Conference.

RELATED: Clark Participates in P3 Roundtable

Clark’s addition expands HNTB’s in-depth experience in providing innovative solutions and managing risks on tunneling projects in the highway, transit, rail, aviation and water resources markets. The firm’s tunnel projects range from small-diameter excavations to the largest machine-bored tunnel in the world. Some of the nation’s most complex underground projects have benefited from HNTB’s award-winning planning, design and support services, including the Crenshaw/LAX transit corridor in Los Angeles; Presidio Parkway in San Francisco; Devil’s Slide Tunnel in San Mateo, Calif., the Washington Dulles International Airport tunnels and the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement project in Seattle.

Clark is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; Society of Mining Engineers and American Underground Construction Association. He earned a Master of Science in structural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Oregon State University.

RELATED: Zlatanic Named National Tunnel Practice Chair for HNTB

The post Clark Joins HNTB appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.