TBM: Tunnel Business Magazine

Primoris Services Corp. on June 19 announced a new pipeline award valued over $29 million. The contract was secured by Vadnais Trenchless, part of the Pipeline & Underground segment.

The award is for a microtunneling project to upgrade a water pipeline in central Oklahoma and was awarded by the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust. The project involves two deep access shafts, approximately 30 ft in diameter and 140 ft deep, with four separate large diameter tunnels totaling over 5,500 linear feet crossing beneath the Canadian River.

Work is scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2019 and to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.

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China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG) held a launch ceremony June 18 for a water jet hard rock TBM. The ceremony for the TBM, named “Longyan,” was attended by more than 100 Chinese experts and scholars in the field of TBM engineering technology at Zhengzhou, China, on June 18, 2019.

The TBM is for the Wan’anxi Water Diversion Project in Longyan City in Fujian Province. It has a diameter of 3.8 m and a length of about 300 m. It was jointly accomplished by CREG and Yellow River Engineering Consulting Co. Ltd.

The anticipated geology in this project consists of mainly biotite granite and also quartz conglomerate, quartz sandstone, siltstone, argillaceous siltstone, glutenite and conglomerate in some parts. The tunnel alignment is basically rock, and the rock near the entrance is found weakly weathered. The tunnel wall is moist and a small section is present with dripping and linear flow.

The rock type is: 11,258.6 m of class II rock mass, accounting for 80.4%; 1,440.3 m is class III rock mass, accounting for 10.3%; and the rest 1,302.6 m is class IV rock mass, accounting for 9.3%. The rock mass joint is not developed. Therefore the overall rock mass conditions are suitable for TBM tunneling.

The hydraulic pressure rock-breaking system once used in breaking rocks will be expected to reduce the wear of cutting tools and the thrust of TBM by 30% to 40%, increase excavation speed, extend TBM service life, reduce construction cost, shorten construction period, loosen geological constraints in tunnel construction and provide a wider range of options for tunnel location planning.

Mechanism of water flow rock-breaking

Layout of high pressure water nozzle.

The rock-breaking mechanism of water jet mainly bases on the theory of water wedge rock-breaking. When jet flow impacts crack-free rock wall, apart from compressive stress in rock body, tensile stress is generated around the boundary of the impact zone as well. And when this tensile stress exceeds the tensile strength of the rock, the rock wall is pulled apart to form a crack. After the rock wall initially forms a crack, under the action of the jet flow impact force, the water immerses into the crack space, causing the tensile stress concentration zone at the tip of the crack to expand the crack and finally break the rock. This mechanism, similar to wedging a steel wedge into a rock and causing the rock to break apart, is therefore called water wedge effect. The water wedge effect is continuous. The closer the jet flow comes to the rock mass, the greater the water pressure and water wedge effect is. The water wedge effect is more obvious when the jet flow strikes fractured rock stratum.

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Share your expertise with the global tunneling community

The North American Tunneling Conference will be held June 7-10, 2020 in Nashville, TN. The organizing committee has issued a Call for Abstracts of no more than 100 words to be submitted by June 30, 2019. Submit your abstract to www.natconference.com/.

Questions about Abstract Submission? Email authors@smenet.org or call 303.948.4200.

There is still have time to submit your abstract related to the topics below as well as other provocative, innovative topics of interest to the tunneling and underground construction profession including:

Tunnel Boring Machines
Ground Conditioning & Modification
Equipment Automation
Conventional Tunneling
NATM/SEM
Caverns
Small Diameter Tunneling
Shaft Construction
Emerging Technologies
Risk Management
Lining Design Advances
Fire & Life Safety
Vulnerability & Security

Rehabilitation
Cost Estimating & Scheduling
Design & Planning
Contracting & Payment
Alternative Delivery Methods
Financing, Insurance & Bonding
Third Party Liability
Labor Management & Training
Case Histories
Future Projects
Futuristic Tunneling

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BC Hydro reached a major milestone on the Site C Clean Energy Project with the breakthrough on the excavations of the first of two diversion tunnels on June 22, 2019.

Both tunnels will be used to temporarily reroute a short section of the Peace River in Northeast BC to allow for construction of the dam across the main channel of the river. River diversion is scheduled for September 2020.

Tunnel #1 is approximately 700 metres long and 12 metres in diameter. Excavation of the tunnel began in July 2018.

The excavation work is being carried out using roadheaders that grind through the rock and load it on to conveyors. The rock is then hauled away by truck and relocated elsewhere on site.

A tunnel lining process is now underway on Tunnel # 1. This involves using a custom-built slip form where concrete is pumped through small openings located around the slip form, enabling it to cure in a perfect circle outside the form.

Each pour takes two to three days to cure, and the liner thickness can range between 40 centimetres and 200 centimetres. In total, about 41,000 cubic metres of concrete will reinforce the walls of both tunnels.

This work is the last step in the construction of the diversion tunnels prior to river diversion in fall 2020.

Breakthrough on Tunnel #2 is expected to happen in July 2019.

Once operational, the capacity of the two tunnels will be 3,000 cubic metres of water per second. On average, the diversion tunnels will typically pass river flows between 500 and 1,800 cubic metres per second.

For more information on the project, click here.

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Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Kathleen has passed its final inspection and is now ready to launch from Barangaroo next month to dig the historic rail crossing deep under Sydney Harbor.

The 975 tonne tunnel boring machine was assembled deep under Barangaroo and will soon start digging the first of twin 1-km tunnels, 40 m below the Harbor at its deepest.

After building the first tunnel, TBM Kathleen will have her giant cutter head and main section lifted out at Blues Point and placed on a barge to return to Barangaroo. The machine’s support trailers will be pulled back to Barangaroo inside the first tunnel.

Kathleen will then build the second tunnel under Sydney Harbor after that, the whole TBM will be retrieved at Blues Point and taken away by barge. The machine is expected to tunnel through clay, silt and sediment and will use state-of-the-art tunneling technology to safely make its way under the harbor.

This specialized TBM is named after Kathleen Butler, who played a vital role in the construction of the Sydney Harbor Bridge as the technical advisor to legendary engineer John JJC Bradfield.

TBM Kathleen will join the four borers currently digging from Marrickville and Chatswood toward the harbor’s edge.

Together, all five TBMs will deliver twin 15.5-km rail tunnels for Sydney Metro, Australia’s biggest public transport project.

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On June 17, DC Metro announced the launch of a two-year study of the Blue, Orange and Silver lines with the goal of identifying long-term options to improve reliability, meet future ridership demand, and better serve customers.

Today, the Blue, Orange and Silver (BOS) lines all share a single set of tracks between the Rosslyn tunnel and the Anacostia River, creating a bottleneck that limits the number of trains that can cross between Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The limited capacity means that Metro cannot easily add more trains and has limited ability to work around service disruptions. With the current configuration, a disruption on one line can have a ripple effect on all three lines.

The BOS Study will identify potential infrastructure improvements and service alternatives to resolve these issues.

“Our rebuilding efforts and ongoing preventive maintenance have improved Metro’s reliability to the highest levels in eight years, but it’s time to start thinking about the Blue, Orange and Silver lines’ infrastructure constraints so that Metro is well positioned to serve future generations,” said Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld.

The first phase of the study will assess key issues and trends and document why improvements to the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines are necessary. Subsequent phases will include the development and evaluation of alternatives, as well as a thorough analysis of costs and benefits, with recommendation of a preferred alternative expected to occur by the fall of 2020.

Ultimately, the study will identify and analyze a range of potential alternatives before recommending a “locally preferred alternative” to move forward with federal environmental review, full design, and competition for federal funding. Over the next two years, Metro plans extensive outreach to engage the community, stakeholders, and transit experts to gather feedback and make recommendations.

Among the options being considered, according to WTOP.com, is building a new tunnel under the Potomac to extend the Blue Line, including a new station in Georgetown.

To learn more about the project and opportunities to get involved, and to track the status of the project, visit the project website.

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The American Shotcrete Association (ASA) is offering two education seminars in fall 2019. The Shotcrete Contractor Education program covers best practices by the contractor for quality shotcrete construction and will be available at ASA headquarters, Farmington Hills, Michigan, Sept. 28. The Shotcrete Inspector program covers critical elements of shotcrete applications that on-site inspectors must know to evaluate and sign-off on acceptance documents for shotcrete and will be available at The ACI Concrete Convention and Exposition, Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 23.

These education opportunities directly support ASA’s mission: “ASA provides knowledge resources, qualification, certification, education, and leadership to increase the acceptance, quality, and safe practices of the shotcrete process.”

The Shotcrete Contractor Education will be presented by Charles Hanskat, P.E., FACI, FASCE. He is the Executive Director and Technical Director for the ASA and has been involved in the design, construction, evaluation and repair of environmental concrete, marine, building and shotcrete structures for 40 years. Topics of this seminar will include materials, equipment, personnel, application, QC/QA, curing, protection and project management. A required first step in the ASA Contractor Qualification Program, this seminar will provide the opportunity to take the required written exam. This is a valuable course for contractors to learn more about the details and requirements for quality shotcrete placement, regardless of their intent to pursue qualification. The fee for the course with reference materials and exam is $650, and the fee for the course with reference materials and no exam is $550. Lunch is included with both registration fees. For more information, click here.

The Shotcrete Inspector Education will be co-presented by Hanskat and Oscar Duckworth. An ASA member with over 25,000 hours of nozzle time, Duckworth is an ACI Examiner for the wet- and dry-mix processes. He serves on the ASA Board of Directors and as Chair of ASA’s Education Committee. Topics of this seminar will include material selections, equipment, placement techniques, finishing, curing, protection, testing and safety as it relates to the building official or inspector. Shotcrete’s growing use in construction and its inclusion in the newly released ACI 318 “Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete” necessitates on-site inspectors who are knowledgeable about shotcrete materials, equipment, application and quality.

This seminar is the recommended educational component to ACI’s new Shotcrete Inspector Certification Program that is expected to be launched in 2019. The seminar will count as a portion of the work experience required for the ACI certification and review the reference materials required for the ACI certification examination. The seminar registration fee, including reference materials and lunch, is $425. For more information, click here.

The shotcrete process offers many quality, efficiency and sustainability advantages, but proper knowledge of the process is critical to the creation of a quality specification and for the success of any specifier/owner employing the process. Maintaining a high level of quality for concrete placed via the shotcrete method is ASA’s primary concern.

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In May, TERRATEC joined representatives of Bangkok’s Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and contractor Italian-Thai Development PCL (ITD) to celebrate the successful breakthrough of one of two TERRATEC Earth Pressure Balance Tunnel Boring Machines (EPBM) at work on the complex Chidlom Cable Tunnel Project, in Bangkok, Thailand. The 3.2-m diameter S48B machine completed a challenging portion of the project that included an extremely tight (35-m radius) curved drive.

Running from the Central Embassy luxury mega mall, located on Phloen Chit Road within the former gardens of the British Embassy site, and MEA’s Chidlom Terminal Electrical Station, southward to Lumphini Park, the project is located in one of the most exclusive and built up areas of downtown Bangkok.

In order to remain within public road easements, as well as negotiate building foundations and the deep piles of the BTS Sukhumvit Skytrain that run along Phloen Chit Road, the tunnel alignments are subject to strict constraints that require several tight radius curves to bring them into MEA’s Chidlom Terminal station. To achieve this, the TERRATEC EPB machines have been designed with a unique extreme X-type articulation system, which can accommodate very tight curves.

“We have worked closely with TERRATEC on several projects in the past and were keen to work with them again,” explains ITD’s Project Manager, Supak Khunviriya. “They have experience from similar projects in Bangkok, so there was a close collaboration from the tender stage. The TBMs are designed to achieve a high level of performance in difficult circumstances and we have trust in TERRATEC’s team, who have assisted us throughout the tunneling operations.”

The TBMs’ soft ground cutterheads feature an open spoke design with the addition of knife bits to assist break-in and break-out of the concrete shaft eyes. Universal tapered precast concrete segments are typically installed as the machines progress, with shorter steel segment sets utilized during the course of the sharp radius curves. The geology along the project is typical for Bangkok, generally comprising stiff to very stiff clay, with lenses of sand and a groundwater head of about 2 bars.

Tunneling on the project commenced last September: “We started out straight into the 35-m radius curve with the S48B machine, going under a busy five-lane road and around the corner of an exclusive department store at the intersection with Phloen Chit Road,” explains Khunviriya. “This is an old building, so the foundation piles extend down about 20 m. The tunnel is at exactly the same level, so we had to be very careful not to cause any settlement. We also had to negotiate the BTS Skytrain foundations on the other side, giving us a window with about 1 m either side of the machine through the intersection.”

ITD had an array of monitoring equipment in place to check for any tunneling-induced settlement during the curved drive, but zero movement was recorded. ITD credits much of this to the skill of TERRATEC’s field service team, whose experienced TBM operators steered the TBM throughout the curve and are assisting TBM operations and maintenance throughout the project.

Focus on the project has now switched to the other TERRATEC machine, the 4.27-m diameter S69 TBM, which was launched in January and is currently excavating a 1,349-m long tunnel from Lumphini Park to the MEA’s Chidlom Terminal Station. It is due to complete this drive in September. Each machine will then execute a further short curved drive to complete tunneling on the project.

Designed to accommodate a new high-voltage cable system, the Chidlom Cable Tunnel Project is one of a series of tunneling projects being undertaken by the MEA, which are being built to answer increased power demands in the Thai capital. The projects will also improve the reliability of the power transmission system and reduce the risk of physical damage to conventional above-ground power lines as a result of accidents and storms.

TERRATEC has a well-established regional base in Thailand, having sold its first machine in the country eight years ago for the Metropolitan Rapid Transit (MRT) Blue Line Extension Project. Since then, TERRATEC has become the country’s leading TBM supplier, with nine machines supplied to Thai projects in recent years.

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Epiroc, a leading productivity partner for the mining and infrastructure industries, has relocated its U.S. headquarters from Commerce City to Broomfield within the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area. The company joins a dynamic business community in a tech corridor known as the “Rocky Mountain Silicon Valley.”

The move to a technology hub is a natural one for Epiroc, a global company that provides innovative drill rigs, rock excavation and construction equipment and tools, along with service products and solutions. Epiroc focuses on delivering world-class technology solutions for automation and interoperability.

Broomfield is situated halfway between downtown Denver and Boulder in the U.S. Highway 36 technology corridor of the northwest Denver metro area. Epiroc’s headquarters is located at 8001 Arista Place, alongside notable neighbors from the technology, manufacturing and packaging sectors.

The new space was built to embody who Epiroc is — innovative, focused and future-forward — and to enable the company to better facilitate customer events. Epiroc also expects the relocation to help with employee recruitment, provide better access to amenities, and offer transportation efficiency for more than 70 people who work at the location.

“The city of Broomfield is a perfect fit for Epiroc,” said Jon Torpy, President and General Manager of Epiroc USA LLC. “While our company dedicates efforts to innovation and new developments in autonomous mining, teleremote drilling and interoperability, it is ideal for us to join a community that embodies growth and collaboration. The move will only help us become a better partner for our customers.”

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Every four years, DFI and the DFI Educational Trust present the Legends Award to three practitioners — an engineer, contractor and manufacturer/supplier — who have made significant contributions and advancements to the research, design, construction, manufacturing and use of deep foundations.

The 2019 recipients of this prestigious award are:

Engineering Legend: Bengt H. Fellenius

Bengt H. Fellenius, Dr.Tech., P.Eng., formerly professor of civil engineering at the University of Ottawa, is the 2019 DFI Engineering Legend. He is being recognized for 50 years of innovative engineering work in soil mechanics and foundation engineering.

Fellenius’ experience comes from a wide variety of assignments that encompass foundation design for industrial plants, water and sewage treatment facilities, bridges and highway projects, marine structures, and urban area development, as well as participation in special investigations and instrumented field tests.

He is and has been an active participant in many national and international professional societies and research associations and in Canadian and U.S. codes and standards development. Fellenius is the author of more than 400 technical papers, articles, books and book chapters, and has given lectures and courses to several universities and international conferences throughout the Americas, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Contractor Legend: Thomas J. Wysockey

Thomas J. Wysockey, chairman emeritus of Thatcher Foundations, is the 2019 DFI Contractor Legend. He is being recognized for his contributions to the construction industry as an inspirational leader and mentor and an advocate for research, innovative techniques and safety.

His commitment to the industry is evident by his involvement in several industry associations, including as board member of American Subcontractors Association, Chicago Chapter; director at the Builders Association of Greater Chicago and the Chicagoland Construction Safety Council; trustee of the Construction Advancement Foundation; trustee of the DFI; president of the Industrial Contractors and Builders Association of Indiana; board member of the Society of American Military Engineers; and member of the Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings.

Wysockey has generously shared his knowledge and experience with future generations of contractors and engineers and has taught courses at several colleges and universities including MIT, Northwestern University, University of Illinois and Purdue University.

Manufacturer/Supplier Legend: Thomas Bauer

Thomas Bauer, Dr-Ing. E.h. Dipl.-Kfm, past chairman of the supervisory board of the Bauer Group, is the 2019 DFI Manufacturer/Supplier Legend. He is being recognized for his relentless desire to innovate and set the highest standard in foundation drilling equipment.

During his 32 years at the helm of Bauer, the company grew to be the largest provider of specialist foundation equipment worldwide. Bauer was significantly involved in the development of several innovations including the hydromill, pressure compensation and the cutter wheel shock absorber. He also received patents for the auger drilling method with offset hollow stem auger, Paternoster parking system, underwater drilling system, and drilling tools with extraction system.

Bauer’s philosophy and his legacy for the company can be summarized as follows: the most important innovation is not the individual idea, rather it is the innovation culture of the company that is shaped by the top manager and kept alive over the years. The most decisive part is that all employees become part of the innovation. To succeed, the top manager should not relate himself to every good idea, but he should keep a low profile, continually encouraging and nurturing.

The recipients will be honored at the Legends Award Ceremony at the DFI 44^thAnnual Conference on Deep Foundations, Thursday, October 17, at the Hilton Chicago.

Information about the Legends Award and the 44^th Annual Conference is available at www.dfi.org/Annual2019.

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Cross passages in underground tunnels provide a unique challenge for construction crews. Compact, strong and precise, remote-controlled demolition robots with specialized attachments are the go-to solution for improving safety, speed and productivity in cross passage excavation.

Here are a few demolition robot attachments that can make tunneling contractors’ lives easier.

Bucket

Because they convert a demolition robot into an agile excavator, buckets are a no-brainer, versatile attachment for cross passage excavation. They can dig, sort and separate material, and quickly load it into carts for removal from the passage.

Beam Grapple

Beam grapples handle the important work of placing support ribs in the passage. Some manufacturers offer beam grapples that are lightweight yet stand up to tough tunneling conditions and lift as much as 1,100 lbs.

Breaker

The breaker is a pro at removing large amounts of material, breaking it down and sizing it. Designed to hit harder and faster than a mini-excavator paired with a breaker, breaker-equipped remote-controlled demolition machines also produce less noise and vibration, making them perfect for tunneling.

TEI Rock Drill

Paired with a demolition robot, the TEI Rock Drill is ideal for drilling blast holes in confined spaces. It excels at cross passage work because of its ability to drill at all angles and directions, and as a bonus is far quieter than pneumatic handheld drills.

Drum Cutter

Drum cutters gently remove layers of hard, reinforced ground for cross passage excavation. The attachment is especially suited for tunneling work thanks to low impact operation that produces less noise and vibration.

*****

The perfect pairing of a remote-controlled demolition machine and the best attachment for the job can mean days or even weeks of time saved on a project. Contact a demolition robot manufacturer to find out how the equipment can increase efficiency and profits on your next project.

Peter Bigwood is vice president of sales and marketing for Brokk Inc., a leading manufacturer of remote-controlled demolition machines and attachments for over 40 years.

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The UK’s Millennium Bridge’s well-known wobble was not picked up on at any point by the design’s code.

There’s no doubt that computer programs have helped immensely with the progression of our design capabilities in the engineering sector. But it is vital that we do not become reliant on these programs as a complete solution — they will only produce quality designs if used correctly, with human input a crucial component to success. While a good engineer can benefit from using such software, a bad engineer may find their designs worsened by the addition of technology they haven’t the skill to use properly.

Put simply, there’s really no replacement for genuine engineering skill.

Computer-assistance is, and should be used, as simply that: assistance. The successful link between computer programs and engineering skill varies depending on which part of the AEC industry they are being used in. To understand how this factor can impact their relationship, we must first look at the three main stages of engineering design.

Concept design: At this stage, the majority of the design comes from the imagination of the engineer, supported by some simple sizing elements or calculations.
Drafting and analysis: This stage brings the concept design into the real world more earnestly, checking that it is feasible and how it will succeed. This stage is predominantly computer-based, using programs such as building design software to help engineers work to a greater degree of accuracy.
Detailed design: This stage is when, as the name suggests, the design becomes much more detailed. At this point, the design is almost completely computer-based, with analysis happening in the background.

Naturally, anything that needs a form of understanding and an imaginative aspect needs the human element, and likely always will do. But it’s not just the imaginative aspect that machines cannot replicate in full: fine tuning, for example, still needs a guiding human hand in order to ensure the outputs are correct. While leaps and bounds are certainly being made in machine learning, whereby computers can now make decisions based on historical data and records, it is highly unlikely that this will develop to the point where human skill and judgement become obsolete.

That’s not to say that human judgement and skill is infallible. Mistakes can be made when writing the programs designed to support design, or further along the line when inputting data into these programs. Either error will result in an inaccurate output. For this reason, the topic of automated checking — whereby computer programs will check the input against previous projects and their success or failure — has been a hot point of discussion within the AEC industry lately. However, it is worth bearing in mind that the majority of engineering disasters have occurred due to something unusual; that is, something that has not happened in previous related projects. While rule-checkers help when situations where rules apply, they aren’t able to flag something that hasn’t happened in previous records, i.e. something unusual.

For example, the UK’s Millennium Bridge’s well-known wobble was not picked up on at any point by the design’s code. Programs failed to predict the wind instability of Tacoma Narrows. While engineers can make use of a value judgement, computer programs do not. As the world changes, engineers will make a value judgement to adapt their designs accordingly.

In order to make these judgements, both human and machine-based, as accurate as possible, formulas must be created to suit. There are several structures and designs that have had formulas developed exclusively for them. For example, the original formula creation for shell structures had to be created by expert mathematicians to ensure success. Now, with Finite Element Analysis, almost any form can be analyzed — but that does not mean these forms are always sensible. There’s a certain amount of tension between architects and engineers surrounding this. Where engineers are seen as wanting functionality, architect are seen as wanting novelty first. But this disparity makes for the perfect partnership toward the best designs.

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Alvarado

Linda Alvarado, president of Alvarado Construction and a limited partner in the ownership group of the Colorado Rockies, is presenting the 2019 Hal Hunt Lecture on Communications during the DFI 44^th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, in Chicago, October 14-18, 2019. Her talk is titled, Embracing Change: It is Brains, Not Just Brawn.

As the first Hispanic woman to enter the baseball dugout, Alvarado is a dynamic entrepreneur who has proven successful in a variety of ventures including Alvarado Construction, a commercial general contracting firm specializing in commercial, industrial, utility and heavy engineering projects. According to her bio, it was quite a gamble for a woman to enter the construction field in 1976. Although she had to prove herself, Alvarado maintains, “There’s always a way to do it. You have to believe in your own ability to do it better.”

Alvarado is not only a strong advocate for women’s rights but is also devoted to achieving unity among all Hispanics. In addition to managing her business, she is a leader in various business and civic organizations and serves on the board of directors of several corporations.

She has received numerous awards, including 1993 Sara Lee Front Runner Award, One of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America by Hispanic Business Magazine, Woman of Achievement by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York, Outstanding Achievement in Business by Big Sisters, and Humanitarian Award by the American Jewish Committee.

The Hal Hunt Lecture was established in 1989 to recognize notable communicators in the deep foundations industry. The lecture was named in honor of Hal W. Hunt, one of the initial organizers of DFI. The 2019 Hal Hunt Lecture is being sponsored by the DFI Women in Deep Foundations Committee and is supported by the generous donations of companies and individuals. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Net proceeds benefit the DFI Educational Trust that awards professional development grants to women involved in design and construction of deep foundations.

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Planning for TBMs in Difficult Ground – or TBM DiGs 2019 – is well underway and things have started to finalize. The event is being held Nov. 14-15, 2019, at the Sheraton Denver West in Lakewood, Colorado. There was much enthusiasm about the conference among participants, sponsors and exhibitors who attended the WTC 2019 in Naples, Italy.

The deadline for the full paper submission has passed and papers are under review. Over 80 abstracts in different and exciting topics have been submitted. Topics range from hard rock to soft ground TBM challenges and solutions, as well as a healthy dose of papers that are focused on new and innovative technologies to respond to ever more challenging ground conditions where TBMs are being applied.

Top experts from around the world are lined up to share their experiences on TBMs in difficult conditions with their peers, including new technologies that have been developed in recent years. Sponsors include the world’s leading TBM manufacturers, such as Herrenknecht, Robbins and CREG, who will all have a strong presence in the exhibition. Research institutions such as Ruhr University Bochum of Bochum, Germany, and Transportation Tunnel Research Institute in Chengdu, China, are also among the partners. Renowned specialty tunnel and TBM consulting firms (Brierley Associates LLC), tool manufactures (Kennametal Inc.), tunneling contractors (Kiewit), OEMs (Komatsu), construction chemical suppliers (MAPEI), and Southwest Jiaotong University are among the confirmed sponsors while other sponsors and exhibitors are finalizing their positions.

Excellent Keynote speakers are also lined up to offer their experience and vision on this topic. This includes Herbert Einstein from MIT who will talk about risk management, Lok Home of The Robbins Company, who will talk about the evolution of the TBM technology, Werner Burger of Herrenknecht, who will discuss new technologies, and Wang Dujuan of CREG, who will talk about innovative machine concepts.

The conference will start with a reception and tour of the Excavation Engineering and Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI) of the Colorado School of Mines in nearby Golden, Colorado, where the participants will be updated on the ongoing research activities and will interact with Underground Construction and Tunneling (UCT) faculty and students. There are local tours and site visits lined up for the attendees and their companions to visit sites around the Denver area and the nearby Rocky Mountains.

Denver is convenient to access for international participants, with direct flights available to Miami for those planning to attend the ITA awards as well. At TBM DiGs 2019, there will be discussion on follow up conferences and hosting of this event in 2021.

For technical discussions and program contact rostami@mines.edu and for technical support and sponsorship and exhibitions contact Learn@mines.edu.

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The crew from International Foundation Group, working for Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects under the project management of M.A. Kharafi & Sons, relied on Herrenknecht tunneling technology.

Dubai International Airport is the hub of air traffic in the Persian Gulf: nearly 90 million international passengers are handled here each year. The operators are constantly investing in capacity expansion. As part of Dubai International Airport Expansion Phase 3, and during ongoing flight operations, a Herrenknecht AVND2400AB MTBM safely and precisely excavated three new stormwater drainage tunnels – 610, 765 and 825 m long – under the taxiway.

The safe and precise crossing under airport taxiways and runways is one of the supreme disciplines of mechanized tunneling – especially when flight operations cannot be interrupted. Heave, settlement or other impairment of this highly sensitive infrastructure must be avoided at all costs. Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines in the hands of skillful tunnel builders are ideally equipped for this challenging task. The tunneling crew from International Foundation Group, working for Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects under the project management of M.A. Kharafi & Sons, relied on Herrenknecht tunneling technology to extend the stormwater drainage system at Dubai Airport. In March 2019, they celebrated the successful completion of the project.

Using the pipe jacking method, the AVND2400AB (3.025 m OD) mastered the challenge of the three long drives. The result is a new drainage tunnel with a total length of 2,200 m, which increases the airport’s drainage capacity. At depths of 13 to 15 m, the micromachine crossed under the Terminal 2 taxiways while flight operations on the ground and in the air continued smoothly and safely. On the longest drive, an average of 15 m of tunnel per day were excavated through soft soils with sandstone and siltstone. The drive remained exactly on course by precise process and control technology from VMT.

The new pipelines will efficiently collect and drain away rainwater, especially during heavy downpours, so it can no longer accumulate on the surface. This is crucial to maintaining smooth flight operations for one of the busiest airports in the world.

Past Successes

In the past, Herrenknecht technology has successfully completed a number of challenging tunnel missions, such as crossing under airports. For the extension of the baggage handling system at Zurich’s Kloten Airport, a Herrenknecht Mixshield (6.28 m OD) superbly excavated a 2,400-m long tunnel under the airport grounds until 2001. In 2002, an EPB Shield (6.46 m OD) tunneled under the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport in the United States for the newly developed 18.6-km long light rail system. In Brazil, an AVN1500 constructed a 367-m long stormwater drainage tunnel under the runway at Goiânia Airport in 2015. In 2017, two EPB Shields (6.250 m OD) completed two new tunnel tubes for passenger and baggage transport with a total length of 3,842 m under the runways at Moscow Airport Sheremetyevo in Russia. During the excavation of a 4,500-m long metro tunnel in Barcelona, in 2018 a taxiway at El Prat Airport was crossed under over a distance of 70 m with great success.

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Lane Construction was the lowest of seven bidders for Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU) Ship Canal Water Quality Project (SCWQP). Lane submitted a bid of $254.9 million. Other bidders included Kiewit-McNally JV ($297.2 million), Traylor-Shea JV ($320.7 million), Tunnel Storage JV ($335.9 million), Barnard Walsh ($336.3 million), Michels ($344 million), and Kenny Construction ($356.9 million). The engineer’s estimate was $218 million.

SCWQP is being delivered in response to an EPA Consent Decree, and under a Joint Project Agreement between SPU and King County, with the goal of limiting combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard, Fremont, Queen Anne, and Wallingford to no more than one overflow per year on average for each of the seven affected outfalls. Achieving this goal will keep nearly 80 million gallons of polluted water out of Seattle waterways each year, as these affected outfalls currently average more than 130 overflows per year.

The SCWQP program is composed of multiple projects, the two largest being the Tunnel Storage and the Tunnel Effluent Pump Station (TEPS) projects. The Tunnel Storage project is the central feature of SCWQP and includes a 14,000-ft long (4,267 m) storage tunnel with an internal diameter of 18.83 ft (5.74 m) and a storage capacity of 29.2 million gallons. Combined sewage flows are intercepted and sent to the tunnel via a series of new diversion structures, which route them to one of five new drop structures. Connecting the drop structures to the new 80- to 110-ft deep (24.4-33.5 m) tunnel requires five shafts with diameters ranging from 11 to 86 ft (3.4-26.2 m), and depths up to 110 ft; an approximately 650-ft long (198 m), 94-in. ID (2,390 mm) curved microtunnel beneath the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and two short conventionally mined adits, each having a finished internal diameter of 8 ft (2.4 m).

The tunnel will be excavated using a pressurized-face tunnel boring machine (TBM), which will be launched from the west end of the tunnel alignment and driven through glacially overconsolidated soils under groundwater pressures up to 3 bar. The shafts are all located in soft ground, and will be constructed using drilled shaft, secant pile, and slurry wall techniques. Upon completion of the tunnel and upstream facilities, the TEPS, a 12 mgd pump station, will be constructed within the TBM launch shaft and will serve to pump the stored wastewater from the tunnel to King County’s West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant via existing infrastructure.

Contractor mobilization was anticipated for late 2019. Final design for the TEPS contract is underway and anticipated to be complete by mid-2020. McMillen Jacobs Associates is the prime consultant for SPU.

Source: Information for this article came from the City of Seattle website and the McMillen Jacobs Associates website.

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Lane enters the next phase of its expansion in the United States with Mark Schiller as new President and Chief Executive Officer of Lane Industries and its subsidiary The Lane Construction Corporation, the company announced July 11.

Lane, Salini Impregilo Group, is one of the top builders in the country, with a track record of 130 years in the construction sector. The United States is the biggest single market for Salini Impregilo by revenue. At the end of June, it had an order backlog exceeding $4 billion and new orders totaling a combined $800 million, including contracts that are new or in the process of being finalized, as well as best offers.

Schiller, a 30-year veteran of Lane, succeeds Robert E. Alger, who is assuming the role of Chairman of the Board for The Lane Construction Corporation. Schiller is strongly customer focused with deep leadership skills. He has a proven track record of execution, leading the organization on the operations side over the past 20 years, recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Operations – Construction, a role he will continue in.

“I am honored to follow in Bob’s footsteps and lead Lane into the next phase of its 130-year legacy,” said Schiller. “We, as an organization, will continue to refine and optimize our processes to improve our growth and success to meet the challenges of our industry.”

The naming of a new President and CEO is part of the renewal that Lane is bringing about both at the organizational and commercial level, in order to accelerate its expansion in the country. In 2018, Lane sold its Plants and Paving segment as it switched its focus from roadwork and other projects in a limited number of U.S. states to large contracts across the country in the highway and bridges; tunneling; mass transit and rail; and water sectors. Its work has come to include major hydraulic tunneling projects such as the Northeast Boundary Tunnel in Washington, D.C. It is also working on the Purple Line light rail system in Maryland and the replacement of the Gerald Desmond Bridge in California, among many other highway works.

“It’s been a privilege to serve Lane over the past 40 years, especially the last 19 as President and CEO,” said Alger. “Mark has assembled an excellent team under him over the years and I am confident they will support him in his new position. I remain committed to supporting our executive team in my new capacity to ensure we are well positioned to capitalize on all of the opportunities that lie before us.”

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On May 18, Ric-Man Construction Inc. achieved a new U.S. standard for longest microtunneled project by completing the 3,947-ft Painesville (OH) Raw Water Intake, according to Herrenknecht AG. Crews used a Herrenknecht AVN1500 to jack 60-in. RCP (10-ft lengths) under Lake Erie.

The drive broke the U.S. record of 3,000 ft of 84-in. pipe set by Kiewit Bilfinger Berger JV in 2008 as part of Portland, Oregon’s East Side CSO program. Terratest set the world record for the Altamira Landfall project in the Gulf of Mexico, which involved a 7,369-ft drive of 10.5-ft diameter pipe.

In Painesville, tunneling was performed from a 67-ft deep shaft. The tunnel alignment was approximately 25 ft below the bottom of Lake Erie. Ric-Man tunneled through full-face shale as well as a mixed face of shale and clay.

The $17 million intake project began in November 2016, with current plans to activate the project by the end of 2019. The project replaces a 24-in. riveted steel raw water intake that was originally built in 1913 and abandoned in 2010. A second 36-in. intake pipe, built in 1951, is now the source of water for the city, but was experiencing problems due to open joints and missing pipe segments.

The new pipeline extends farther into the lake and will provide the City of Painesville with an intake that is less susceptible to harmful algae blooms, provides redundancy with a secondary intake source, improves water quality, and reduces the amount of chemicals needed for treatment. The project was funded by Ohio EPA Waster Supply Revolving Loan Account.

Parties involved in the project include City of Painesville (Owner); Ric-Man (Contractor); Burgess & Niple (Design Engineer); HRC (Consultant and Value Engineering); GEI (Pipe Design); Northstar Contracting (CIP Concrete Structures); Whitesell Electric (Tunnel Electrical); Underwater Marine (Marine Work); The Mannik and Smith Group (Construction Engineering, Administration and Inspection); Northern Concrete Pipe (Pipe Supplier).

The post New U.S. Microtunneling Record Set in Ohio appeared first on Tunnel Business Magazine.

Keller’s geotechnical construction businesses in North America are joining together as one unified company, and rebranding to Keller, effective January 1, 2020.

“We have a very proud history of success and market leadership in North America,” explains James Hind, President, North America. “Combining our capabilities will strengthen our position and give us the platform for further growth and success into the next decade.”

Specifically, current North American companies Bencor, Case Atlantic, Case Foundation, Hayward Baker, HJ Foundation, Keller Canada, McKinney and Moretrench will be integrated into one company and rebranded to Keller.

Keller’s non-geotechnical construction businesses Moretrench Industrial, Suncoast Post-Tension, and Cyntech will stay as separate businesses within the Keller North American organization and retain their brands. GEO-Instruments, the instrumentation and monitoring company, will keep its brand.

The new company will bring benefits to both customers and Keller.

“Primarily we are making this change for our clients. Operating as one company in each local market, offering all products and services, we’ll be easier to understand and engage with,” explains James. “Clients can be confident they’re getting the best, most competitive solutions, especially when these involve multiple techniques.”

“Combining all our geotechnical strengths will therefore help Keller compete and win in North America. It will also be easier for teams to work together and realize best in class systems and processes, removing duplication and improving efficiency.”

The new structure will go into effect on January 1, 2020.

“We are making this announcement well in advance to ensure the transition is planned and executed smoothly and January is a logical starting point,” says James. “In the meantime, everyone remains firmly focused on continuing to win and execute work safely and successfully day to day.”

Prior to January 1, clients will see no change. The current companies will continue to bid and secure work and existing projects will continue as planned. Clients will continue to work with our same people in the existing businesses. After January 1, we trust our existing relationships will only strengthen as we become an even more valuable partner able to serve all their geotechnical construction needs.

Alain Michaelis, Chief Executive of Keller concludes: “This will be a significant step forward for Keller Group’s largest division. The team has done a great job in assessing and planning for a successful implementation. We are confident that these actions will further differentiate Keller as the leading geotechnical contractor in North America.”

Keller was founded in 1860 and is the largest geotechnical specialist contractor in the world with ongoing operations in over 40 countries across six continents. With a North American presence of over 70 years, Keller operates with over 50 offices throughout the US and Canada.

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Brokk, the world’s leading manufacturer of remote-controlled demolition machines, has launched a new website, www.brokk.com. The new site provides quick access to detailed product information and an extensive after sales section full of useful tools to help customers maximize efficiency with their Brokk machines.

The mobile-friendly site serves as a valuable resource for information on robotic demolition products and best practices by linking customers to educational material, instruction and maintenance videos, the latest technology and industry news and more.

Website visitors can easily find information on Brokk’s full line of robotic demolition machines — ranging from the new, 1,466-pound Brokk 70 to the 13.5-ton Brokk 800 — in the Products section. Each page features detailed specifications, options and attachments. Customers will also find helpful demonstration videos and a comparison tool to help select the right Brokk for the application.

In addition, the website categorizes its product offering by industry, providing related product information and application videos in the Industries section. Visitors can find additional useful resources for operating and maintaining their machines in the After Sales section, including demonstration and how-to videos, FAQs and detailed troubleshooting guidelines created by Brokk certified technicians.

In addition to detailed product information and educational resources, Brokk is using the new site to keep current and potential customers well informed on industry news and best practices. News stories and educational articles will be updated regularly with information to help increase productivity and ensure efficiency across a wide breadth of industries.

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