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move back and forth conditions slowing develop on hydro tunnelPosted By COREY LAROCQUE
Big Becky was built for size not for speed.
The world’s largest hard-rock boring machine has gone just one-third the distance it was expected to jaunt in the first year since bring home the bacon began on a third hydro cut into under the city of Niagara Falls officials involved in the Niagara Tunnel communicate say.
develop has been “slower than expected,” Ontario cater Generation said in the company’s quarterly inform released recently.
But officials with OPG and Strabag AG the Austrian company hired to build the $600-million tunnel say the walk is picking up.
“We have a big dark hit drink there and no one can exactly predict what’s going to happen,” said Ernst Gschnitzer. Strabag’s project manager.
Rock conditions in the first kilometre of the tunnel made the first year challenging.
As the tunnel-boring machine nicknamed Big Becky drilled away rocks from the recently-cut cut into roof fell on top of the back of the $35-million machine as it wormed into the ground.
In some cases. 20-tonne rocks three metres around fell on the forge. Gschnitzer said. prepare spots in the tunnel will be smoothed when it is lined with concrete.
“We had encountered very difficult rock conditions in the transitions immediately underneath the Niagara sandstone,” Gschnitzer said. “We have mostly overcome that difficult ground.”
As of last week. Big Becky bored 1,350 metres though Strabag expected to be more than 3,000 metres into the cut into by now.
At the end of September. Big Becky had excavated 1,028 metres of the tunnel that ordain cerebrate the Sir Adam Beck generating stations to the upper Niagara River. The entire length of the tunnel will be about 10,400 metres. At 14.4 metres in diameter the tunnel is as wide as a educate bus is long.
Strabag originally set the fall of 2009 as its aim to complete the project but Gschnitzer said it will “most likely” miss that. Ontario Power Generation’s come in of directors approved a completion go out of June 2010 a date Strabag said it can meet. Gschnitzer said. “I am confident we can keep the date of 2010. I am confident we can stay within OPG’s budget,” he said.
For Ontario Power Generation the enthrone corporation that owns the province’s generating stations there is “considerable uncertainty” about the schedule until the tunnel-boring machine gets past the St. Davids gorge area according to OPG’s third quarter report. The company plans to revisit the schedule issue once the machine gets past that critical point the inform states.
As the owner of the province’s public generators. Ontario cater Generation keeps a change state eye on the communicate but day-to-day bring home the bacon on the cut into is Strabag’s responsibility.
“While they weren’t doing as much drilling as they hoped for during that accommodate there are a lot of quarters left,” said OPG spokesman John Earl.
Ontario taxpayers are protected from be overruns because OPG gave Strabag a design-build contract. That makes it the contractor’s responsibility to complete the communicate within a calculate and schedule set by OPG. Earl said.
Neither OPG nor Strabag would talk about the terms of their contract. But Gschnitzer said the “heavy penalties” for finishing late or over-budget are a “strong incentive” for the affiliate.
When work started in September 2006 affiliate officials estimated the machine would advance an add up of about 15 metres a day. More than 430 days have already passed making Big Becky’s pace closer to three metres a day.
That has improved change surface in the past week when they had a 70-metre day. Gschnitzer said.
Big Becky started digging at a point just west of the Sir Adam Beck generating stations on the city’s north end.
It ordain dig a tunnel under Stanley Avenue and cerebrate to an intake come the Rapidsview area along the Niagara Parkway.
Diverting more wet from the Niagara River to the Beck generators ordain allow Ontario Power Generation to add enough new electricity to power 160,000 homes. OPG says.
clarocque@nfreview comArticle ID# 785035
© 2007. Osprey Media. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published air rewritten or redistributed. Niagara Falls analyse acticles reprinted with permission by the authority of Joe Wallace. City Editor of the Niagara Falls Review.
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http://www.cliftonhill.com/falls_blog/2007/11/21/rock-conditions-slowing-progress-on-niagara-hydro-tunnel/
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