A 6.82m diameter open-face Kawasaki TBM should begin boring next month on a 4.6km long railway tunnel in the Gunma prefecture in Japan. Client East Japan Railway awarded the construction contract to Shimizu/Nishimatsu/Hazama JV. Consultancy work was done in-house at East Japan Railway. A single tube will be bored through hard rock, with a compression strength between 20MPa and 160MPa. Construction should be completed by January 2006. The tunnel is being built to replace an existing railway, which will soon be submerged due to the construction of a dam.
