Tunnelling was recognised as a commendable construction method, when the British Construction Industry (BCI) awards were handed out last month.
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link in south east England won the major project category. The US$234.7M contract 430, constructed by Skanska Construction UK Ltd, consisted of two cut and cover tunnels along its 14.4km stretch: a 120m section at Westwall Leacon; and one at the western approach to Ashford station. One judge said: “the CTRL Ashford contract is monumental engineering done very, very well.”
The judges also paid particular tribute to the project’s commitment to a very tight timetable, and the positive relationship the managers forged with local residents.
The International award was presented to the British-led team on the Boston Central Artery jacked tunnels project in the US.
Completed in February 2001, the triple-bore jacked tunnel highway, under the railway, was ten times the size of any jacked tunnel previously constructed in the world. Designed by Mott MacDonald, three full-size interstate highway tunnels, the largest well over 100m long, each with sections weighing up to 30,000t, were jacked under an operating commuter railway in downtown Boston as part of the Central Artery Project to relieve traffic congestion in the city centre.
The alternative cut and cover method would have meant relocating the railway five times, which was not an option.
The judges called it “superb” and “phenomenal”.
