DOHA — Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail), the company overseeing the construction of the integrated railway network, has taken delivery of the first of 21 tunnel boring machines (TBMs). TBM S-865, also known as ‘Lebretha' was manufactured by Germany's Herrenknecht, and is the first of four TBMs which will be used for the Doha Metro as part of the Red Line North Underground project – the design and build (D&B) joint venture led by Italy's Salini Impregilo, with South Korea's SK Engineering & Construction Co Ltd and Galfar Al Misnad Engineering & Contracting WLL (ISG JV). For the Red Line North Underground project, a total of four TBMs — named Lebretha, Al Khor, Al Mayeda and Al Bidda — are proposed to bore the required rail tunnels. TBM Lebretha will be assembled and launched from the Al-Wahda site toward West Bay Central. At West Bay Central it will be disassembled and reassembled at Al-Wahda and then travel toward Doha Golf Course. It will bore the West Tunnel of the Drive while TBM Al Khor will bore the East Tunnel when it arrives. TBM Lebretha will travel a distance of about 7.954 kilometers and will take about 22 months to complete – between the third quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2016. The average speed will be between 14m/day to 21 m/day, depending on ground conditions. And its daily excavation quantity will be about 680m³, with a predicted total excavation quantity of 5,408,720m³. Each of the TBMs for the Doha Metro measures 7.05m in diameter and 120m in length. To ensure that transportation was successfully managed, TBM Lebretha was dismantled into 22 sections which were easier to transport including the cutter head. It was transported by sea to Qatar and arrived over the weekend at the Doha Port. Some residents may have seen the sections of TBM Lebretha traveling along Al Corniche earlier this week on their way from the Doha Port to the first launch site of Al Wahda, next to the Qatar Exhibition Center. Qatar Rail extends its appreciation and special thanks to Qatar Rail team working on the Red Line North project, and also to the Doha Port team that unloaded the sections; the Customs Department for their quick response in clearing all necessary formalities; and to the Civil Defense which safely escorted the sections to the Al Wahda construction site. All these organizations worked in collaboration to ensure the success of the project, which is in line with all the major pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030. It will take a few months to reassemble TBM Lebretha into a complete machine and Qatar Rail will provide regular updates in the newspapers and on its corporate website — www.qr.com.qa – on the progress and everytime we receive delivery of a new TBM. The scope of work for the ISG JV on the Red Line North project comprises the design and construction of about 13.4 kilometers twin-bored tunnel, including seven underground stations, between the proposed Msheireb Underground Station and Doha Golf Course via Doha West Bay. The tunnels will be built at an average depth of about 20 meters below ground. The arrival of 20 more TBMs will be seen over the coming months, to be utilized not only by the Red Line North Project but also by three more projects: • Red Line South – led by QDVC and comprising G. S. Engineering and Construction and Al Darwish Engineering – will get five TBMs. • Green Line – led by PORR and comprising Saudi Bin Laden Group and Hamad Bin Khaled Contracting – will receive six TBMs. • Gold Line – recently awarded to a D&B JV led by Aktor SA and comprising Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Yapi Merkezi Insaat ve Sanayi Anonim Sirketi (Yapi Merkezi), Sezai Turkes Feyzi Akkaya Marine Construction (STFA) and Al Jaber Engineering – will receive six TBMs. All of the Joint Ventures delivering the D&B contracts for Qatar Rail include Qatari companies and have all been selected upon completion of a successful competitive bidding. — SG
