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When Boulders Attack! Roller Cutters in Soft Ground
By David Krauter
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…be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. And when you arrive at the Hyatt Regency for the North American Tunneling (NAT) conference, be sure to stop by the registration desk for your badge. Seriously. Without it, you won’t be admitted to the exhibit hall to take in the sights and sounds of the NAT, UCA of SME’s biennial tunneling conference.
When the starry-eyed counterculture focused on the City by the Bay in 1967 for the Summer of Love, love, it was argued, is all you need. Time passed and the reality set in that it takes more than love. Especially if you need to build a tunnel. Love doesn’t hurt, but top-notch designers, tunnel-boring machines and contractors are the way and the light in tunnel construction. NAT gathers the best and brightest of the industry for four days of meetings and exhibitions June 7-11. Truly, to find out what’s hip and happening in North American tunneling, NAT is the place to be. More >>
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The Long Drive - The City of Portland, Kiewit-Bilfinger Berger and Herrenknecht Go the Distance on Eastside CSO
By Greg Thompson
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 Enough research uncovers record breaking performances in any number of events. For example, on July 19, 2007, Hou Jin of Changchun City, Jilin Province, China, set a record for the longest motorcycle ride through a tunnel of fire (178 ft, 10.4 in.). Unfortunately, a great number of engineering and construction feats go untracked and unheralded. Currently under way in Portland, Ore., a microtunneling project for the City’s Bureau of Environmental Services is looking to find a place in history as the longest drive in North America. More >>
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Deep Tunnel Update -
The Second City’s Megaproject Is Second to None
By Greg Thompson
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Two years since tunneling work completed on Chicago’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), the project pushes on. Phase I of the massive urban infrastructure project lasted better than 30 years with 109.4 miles of tunnels bored beneath the Chicagoland area. The second part of the project is under way, consisting of mining and construction of several reservoirs. More >>
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Testing Jet Grout Ground Modifications for
Seattle’s Brightwater
Conveyance System
By Richard Hanke and Michael Blanding
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The Brightwater regional wastewater treatment system in King County, Wash. is currently under construction and is slated for completion in 2010. The Brightwater project, the third wastewater treatment system for the greater Seattle area, has been in the planning stages for many years.
The need for a third wastewater treatment facility for the region was predicted as early as the 1950s with forecasted population growth and the resulting demands on the current infrastructure. Follow-up flow estimate studies conducted in the 1990s projected that the current wastewater treatment system would run out of capacity by approximately 2010, thereby spurring the new project into action. Subsequently, the project was officially launched in 2005. More >>
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Manufacturing Change
A perspective on the latest developments in TBM design
By Desiree Willis
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Whether the ground is hard or soft, the tunnel short or long, tunnel linings play an important role in the world of underground construction. And while materials and methods have changed over the years, linings remain the first line of defense in tunnel excavation. Without them, ground being removed for a project would settle or collapse. More >>
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