The Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council, which aims to explore the regulation and permitting of hyperloop technology to bring this new form of mass transportation to the United States, was announced by US DOT Secretary Elaine Chao March 12 at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. (Read Secratary Chao’s full remarks here.)

Virgin Hyperloop One has been engaged with the DOT and Secretary Chao for months, taking the necessary steps to commercialize this technology in the United States. This council is the culmination of months of work at the federal, state and local level.

“I want to thank Secretary Chao for her leadership setting up this forward-thinking council at DOT,” said Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. “Virgin Hyperloop One is eager to continue working with the Secretary and her team. Through our recent conversations it is clear she wants to be at the forefront of exploring innovative technologies to improve transportation in the United States.”

As hyperloop is a new mode of mass transportation, it requires a forward-thinking consortium to bring this to commercialization in the United States. While some components are similar to rail, there are other components like cabin pressurization that look similar to a plane. The council will explore how to integrate expertise across the Department to expedite or facilitate these projects moving forward.

“Hyperloop is a new mode of transportation that is built for the 21st century,” said Jay Walder, CEO of Virgin Hyperloop One. “We want to be the company that spearheads the next giant leap forward in transportation here in the United States but we know we can’t do it alone. We applaud the DOT for their support of this technology.”

Alongside hyperloop, the council will explore emerging technologies like tunneling, autonomous vehicles, and other innovations. The council will ensure that the traditional modal silos at the DOT do not impede the deployment of new technologies.

“New technologies increasingly straddle more than one mode of transportation, so I’ve signed an order creating a new internal Department council to better coordinate the review of innovations that have multi-modal applications,” said Secretary Chao.

The council will hold its first planning meeting this week, and will be chaired by Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen and vice chaired by Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Derek Kan. Other seats will be occupied by modal administrators and other high-ranking DOT officials.

RELATED: Tunneling and Hyperloop – Q&A with HARP’s Brad Swartzwelter

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The Breakthroughs in Tunneling Short Course, the longest-running and most-attended course of its kind, marks its 12^th year in 2019. The 2019 course returns to the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, Sept. 9-11, 2019, where leading tunnel practitioners from around the world will come together to present real-world solutions for real-world problems.

At the Breakthroughs in Tunneling Short Course, attendees will learn about every aspect of tunneling from planning and design to construction and management. Recent technological developments and innovative solutions to challenging tunneling projects with significant case histories will also be presented. This course is designed for people new to the market, as well as industry veterans.

“This is a fantastic course to learn the basics of tunneling and some of the more advanced techniques of tunneling,” said Gregg Sherry, Principal, Brierley Associates and frequent speaker. “If you want to learn anything about tunneling, this is the course to attend.”

Attendees of this course receive valuable networking opportunities and a chance to discuss specific projects one-on-one with world-leading experts. The annual Tunneling Awards Reception provides one such night where the annual Tunnel Achievement Award is formally presented. To date, there have been over 1,100 people that have attended since the first course.

The Breakthroughs in Tunneling Short Course is organized by Dr. Levent Ozdemir, Ozdemir & Associates, and Tim Coss, Microtunneling Inc., in conjunction with TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine/Benjamin Media Inc.

For more information, visit http://tunnelingshortcourse.com/. For program and technical questions, contact Levent Ozdemir at lozdemir1977@aol.com or 303-999-1390.  For more information on sponsoring at the course contact Brittany Cline at bcline@benjaminmedia.com or call 330-315-2150.

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Aldea Services announced the appointment of Antonio Garcia Povill to the position of Senior Structural Engineer in the Markham, Ontario, office. Povill is an award-winning structural engineer with nearly 30 years of global experience.

Povill has participated either as a design engineer or lead structural engineer in the design of large civil engineering structures, including 17 underground metro stations, tunnel approach portals, motorway cut-and-cover projects, underground water storage tanks and underground garages, as well as bridges, viaducts and foundations.

“The tunneling industry requires a multitude of talents. Antonio has the kind of experience that makes him a valuable asset to us on any project,” said Bob Goodfellow, president of Aldea Services. “We are delighted that Antonio chose to take a leap of faith across the Atlantic and join Aldea Services.”

“In the course of my career I’ve worked in large firms and small and have run my own company. I am really looking forward to working within the family environment that Aldea has, and the increased responsibility and client interactions that come with this environment,” Povill said.

RELATED: Aldea Services Welcomes Maguire, Announces Corporate Changes

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Herrenknecht’s E-Power Pipe method received the bauma Innovation Award.

Herrenknecht kicked off the international trade fair bauma in Munich by winning the bauma Innovation Award 2019 in the “Machine” category. The award, honoring Herrenknecht’s E-Power Pipe method for the environmentally friendly installation of underground cables, was presented to Ulrich Schaffhauser, Management Board member, during the opening ceremony.

“In its first deployments, the E-Power Pipe method has already proven to be very convincing. Thanks to the trenchless installation of underground cables, it protects the environment to the greatest possible extent, allows for a rapid construction progress with high quality and is also very economical,” said Schaffhauser.

The method was jointly developed by Herrenknecht in cooperation with Amprion GmbH and RWTH Aachen University and has already proven success in first projects, which was a prerequisite for winning the Innovation Award.

The Herrenknecht Group is represented at bauma 2019 with four booths on a total of approximately 1,600 square meters of exhibition space. The company has invited representatives of contractors, clients and planners from around the world here to present them the latest trends and developments in tunneling technology as well as current tunnel projects.

At its main booth focusing on “Tunneling,” Herrenknecht demonstrates where the journey in tunneling is going. Pioneering technology that makes the tunneling process faster and more efficient, web-based services, 400 features and functions for “Safer Operations” as well as Europe’s largest urban infrastructure project “Grand Paris Express” will be presented. The Group Brands booth opposite presents the Herrenknecht Group’s entire portfolio of upstream and downstream equipment and services provided by highly specialized subsidiaries. Visitors from the mining sector can discuss the latest excavation technologies in that field with their colleagues at the Mining booth.

“Once again, we are expecting our most important customers as well as project partners from around the world and look forward to the constructive dialog about the present and the future in tunneling,” says Martin Herrenknecht, founder and Chairman of the Board of Management. “For us, bauma is an ideal platform for informing the industry about groundbreaking technology innovations. Receiving the bauma Innovation Award 2019 for E-Power Pipe is a successful start.”

As the leading industry event, the world’s largest trade fair sets the trends of the future. With almost
3,500 exhibitors, an estimated 580,000 visitors from more than 219 countries and an exhibition area of 605,000 square meters, bauma 2019 already promises to be a record-breaking trade fair.

RELATED: Herrenknecht Innovations Keep Pipeline Projects Moving

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Having delivered seven TBMs to Thai underground works projects in the last three years (representing every machine currently being operated in the country), TERRATEC continues to make great progress, with a number of milestones being celebrated over recent months.

In Bangkok, solid results are already being seen on the first phase of tunneling for the Orange Line metro project, as well as on a number of tight radius Earth Pressure Balance Machine (EPBM) drives for drainage and cable tunnel projects across the capital. Meanwhile, in the northern province of Chiang Mai, two TERRATEC hard rock Double Shields are achieving steady progress on the 25-km long Phase 2 tunneling works for the Royal Irrigation Department’s Mae Tang-Mae Ngad water diversion project.

In January, TERRATEC joined workers and officials in celebrating the launch of the 6.39-m diameter S70 EPB machine by contractor Italian-Thai Development PCL (ITD) on one of three underground civil works contracts for the first 23-km long (East) phase of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand’s (MRTA) Orange Line Project.

Contract E3, which was awarded to ITD in May 2017, totals over 6 km of TBM-driven tunnel and three underground stations, extending from Hua Mak to Khlong Ban Ma. The S70 machine began mining westward from the Khlong Ban Ma station box on Jan. 12, 2019, and quickly got up to speed following its initial drive. By late-March, the TBM had already mined 400 m – achieving progress rates of up to 18 rings per day – and had undertaken its first intermediate breakthrough into a ventilation shaft (IVS 17) where it was undergoing a cutterhead inspection.

The TERRATEC S70 TBM was designed to tackle the variable soft ground geology of the city – which ranges from soft and medium to stiff and very stiff clays, with lenses of dense sand and the potential for high pressure groundwater inflows – as well as the need to mine through numerous diaphragm wall shafts and, potentially, concrete piles.

“We are in a very congested area of the city, tunneling underneath a busy highway that has a flyover directly above it and buildings with deep foundations on both sides,” says Prakin Arunotong, Senior Vice President of ITD’s MRT Business Unit. “So we need to carefully protect those structures during tunneling and station construction.”

In order to handle these challenging conditions, the TBM’s soft ground cutterhead features a spoke style and the addition of back-loading knife bits to assist break-in and break-out of the shafts. In addition, the machine is fitted with an active bentonite face support injection system and double gated screw, to ensure face stability and mitigate settlement during excavation in areas of flowing sands and high groundwater pressure.

As the machine progresses along the alignment, it is installing a precast concrete segmental lining consisting of five x 1,200-mm wide Universal style segments plus key, with an internal diameter of 5.7 m. These are being produced by ITD at the same factory used for segment manufacture during its MRT Blue Line underground works contract five years ago, which also employed a TERRATEC TBM.

In total, TBM tunnelling operations for ITD’s Orange Line (East) contract are expected to last approximately two years and are being assisted at all times by TERRATEC’s highly experienced Field Service staff – who’s quality after sales support service has created very loyal client-base in Thailand – to ensure optimum performance and successful project completion.

“We have worked closely with TERRATEC since 2012, when we won our MRT Blue Line extension contract,” says Arunotong. “TERRATEC has a very similar working style to our own and because of this we consider our partnership with them as more of an ‘Alliance’ than that of the traditional contractor-TBM manufacturer relationship.”

Bangkok’s new Orange Line will eventually total about 35.4 km with 26.2 km aligned underground with 23 underground stations and another 9 km and seven stations on elevated structures. When complete, in 2023, the Orange Line will provide a vital transportation link from Bangkok’s city center to districts in the east, reducing traffic congestion and paving the way for improved accessibility, economic growth and new residential and commercial opportunities along the alignment.

RELATED: First TERRATEC TBM Breaks Through on Mumbai Metro

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(From left) Pamela Moran, Schneider Moran; Bob Goodfellow, Aldea Services; Lonnie Jacobs, Frontier-Kemper; Matt Preedy, Sound Transit; and Art Silber, Mott MacDonald.

Representatives from the Underground Construction Association (UCA) of SME joined American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) members from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico March 13 for ASCE’s Legislative Fly-In.  The annual event provided a platform for UCA members to share with congressional decision-makers the importance of tunneling and infrastructure construction.

Attending the Fly-In on behalf of UCA were executive committee members Pamela Moran, Schneider Moran; Bob Goodfellow, Aldea Services; Lonnie Jacobs, Frontier-Kemper; Matt Preedy, Sound Transit; and Art Silber, Mott MacDonald. Also involved in the planning and coordination were UCA staff Dave Kanagy and Tara Davis, UCA Chair Mike Roach, Traylor Brothers, and UCA executive committee member Erika Moonin, Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The day started with a briefing for those attending the Fly-In on strategies and “dos and don’ts” of talking with lawmakers and their staff. Armed with informational materials including ASCE’s Infrastructure Report Card, participants split up to meet with their individual state senators and congressional representatives.  In addition to the Report Card, UCA members left a copy of the History of Tunneling in the United States book that showcases the impact the U.S. tunneling industry has had on the country’s transportation and water infrastructure networks.

“UCA has always been interested in getting our voice heard by lawmakers, and we are fortunate to partner with ASCE in making it a reality,” Goodfellow said. “With infrastructure being a popular topic, the lawmakers that we met with were very receptive to our message.”

RELATED: NAT Returns with Strong Turnout in DC

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Silicon Valley Clean Water’s (SVCW) Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade (RESCU) program is paving the way for the future of wastewater management and capital improvement upgrades using Microsoft’s collaborative tools and other contemporary technology for its complex and innovative approach to project delivery.

The RESCU program is a $495 million capital improvement upgrade that incorporates in excess of 50 construction and consulting companies, five methods of funding and includes 11 projects that constitute full replacement and rehabilitation of SVCW’s conveyance system originally built 45 years ago. It represents the first progressive design-build (PDB) tunneling project in the United States spanning inland 3.3 miles from the San Francisco Bay. This unique approach is necessary to ensure that “the project is executed in the most cost-effective and time-efficient way, with the least amount of impact on this community,” said Teresa Herrera, Manager of the Silicon Valley Clean Water RESCU Program.

The benefits of selecting PDB include timely owner input on important decisions with key design engineers and contractors co-located at the site, a tightly managed project schedule and better price certainty, but according to Kim Hackett, Authority Engineer for SVCW, “the biggest value PDB has provided is the selection of great minds working together around the table, on site, contributing daily to this program.”

A unique aspect of RESCU is the co-location of various team members from a myriad of companies. This poses an interesting challenge in how to enable necessary collaboration. The seamless communication between various teams for this complex construction program is made possible with the utilization of Microsoft Teams collaborative technology implemented by Microsoft Partner, Nexinite.

Nexinite, a San Francisco, Bay Area-based cloud solutions provider, enables SVCW to manage costs, improve collaboration, increase transparency and provide a more secure document control system by allowing all team members to access all program communications from one central cloud location. Herrera noted “Microsoft Teams has proven to be a valuable resource for SVCW because it allows all parties involved to collaborate in the most efficient, effective and smartest way possible.”

RESCU will establish a new standard for the future of wastewater infrastructure and create a new imperative role for IT solutions within construction projects of this magnitude throughout all industries. Other cutting-edge technology, such as virtual reality, for design reviews will be used over the life of this program. With the hopeful addition of Augmented Reality, these futuristic tools will allow the team of builders to not only see what has been constructed, but also what will be added in the future, giving the team the foresight to anticipate upcoming challenges and solutions.

Aren Hansen, Supervising Engineer with Brown & Caldwell said, “VR is a great way to get Operations and Maintenance input without having to wade through 700 sheets of drawings to get perspective on visual and spatial review. It helps everyone understand the environment as the project is being built.”

The RESCU program is vital to ensuring that the surrounding communities will have a reliable sewer conveyance system for decades to come. Members of the community working on the program are proud to have a hand in improving the public’s health and safety. “I’ve lived in the service area for over 20 years now and am very happy and proud to be part of this organization that is supporting our community, my community,” says Mark Minkowski, RESCU Program Manager.

RELATED: GraphicSchedule Software Available for Large, Complex Projects

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San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has awarded Atkinson a $48 million contract for the Central Water Integration Pipeline Segment 5-1 Project in San Antonio, Texas. Atkinson will construct approximately 10,500 lf of 54-in. steel pipe water main that includes approximately 8,200 lf of trenchless construction in an 8-ft minimum diameter tunnel. Project completion is slated for April 2020.

The Central Water Integration Project will provide up to 50,000 acre‐feet of water to meet growth needs and diversify our water supply. The design engineer is Tetra Tech and the tunnel designer is SubTerra.

RELATED: San Antonio Water System Planning New Tunnel

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TREVIICOS is progressing its work for the construction of the Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT) in Washington, D.C. The NEBT is a large, deep sewage tunnel and major segment of DC Water’s Clean Rivers Project. This massive infrastructure and support program are designed to greatly reduce chronic flooding and sewer overflows to the Anacostia River.

NEBT involves the construction of a 23-ft diameter, 5-mile tunnel built 100 ft below ground. In addition to reducing flooding, the tunnel will increase the capacity of the city’s sewer system once connected to the other Clean Rivers Project tunnels.

Diversion facilities will also be constructed to capture flows from the existing sewer system and redirect them into the tunnel by means of near surface structures and deep shafts.

TREVIICOS was awarded the project to construct the support of excavation for the deep shafts and near surface structures, in addition to ground improvement works for the shafts and adits connecting to the tunnel. Currently TREVIICOS is working with hydromills, jet grouting and drill rig equipment at various sites spread along the NEBT alignment.

Work on the NEBT project began in 2017 with targeted completion in 2023.

RELATED: Salini Impregilo, S.A. Healy Win $580M Northeast Boundary Tunnel

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The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) intends to procure metro size Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) for the twin bored tunnels for the proposed Relief Line South (RLS) subway transit line, according to the commission’s website. TTC will make these TBMs available for the tunneling contractor who will be responsible for TBM operation and maintenance.

The TTC is requesting an Expression of Interest (EOI) from entities interested in the design, fabrication, and providing technical and maintenance support during the construction of tunnelling activities for the TBMs.

The purpose of this Request for Expression of Interest (RFEOI) is to gauge interest in the TBM procurement and gather information for the development of the contracts. Responses to the RFEOI will i) provide feedback from potential proponents to help develop the contract, and ii) provide a basis for further questions and identify participants for the subsequent Market Sounding exercise.

While submission of an EOI is not a prerequisite for participating in the eventual procurement process for the TBMs, interested entities are encouraged to submit an EOI with detailed comments.

The request was issued April 9 and has a closing date of May 9.

The proposed Relief Line South is a 7.5km long subway line that will connect the Yonge-University-Spadina Subway (Line 1) downtown to the Bloor-Danforth Subway (Line 2) at Pape Station. The Relief Line South will help to relieve crowding on Line 1 south of Bloor, at the Bloor-Yonge Station, and on the surface transit routes coming in and out of downtown, according to the website’s project page.

The project includes eight stations, including two interchange stations connecting to Line 1 at Osgoode (University Avenue) and Queen Stations (Yonge Street), and an interchange station connecting to Line 2 at Pape Station (Danforth Avenue). There will be two intermodal stations providing connections to the proposed Gerrard-Carlaw and East Harbour SmartTrack stations. Stations will also have connections to surface routes to provide transfers to local buses and streetcars.

Planned Relief Line South stations are:

• Pape Station (Interchange with Line 2)
• Gerrard Station (Intermodal connection with proposed Gerrard Carlaw SmartTrack Station)
• Carlaw Station at Queen Street East
• Broadview Station (Intermodal connection with proposed East Harbour SmartTrack Station)
• Sumach Station at King Street East/Eastern Avenue
• Sherbourne Station at Queen Street East
• Queen Station (Interchange with Line 1)
• Osgoode Station (Interchange with Line 1)

The subway is proposed to be constructed using twin bore tunnel technology.

The Relief Line South – referred to as the Ontario Line by Ontario Premier Doug Ford – is part of a $28.5 million plan to expand the provinces transit network. The RLS/Ontario Line is expected to cost $10.9 billion. According to a report in urbantoronto.ca.

The website also reports that the provincial plan includes three more major transit projects:

• the Yonge north subway extension, costing $5.6 billion and opening “soon after the Ontario Line”;
• the Scarborough subway extension, costing $5.5 billion and “delivered before 2030”; and
• the Eglinton Crosstown west extension, costing $4.7 billion and “delivered before 2031”.

RELATED: Toronto Tunnel Partners Selected for Rail Tunnel Project

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Akkerman Inc., a premier trenchless underground construction systems manufacturer, attained the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ISO 9001:2015 for its quality management system at its sole manufacturing facility in Brownsdale, Minnesota.

Following an independent audit conducted by SAI Global, the certificate was issued on Jan. 18, 2019.

The scope of the certification applies to the design, manufacture, sales and services of on-line and on-grade tunneling and pipe jacking products for the underground sewer, water, gas and electrical utilities industries.

Akkerman embarked on the implementation of its quality management system in 2015 with consulting assistance from Enterprise Minnesota, which was integral to the system’s execution.

Justin Akkerman, Akkerman operations manager, remarks, “Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health recognized Akkerman through the Minnesota Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program for our safety program in 2010. Having our management system certified to ISO 9001:2015 was a natural progression for us to strengthen the business.”

“Not only does our comprehensive quality management system benefit our employees through procedure efficiencies and repeatability, but our customers can also feel confident in knowing that the equipment that we manufacture is subject to the highest standards and continuous improvement at every step in the manufacturing process. Our ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System ensures that from design conception to final product testing, our equipment is produced with quality and value at the forefront.”

RELATED: Akkerman Among NASTT Hall of Fame Inductees

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Tunnel boring machine excavation rates have been a hot button issue in our industry recently — specifically, speeding them up by multiple factors of 10 times or more. But speeding up a project is not a simple prospect, and technology to achieve faster excavation is often incremental.

“What really speeds up a project is operational excellence. It’s not glamorous. It’s the day-in-day-out operations where you can really make the difference,” said Robbins Director of Engineering Brad Grothen. That observation applies not only to the tunneling operation, but also to all the operations required to complete a project, from planning to logistics and beyond.

Think Outside the Tunnel

Consider that increasing the excavation rate may not be the only way — and indeed may not be the best way — to speed up a project schedule. TBM excavation often makes up around 25% or less of the total time to complete a public works tunnel. Therefore, even if excavation rates were increased by several times what TBMs are currently capable of, it wouldn’t significantly speed up project delivery.

Contract Structure

Shortening the decision-making process or streamlining the design process is much more feasible than creating a “super-fast TBM” and would have a bigger impact on the project schedule as well. “Design-build is a contract structure that shortens the overall time frame compared with design-bid-build. This is because the design is done by the construction team and it allows for optimal design, which improves constructability. Often you can start construction while you are still designing,” said Elisa Comis, Associate for McMillen Jacobs.

TBM and EPB Tunneling Consultant Joe Roby agrees that contract structure is a factor, particularly in terms of mobility time of equipment: “There have been some fast-tracked projects in the past where two or three contractors were prequalified, and a TBM was jointly selected by the contractors and the owner. The owner ordered the TBM and it was purchased from the owner by the contractor at the time of notice to proceed. This of course gets the TBM on order six months earlier or more, which really helps. It also reassures the owner that a contractor, upon learning they left a lot of money on the table in their bid, doesn’t decide to take the cost-cutting step of employing a cheap, dated, inappropriate and unreliable TBM on the project and thereby increasing the risk of late project completion. I’ve always been surprised that this fast-tracking method is not used more often.”

RELATED: Robbins EPB Breaks Through in Mexico City

Another method involving the owner purchasing a TBM rather than the contractor was also mentioned by Comis: “I personally liked the contractual arrangement for a project I worked on called the Grosvenor Decline Tunnels in Australia. The owner bought the TBM, and then the owner contracted a construction company to make the tunnel. The owner was more involved and present at all the meetings, which improved communication and facilitated everyone working more efficiently. Their involvement also paid off: Though the machine launched a bit late, it was used on multiple drives and the knowledge collected on the first drive was used on the second tunnel. We ended up finishing 40 days ahead of schedule.”

Other Structures

Starter tunnels, launch shafts, and retrieval shafts are often critical structures that may be considered secondary to the tunnel but can have huge impacts on schedule. “These structures have to be considered as critical to the project timeline,” said Comis. “The shaft construction method must be the correct one for the site conditions. Environmental conditions must be considered — looking at an alignment and considering changes to alignment of structures can speed up the mining side of your operations. Consider the logistics of shaft construction as well. For example, if your muck removal capacity from the shaft is too small, then it can affect your operations. Know that there are other critical steps prior to TBM boring, and plan for them in advance.”

TBM Technology: How Far We’ve Come

TBMs are fast, and they’ve been fast for decades. In fact, 50% of all known TBM world records were set more than two decades ago. Much of the seeming lack of progress is illusory – it has to do with the fact that modern tunnels are being built in ever more difficult geology, while more stringent health and safety standards put necessary limits on the excavation process, among other things. Today’s TBMs are capable of boring in harder rock, in higher water pressures, in mixed ground conditions and a host of other environments that would have been impossible in the 1970s and 1980s. And they do it while performing well; indeed, at much higher rates than conventional excavation (typically two to three times faster than a drill-and-blast heading. The below chart is a good illustration of just how far TBMs have come in recent years.

The Need for Speed

“When we talk about rapid excavation, we need to specify whether we are talking about the overall advance rate or the instantaneous penetration rate of the TBM,” said Grothen. “For overall advance rates, what good contractors get right is regular equipment maintenance to minimize breakdowns, solid logistics to reduce downtime, and simplified operations. Simplification untethers the machine from the logistics as much as possible — for example pumping in A+B grout rather than carrying it in on transport cars.”

To increase instantaneous rate of penetration, ground conditions and machine design come into greater play. “The right machine and the right geology are crucial, along with good maintenance and good operation to minimize downtime,” continued Grothen.

Geology is key to whether advance rates can be significantly improved. Even a customized machine with streamlined logistics will bore more slowly in fractured volcanic rock with significant fault zones than in competent sandstone. Setting the excavation schedule requires a close look at geology and the excavation rates of recent projects in those conditions. And, of course, not all geologies are created equally. “The kind of geology that has produced the most world-record production rates is non-abrasive, homogenous sedimentary rock like Chicago limestone. A lot of records have been set on the TARP project in that city. The geology is consistent and wear on cutters and cutterhead is minimal. Even though the project was located in a major urban area, with limestone you don’t have the EPB/soil concerns of settlement and heave,” said Roby.

Soft Ground vs. Hard Rock TBMs

The ability to improve advance rates also depends on the type of TBM and ground support required. “In hard rock, machines already set world records. There is more opportunity for improvement of instantaneous rates in soft to mixed ground. As ground conditions deteriorate and segments are required, that takes time. A Main Beam hard rock TBM is very fast because it doesn’t need to stop for this type of ground support. A Double Shield hard rock TBM can bore and line with segments simultaneously. But for Single Shield machines and soft ground machines, the tunneling process simply takes longer,” said Grothen.
Implementation of design improvements to speed up advance is challenging for both hard rock and soft ground machines. “On hard rock TBMs, we don’t have metallurgy that will allow us to load disc cutters higher so the only way to excavate faster is to rotate the cutterhead faster. But today, we depend on gravity to unload the muck buckets with each rotation of the cutterhead. If we speed up the cutterhead, the muck will not drop from the buckets, so we would have to direct it aft and find a new way to collect it.

Unfortunately, the speed of the cutterheads is also currently at the limit of the relative speed specifications for the main seals passing over the seal surface, and the mechanical face seals in the cutters are also operating near their speed limit. Even now we see overheating/cooling issues on bearings, seals and cutters, and all of that will be exacerbated with higher cutterhead speeds,” said Roby.

By contrast, when boring in soft ground using EPB TBMs, the penetration rate is limited by material flow and additive permeation. Boring at faster rates could cause heave in front of the TBM followed by subsidence at the surface. A truly significant change in advance rates would require a change in the mechanism of excavation — no short order. It would require a better way of holding pressure than the screw conveyor can currently achieve.

RELATED: Robbins Crossover TBM Completes Turkey’s Longest Water Tunnel

“The greatest number of soft ground (EPB and Slurry) TBMs are operated in urban environments, through the middle of cities. Subsidence and heave are a constant worry, and this requires a lot of operator attention and adjustments of the machine settings as well as the ground conditioning recipes and injection variables. I’m sure some years in the future, with a great deal of research, some of the operator’s decision-making could be replaced by artificial intelligence, allowing the decisions to be made quicker. But we are talking about a great number of variables that must be adjusted and the cost of failure could be an entire high-rise office or apartment building coming down. I think the risks are too great to make improvements in the process in any but the most incremental way,” said Roby.

Recommendations for Swifter Tunnel Projects

Invest in Logistics and Crew

Given the limitations, what can contractors and owners do to speed up their tunnel project? A lot, says Grothen: “You can make design simplifications — to use continuous conveyors for muck removal, for example, which speeds up the overall tunneling process. But you also need to invest in the proper equipment to ensure a smooth operation, and invest in properly trained staff.”

Scheduling of crew and materials is always important, but that importance only grows as tunnels become longer. This is doubly so if using muck cars. For this reason, using continuous conveyors for muck removal is more efficient, as the removal process does not need to stop for personnel and material movements. In fact, at least 75% of all TBM world records were set while using a continuous conveyor for muck removal.

Good geology helps as well, but it isn’t everything, says Roby: “Good, homogeneous geological conditions often provide the setting for many of the world record holders. But this still requires a good crew and solid management team to ensure the logistics are there to support high production. And, obviously, you can’t set world records if you are suffering from high unplanned downtime. So, a new TBM, or a used TBM with a high quality rebuild, a dependable tunnel conveyor system and logistical supply vehicles (trains or rubber tired), as well as a well-executed maintenance program, are also needed to achieve very high production rates. You really need all of these things to set production records.”

Identify the Bottlenecks

The limiting variables in any tunneling operation must be identified and alleviated if productivity is to be increased. Many operations that can be done simultaneous with boring that are now done separately:

• Applying a Concrete Lining: Continuous concrete lining can be done concurrent with boring in many cases. This type of lining eliminates the separate operation of lining a tunnel with segments. Waterproofing membrane can be applied with a membrane gantry if needed.
• Increasing Automation: Processes such as cutter changes and segment setting can and are being fully automated on various projects in the industry. “Automation may not have a huge effect on advance rate, at least not at first,” says Grothen. “But it has an advantage in that it can potentially remove humans from higher risk environments, and for tasks that are repetitive and relatively simple, it can reduce errors. The price of full automation needs to come down first, so that it can make greater financial sense for a wider range of tunnel projects. Right now I could see there being a cost advantage towards full automation on a very long tunnel drive with segments, but it is a complex issue. In the near term there is more potential for development of semi-automation on systems, where only a portion of the task is automated to assist an operator.”
• Eliminate regrip time: When setting segments and thrusting off rings, elimination of regrip time could be key to increasing advance rates. The designs for this are not new, and date back to the EPB TBMs used on the Channel Tunnel in the late 1980s. The machines were designed with longer stroke cylinders to ensure continuous boring rather than sequential boring. New innovations such as helical segments are also promising to do this through a simple change in segment architecture.

Increase Communication

For Comis, the main barrier towards faster advance is a practical, day-to-day consideration: Communication. “You can have a project owner who is very knowledgeable during both the procuring phase and project execution, and at the same time you can have a contractor that just wants to do it their own way. Conflicts arise often, and I see a need for more straightforward communication. For example, the submittal process can sometimes be bureaucratic, leading to frustration and impatience among all parties. By the time I receive a submittal for a change from the contractor and review it, they are already several steps ahead of me. Communication could be simplified and sped up with a reduced amount of paperwork.”

As for the future of excavation, rates will continue to increase, but not without some qualifiers. “Ultimately it is a human resources issue in our industry. We do not have enough people to fill open positions. We need good, trained people, and we need to grow interest in a new generation of tunnellers,” says Comis.

Above all, though advancement in our industry may seem incremental, it serves a valuable purpose by ensuring that new technology is safe and effective, says Roby: “I have worked in the industry for over 30 years and feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to work with so many bright, thoughtful and well-educated engineers of all types. TBM production will increase. I just believe that our advances in productivity will continue to be made incrementally with advances in technology and under our industry’s absolute adherence to the ‘safety first’ guideline.”

This article was contributed by The Robbins Company.

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In the BAUER Maschinen Group, BAUER MAT Slurry Handling Systems, based in Immenstadt in southern Germany, is the specialist for mixing and separation technology. At the beginning of April, Branch Manager Alexander Konz, Sales Director Timo Seidenfuss and Kurt Ostermeier, Head of Product Management Mixing and Separation Technology at BAUER Maschinen GmbH, announced that a BAUER MAT BE 500-C – with the serial number 1,000 – was handed over to Frank Schwarzer, Managing Director of Tunnel24.

“My business is based on customers’ trust that they are sold plants and equipment that meet their needs and that, at the end of the day, they can be economically successful with them. After careful consideration of all the options, our business partner Jim McNally from TBM Trading Middle East FZC in Sharjah, UAE, and we have decided to offer the BAUER MAT separation plants to our client Al-Rashid A.Hak Saudi Co. Ltd. from Saudi Arabia. These are made in Germany, are robust, durable and work efficiently. And should help be necessary, our customer can rely on Bauer’s proven worldwide service network. For us as vendors, these are the ideal prerequisites for maintaining our good reputation and further augmenting it, because only satisfied customers are returning customers,” Schwarzer said.

The BE 500-C desanding plant with a throughput capacity of up to 500 m3 per hour is to be used in a microtunneling project in the Middle East. “Thanks to its compact dimensions, it is optimally suited for pipe jacking and subsurface construction projects using microtunneling,” Ostermeier said. The basic system used has been a BE 425, which, besides tunneling, also finds optimum application in slurry- supported drilling, cutting or grab works. The plant, which usually features a 75 kW motor, has been equipped with a stronger 90 kW pump motor.

A big advantage of desanding plants of the BE series is their modular design: By addition of a prescreener they can be extended into large-sized plants with a capacity of up to 3,000 m3/h. For example, the BE 2550, which consists of six identical units of the BE 425-60, has set entirely new standards. It was used for the construction of the Swiss Eppenberg tunneling project in 2017, processing 2,400 m3 of slurry per hour – impressive dimensions that result from more than a quarter of a century of expertise in separation technology.

“In 1992, Bauer – at that time still in Schrobenhausen where the Bauer headquarters are located – built the first desanding plant, a BE 150,” Ostermeier said. Soon other plants followed, which were manufactured in 1993 in Nordhausen, Thuringia, and from 2002 in Allgäu in southern Germany, after the production of separation technology had been moved to the local company MAT Mischanlagentechnik.

Nowadays BAUER MAT Slurry Handling Systems, a branch office of BAUER Maschinen GmbH, develops complete systems for mixing and separating suspensions as well as centrifuges and pumps for all tunnel and specialist foundation engineering requirements.

They are used worldwide in various grab, tunneling, airlifting or cutting operations, such as the Grand Paris Express infrastructure project, where the French capital is expanding its famous metro network by 200 km and is set to finish by 2030. “In addition to several Bauer trench wall cutters, a dozen of our plants are currently being used in the cutting works to build the new stations,” Seidenfuss said.

RELATED: Microtunneling Industry Convenes in Boulder for 26th Annual Short Course

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In 2018, the French company CBE Group achieved a milestone, exceeding 25,000 molds manufactured by its French and Chinese teams since 1987. Often consulted for road tunnels or railway tunnel projects, CBE Group also intervenes in more specific fields.

In 2018, the company signed a contract in the United Arab Emirates for a project dedicated to storm water evacuation, the Dubai Deep Storm Water tunnel. Water evacuation is also at the very heart of the double gallery realized in Chengdu, China. This double tunnel, which allows the installation of electric cables as well, is a technical prowess. A CBE innovation indeed simplified the segment production system for this type of oval-shaped tunnel. Finally, the Hinkley Point power station in England gave CBE access to a nuclear project, with the creation of a cooling tunnel.

With 550 projects realized worldwide, among which 27 just for 2018, the group remains a leader in the creation of industrial solutions for tunneling. Its capacity to provide custom-made projects allows the company to adapt to the needs created by mega trends, such as an increasing urban concentration, the scarcity of water resources or the consequences of global warming, all of which represent a strong influence in the design of new underground projects.

CBE’s strength also lies in its capacity to offer two distinct production sites, thus simplifying logistical issues: one is located in L’Ile-Bouchard, France, and the other in Yangling, China. The company’s workforce has grown from 250 employees in 2017 to 335 in 2018. These two workshops provide the same quality of production and the same know-how. Production technicians, from France and from China, must follow quality requirements, according to the plans conceived by the design office in France.

Automated plants represent an important part of the industrial tunneling solutions that CBE Group is able to provide its clients with. 210 carousels have been commissioned by the company’s supervisors, who train technicians onsite. The two Australian projects signed by CBE Group in 2018 and located in Melbourne perfectly illustrate the expertise of the company in this domain, with two carousels being simultaneously built in the same region. With the help of its R&D department, CBE Group has been able to offer innovative solutions to answer the needs of its clients, thus demonstrating the experience that allows the company to remain the partner of choice for great tunneling projects worldwide.

RELATED: Ranger Customizes Vacuum Lifter for Tunnels Project

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Brokk, a leading manufacturer of remote-controlled demolition machines, launched its own line of hydraulic breakers. The new Brokk Hydraulic Breaker (BHB) series is perfectly matched with the company’s full range of remote-controlled demolition robots. In essence, each robot is designed from the attachment backward, providing the exact amount of flow, pressure, backpressure, and downward force that the hammer requires, which offers the best possible demolition performance to Brokk customers.

Brokk highlighted the new series at WORLD OF CONCRETE 2019 and BAUMA 2019.

“As an industry leader in compact demolition, it makes sense for us to introduce our own lineup of powerful hydraulic breakers to match the high strength and performance of Brokk demolition machines,” said Martin Krupicka, president and CEO of Brokk Group. “Our customers benefit from the greater productivity, efficiency and quality that comes with the pairing of Brokk breakers and machines.”

The BHB series includes eight breaker models, starting with the 110-lb (50-kg) BHB 55 breaker for the compact Brokk 60 remote-controlled demolition machine. The range goes all the way up to the 1,543-lb (700-kg) BHB 705 for the recently introduced Brokk 500 and Brokk 520D.

Like Brokk remote-controlled demolition machines, the BHB series features a high power-to-weight ratio. The attachments are lightweight and compact, yet feature power similar to larger, heavier breakers from other manufacturers. The hammer bodies are machined from a solid casting, eliminating side and through bolts, along with the side plates found on many other hammer designs. An integrated, side-mounted accumulator holds a nitrogen gas charge for as long as a year.

Brokk demolition robots and breakers are designed to work at maximum performance together, resulting in more total demolition power. Brokk engineers its demolition machines starting at the tip of the breaker for maximum compatibility. This includes reducing back pressure and optimizing machine oil flow, oil pressure and down pressure to allow for more hydraulic power while using less energy. The result is that pound for pound, Brokk demolition robots provide the highest power-to-weight ratios in the industry, allowing contractors to substitute robots for much larger excavators, and achieve the same concrete removal rates.

RELATED: Brokk Introduces B300, Next Generation Demolition Robot

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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on April 17 announced the availability of a draft version of the Environmental Assessment for the Washington, D.C., to Baltimore Loop Project, the first step in a joint federal-state review of a non-traditional transportation technology.

The Boring Company, of Hawthorne, CA, is considering the future development of a privately funded, underground, high-speed tunnel facility to help alleviate area congestion. The proposed project would consist of twin, underground tunnels approximately 35 miles in length between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, which in part would follow the right-of-way under the Baltimore Washington Parkway. The proposed station terminals would be located on New York Avenue (northwest of Union Station) in D.C. and in the Camden Yards area in downtown Baltimore.

“The publication of a draft environmental assessment for this unique project demonstrates the Department’s commitment to preparing for the future of transportation across all modes,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

The release of the Environmental Assessment coincides with the launch of DOT’s new Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT) Council, an internal deliberative body tasked by the Secretary to identify jurisdictional and regulatory gaps arising from DOT’s review of new transportation technologies.

The Environmental Assessment for the Loop project has been prepared to determine whether the proposed project would have significant environmental impacts, and is considered an early milestone in the environmental review and permitting process. By releasing this assessment, DOT (through the Federal Highway Administration) and the Maryland Department of Transportation (acting also on behalf of the District of Columbia) are seeking public review and comment on environmental considerations for the proposed project. Final governmental approvals will depend on the outcome of the review and comment process and any subsequent modifications. Both agencies noted that operational safety issues will be addressed in future studies, as will the ultimate engineering and design details.

The draft of the Environmental Assessment can be viewed and public comments can be submitted here. There will be a 45-day public comment period. The full Environmental Assessment can be viewed here.

RELATED: The Real Deal on Rapid Excavation

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Viewing the back-up system of the TBM at about 13 km in the exploratory tunnel (Source: Roland Herr)

Prof. Konrad Bergmeister, Austrian CEO of Brenner Base Tunnel SE since 2006, gives an overview of the state of construction as well as insights of the project, and TBM Manager Sebastian Grüllich, Joint Venture Strabag (Technical Leadership)/Salini Impregilo of construction lot Tulfes-Pfons, explains details of the construction work in his lot.

Both were interviewed in Innsbruck and on the Tulfes-Pfons job site, Austria, by International Freelancing Journalist Roland Herr from Germany/Thailand, E-Mail herrroland@t-online.de.

The Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) is a straight, flat railway tunnel connecting the two European countries Austria and Italy. It runs for 55 km between Innsbruck portal (in Austria) and Fortezza portal (in Italy) through the Alps and is – from the Innsbruck bypass (the Inn Valley Tunnel) to Fortezza – with altogether 64 km the longest railway tunnel in the world.

“This tunnel is a masterpiece along the North-South-Corridor (Scan-Med-Corridor) in Europe, belonging to the TEN (Trans-European Network for transport, energy and telecommunications) of the European Union,” explains Prof. Konrad Bergmeister. “The tunnel itself has a very high relevance for the three European countries Germany, Austria and Italy since the Scan-Med-Corridor with a total length of 9,000 km – starting in Finland, running through the three countries and ending at the island of Malta – is the longest of the nine Trans European Network corridors connecting all parts of Europe. ”

Due to the fact that the European Union considers the Brenner Base Tunnel a high priority infrastructure project, 50% of the costs for the exploratory tunnel and 40% of the costs for both main tunnels will be financed separately. The remaining 50 to 60% of the costs will be covered by Austria and Italy each.

In May 1994, a railway bypass was opened south of Innsbruck, known as the Inn Valley Tunnel. This 12.7-km tunnel links to the Brenner Base Tunnel. Passenger and freight trains along this stretch will therefore not only travel through the Brenner Base Tunnel, but for a few kilometers, through the Inn Valley Tunnel as well. After being connected with the BBT, this line will be in total 64 km long.

The BBT is a complex tunnel system, composed of two main tubes, each 8.1 m wide, running 40 to 70 m apart from one another. These tubes are each equipped with a single track for one-way train traffic in each tube. In the case of unforeseen events, there are three emergency stopping areas in the Brenner Base Tunnel where the trains can halt underground in the tunnel. The two tubes are linked every 333 m by connecting side tunnels, which can be used in the case of emergency as escape routes. This configuration conforms to the highest security standards for tunnels.

The slope in the base tunnel is 6.7% on the northern side and 4% on the southern flank of the Brenner. The apex height is 790 m above sea level, lying 580 m below the Brenner Pass itself (1,371 m).

Overview of the whole Brenner Base Tunnel system between Austria in the North (left) and Italy in the South (right) (Source: BBT SE)

Ongoing Construction Work

Four construction sites are currently in operation, two in Austria and two in Italy. (Updated information on the progress of the work is posted on the project website: www.bbt-se.com/en/tunnel/construction-progress. The excavation progress reports of the individual tunnel structures in the various construction lots are updated weekly and a work progress is shown on a graph.

Depending on the geological conditions, the Brenner Base Tunnel is being excavated through rock with 30% by drill-and-blast and 70% by mechanized tunneling, including at least six tunnel boring machines at the same time.

Construction Lot Tulfes-Pfons

The Tulfes-Pfons lot, worth 380 million Euro, was awarded to the Strabag/Salini Impregilo bidding consortium in Summer 2014. Excavation work began in September 2014 and will last until Spring 2019.

“The construction lot includes about 40 km of tunnel excavation with Tulfes emergency tunnel, Innsbruck emergency stop, main tunnel tubes, connecting tunnels and the Ahrental-Pfons exploratory tunnel. About 25 km of that, we excavate with drill-and-blast and 15 km with mechanized tunnelling. The excavated volume will be about 2.3 million m3 and about 430,000 m3 structural concrete for the inner lining will be used,” explained TBM manager Sebastian Grüllich from Strabag, the technical leading company.

The main tubes have been excavated by drill-and-blast according to the New Austrian Tunnel Method (also known as Sequential Excavation Method) and are completed. The ceremonial first volley was set off in mid March 2015 and the construction included 3 km of main tunnels with an excavated cross-section of about 70 m2. Construction of the connecting, safety and logistic tunnels between the BBT and the existing Innsbruck bypass started in Summer 2015. These tunnels were excavated by drill-and-blast with a cross-section of about 115 m2 and are also completed. The construction lot of the exploratory tunnel includes a 15 km stretch of that tunnel between the Ahrental junction point and the town of Pfons. The open gripper TBM with about 8 m diameter and a length of 200 m started at the end of September 2015 and will excavate the 15 km of the exploratory tunnel in southward until Spring 2019.

Construction Lot Mules 2 to 3

The construction lot “Periadriatic seam,” carried out between October 2011 and Summer 2015, comprised the excavation of 3.7 km of the main tubes and 1.5 km of the exploratory tunnel. The crossing of the Periadriatic fault line, one of the biggest geological fault lines in the Alps, was accomplished without a hitch.
In May 2016 Mules 2 to 3, the biggest construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel project, was awarded to the bidding consortium Astaldi S.p.A., Ghella S.p.A., Oberosler Cav Pietro S.r.l., Cogeis S.p.A. and PAC S.p.A with a contract volume of 993 million Euro, starting with construction in September 2016. This lot reaches from the construction lot “Isarco River Underpass” up to the Austrian border. In the course of a 7-year construction period, 39.8 km of the main tubes and 14.8 km of the exploratory tunnel will be excavated, including the emergency stop in Trens and its access tunnel, as well as the bypasses which connect the main tubes every 333 m. A total of about 65 km of tunnels will be excavated. Once Mules 2 to 3 is finished, all excavation activities in the Italian project area will be complete.

The blasting work to connect the Mules access tunnel with the future emergency stop in Trens started in December 2016. The 3.8 km long tunnel with a cross-section of approximately 80 m2 will presumably be excavated by 2021.

The drill-and-blast excavation works on the exploratory tunnel northwards resumed northward in mid February 2017. After about 600 m, the rest of the stretch, all the way to the border, will be excavated with a tunnel boring machine (TBM). The driving operations are expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

The drift of the main tubes northward resumed mid March 2017. The first section of the stretch up to the future location of the Trens emergency stop, where new assembly chambers will be built, is going to be excavated by drill-and-blast in 2019. From here, TBMs will drive the remaining section of the tunnels northward up to the border of the construction lot, which should be reached during the first months of 2022. The first blast of the southward drift took place in April 2017. The southern end of the construction lot is expected to be reached in mid 2020.

Construction Lot Isarco River Underpass

The southernmost construction lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel was awarded for 303 million Euro to the RTI Salini-Impregilo S.p.A., Strabag AG, Strabag S.p.A., Consorzio Integra and Collini Lavori S.p.A. bidding consortium in October 2014. This lot links the Brenner Base Tunnel with the existing Brenner line and the railway station in Fortezza. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

Since in this section the tunnel tubes are just a few meters below the surface, a portion of the activities pertaining to this construction lot will be carried out building artificial tunnels. Furthermore, as loose fluvioglacial materials and the groundwater layer will be crossed, it will be necessary to adopt specific ground consolidation procedures including ground freezing and jet grouting.

The current phase (main construction phase I) provides for the construction of four shafts, 20 to 25 m deep, to access the rock faces of the Isarco River Underpass. Furthermore, it includes the completed excavation of the access tunnel on the right side of the valley by using drill-and-blast, and of part of the main tubes and the connecting tunnels, to be built with the drill-and-blast method.

Prof. Konrad Bergmeister explaining the conception of the exploratory tunnel. (Source: Roland Herr)

Exploratory Tunnel

A special feature of the Brenner Base Tunnel and often discussed is the exploratory tunnel running from one end to the other. This tunnel with 5 m diameter lies 12 m below and between the two main tunnels. Prof. Bergmeister explained the conception and why it was the right decision to do so:

“Having excavated more than 55% of the exploratory tunnel, we are now sure that it was the right decision to explore the unknown rock mass in the Alps with this tunnel before we start with the construction of the big main tunnels. To explain this statement, we have to identify four different issues.

“First of all we did in advance of the construction work a lot of vertical exploration drillings. But these are only very few points in a huge rock mass, identifying certain geological parameters without knowing exactly, how the rock will behave. We have to distinguish very clearly between a tunnel which runs very close to the surface or the construction of a Base Tunnel. In our specific case – and what we learned also from the construction of the other big Base Tunnels like the Lötschberg or Gotthard in Switzerland – was, that we are able through all the different investigations which are normally done in a so-called preparation phase, that there are only some estimations about the possible behavior and not more. With the exploratory tunnel, first of all, we get a much better identification of the minerals and the rock behavior.

“The water drainage system is a second issue. Because of the exploratory tunnel, we have a completely independent water drainage system which will be used not only during the construction phase but mainly also during the operational phase. And this allows us to clean the drainage system whenever it is needed, periodically, and we do not have to stop the operation for example during such a maintenance phase.

“A third issue came out while building the exploratory tunnel itself. When we run into a difficult zone it is possible – and we did that already – to inject directly from the exploratory tunnel into the vicinity of the main tunnel some specific injection mortar. Also we are able to construct vertical shafts or ramps directly to the position of the main tunnels and try to drill-and-blast, to excavate the main tunnel from the exploratory tunnel. That means that we have an independent logistic system in a completely independent connection tube to the surface, which is quite useful for safety purposes.

“A fourth issue, which was originally quite neglected, occurred now during the preparation phase for the rail equipment. Long railway tunnels always have the problem that all the rail equipment has to be placed in the so-called connection tunnels or directly in the main tunnels. This means, that you have to close one tunnel during an inspection or maintenance phase in order to do the intervention and to be able to go into the tunnel and to do some specific maintenance work. In our case we are studying now, which equipment can be placed in the exploratory tunnel for later use as a service tunnel. Then we will be completely independent from the operation issues in the main tunnels.

“The total costs of the exploratory tunnel in our specific case are about 12% of the total costs of the tunnel. This issue has been quite carefully discussed and repeatedly questioned. Nevertheless, we have been able to show, that – by using these advantages – we will have finally in terms of a life cycle management some savings and not additional costs. Since we will be able to use specifically this continuous tunnel as a third tunnel tube for maintenance and inspection purposes.

“Also, Switzerland came up with a new guideline for long tunnels, longer than 10 km, in 2018. Here they proposed the idea to have a third tunnel in terms of inspection, maintenance and exploring rock mass before construction of the main tunnel.

“Finally, it can be said that we took at that time the right decision.”

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From the Hugh M. Cary Tunnel in Brooklyn, to the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, Kenall’s LuxTran lighting illuminates tunnels and underpasses across the Unites States. Joining this distinguished family of sealed lights is the new LTSI-AI, an industry-leading, IP-rated, stainless steel fixture that produces high lumens with a small footprint, providing highly desirable flexibility for complicated tunnel lighting layouts.

The LTSI-A1 is a compact 22-in. × 22-in. fixture with five distribution options and can be mounted on either walls or ceilings to provide supplemental lighting in various tunnel zones. It has an IP-66 rating and a range of powerful lumen packages ranging from 11,578 – 40,321 lm.

Michael Maltezos, Kenall’s Transportation Sales Manager, works exclusively on transportation and tunnel lighting projects and is the product manager for the LTSI-A1. “Transportation engineers appreciate the quality of the LuxTran line and specifically requested a fixture that was smaller but still very powerful and efficient,” he said, “and the LTSI-AI is Kenall’s response to that request.”

For additional information on the LTSI-A1 and other tunnel and underpass lighting products, visit the Kenall website.

RELATED: Kenall Helps NYC Build Stronger, More Resilient Structures

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There have been some interesting developments on high-profile projects recently on both coasts. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, who became governor in January 2019, said in his state of the state address in February that he thinks the California High-Speed Rail project – linking Los Angeles and San Francisco – would be too expensive and take too long to build. He did say that the link from Merced to Bakersfield in the state’s Central Valley would move forward.

If this marks the end of the project, it is not only a loss for the tunneling community – the link from Merced to San Jose (and eventually San Francisco) and from Bakersfield to Los Angeles would involve significant amounts of tunneling – but for the state itself. According to Constructiondive.com, $10.7 billion worth of work is already underway. Assuming that portion of the line is completed, the state will be left with what the Los Angeles Times calls “a 171-mile route through the almond orchards, orange groves, vineyards and oil field of the Central Valley.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Feb. 19 that it intends to cancel $929 million in federal grant funds earmarked for the project, as well as its intent to seek the return of $2.5 billion already allocated for the project.

In New York, questions continue for the Gateway Project as the FTA gave the Hudson River tunnel a priority rating of “medium-low,” – making it ineligible for federal Capital Investment Grants. According to reports, Deputy Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Rosen said the project is a local responsibility, and therefore should be paid for locally.

While it seems logical that local projects should be paid for locally, in this case the scope involves a critical portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor connecting Boston and Washington, D.C. – the busiest passenger rail line in the United States. The existing Hudson Tunnels – built more than 100 years ago – carry the line, and a one-day shutdown of one of the two tubes can have regional and national economic impacts of $100 million, according to a report from N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy’s office.

In California, the high-speed rail program is a visionary project with the potential to transform transportation in that state for generations to come. In New York, it is about assuring unimpeded flow in the country’s largest metropolis and financial capital. In both cases, we need to be able to plan and fund these vital infrastructure projects in ways that are not susceptible to the whims of politicians.

WTC/RETC

The 45th ITA-AITES General Assembly and World Tunnel Congress (WTC), being held May 3-9 in Naples, Italy, promises to be a great event that brings together tunneling professionals from around the globe, including representatives from the United States. The event is co-hosted by the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) and the Italian Tunnelling Society (SIG).

Similar to our national events – RETC and NAT – WTC combines a full slate of technical papers, exhibit hall, networking events, technical tours and excursions. Some suggest that WTC stands for “World Travel Club,” and the host countries certainly come through with locations that are destinations on their own merit.

The theme of this year’s WTC is “Tunnel and Underground Cities: Engineering and Innovation Meet Archeology, Architecture and Art” – linking tunnel engineering and construction with the rich traditions of Naples. For information on WTC, visit www.wtc2019.com.

June 16-19, the Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference (RETC) heads to Chicago for the largest tunneling event in North America. The venue is the Hyatt Regency Chicago in the heart of downtown. For more information visit www.retc.org.

We at TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine look forward to seeing many of you there!

Jim Rush, Editor/Publisher

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Jon Torpy

Epiroc, a leading productivity partner for the mining and infrastructure industries, has appointed Jon Torpy as General Manager and President for Epiroc USA LLC, effective May 1, 2019. Torpy brings 15 years of broad leadership experience with Epiroc and predecessor Atlas Copco, and 20 years of overall industry experience.

In his new role, Torpy will lead the U.S. Customer Center of Epiroc, which supplies innovative, safe and sustainable drill rigs, rock excavation and construction equipment and tools. The company also provides service and world-class technology solutions for automation and interoperability.

Torpy is a strong advocate for innovation to help drive continuous improvement for Epiroc customers. During his tenure as Vice President of Marketing for the Drilling Solutions division, he was a key visionary and leader in the Epiroc autonomous drill program, which has become a game-changer for many customers.

“Jon’s strategic mindset and outstanding industry track record make him well suited to deliver on our Epiroc vision of becoming and remaining the customer’s first choice in the United States,” said Jose Sanchez, President of the Epiroc Drilling Solutions division.

Torpy joined Ingersoll-Rand Drilling Solutions in 1999 as an Application Engineer. After the acquisition of the Drilling Solutions Division by Atlas Copco, now Epiroc, he became Regional Manager, Latin America and Canada. He then held positions as District Manager at the U.S Customer Center in Denver (2006-2010) and Business Line Manager, Drilling Solutions (2010-2013) before moving into his most recent Vice President of Marketing role with Drilling Solutions in Garland, Texas.

Since growing up in a copper mining camp in Cuajone, Peru, South America, Torpy has spent most of his life as part of the mining community. In 1999, he graduated from Montana Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Mining and Mineral Engineering. He also graduated from the TIO International Executive Program at the Stockholm School of Economics in Stockholm, Sweden, where Epiroc has its global headquarters.

“I’m excited to work with our committed people to be the strongest partner for our U.S. customers,” Torpy said. “By staying true to our core values of innovation, commitment and collaboration, we will provide customers with the performance they need to succeed today and the technology to lead in the future.”

Torpy will be based in Denver, Colorado.

RELATED: Epiroc Becomes Fully Independent Company

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