Denmark's COWI wins 8-lane tunnel contract in Canada
Danish engineering consulting group COWI has been awarded a CAD$15 million (€10.35 million) Owner's Engineer contract for an eight-lane immersed tunnel across British Columbia’s Fraser River in western Canada.
The aim of the project is to provide more capacity for drivers and transit users and walking and cycling options through the crossing for the first time.
The new tunnel will have three general-purpose traffic lanes and one dedicated bus lane in each direction, as well as a bi-directional multi-use cycle path and pedestrian walkway to improve travel across the river without impeding marine traffic.
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COWI's role as Owner's Engineer is to provide the reference concepts and geotechnical underpinning for the ambitious CAD$4.15 billion (€2.87 billion) river crossing. The company says it will draw on its experience designing the original George Massey tunnel in 1959, to "conceptualise and oversee the removal of the original four-lane tunnel and construction of its eight-lane replacement".
It will also be necessary to design and create flood control systems around the new tunnel that can withstand extreme river flows as well as anticipated increased sea levels, something that the Danish engineering firm has form with, having previously designed the world’s longest immersed tunnel for motorists in China as well as the first immersed tunnel designed against typhoon waves in South Korea.
COWI also took part in a project that created pioneering tunnel concepts for an immersed tunnel in the centre of Stockholm where the water depth to an existing utility pipe near the tunnel alignment required casting of the tunnel elements on site under floating conditions.
Darryl Matson, Senior Project Director for the project at COWI in North Vancouver said: "It’s projects like these that light up the engineer inside each of us. We are very passionate about this project as it lies in the backyard of our local team – we use it frequently so we know what a difference we can make to the community.
"It’s a key transportation link with engineering challenges such as minimising disruption to local ecosystems during construction and ensuring the final tunnel will stand up to natural disasters. It will both test and showcase our talented engineers. The tunnel will break new ground with a dedicated pathway for cyclists and pedestrians and a dedicated bus lane alongside road traffic, helping create cleaner transport and bringing huge trade and travel benefits to the local communities."
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COWI will be part of the broader Owners’ Engineering team as the Immersed Tunnel specialist. The team will comprise of experts and specialists from highway/civil, environmental, hydraulics, communication, marine navigation and construction.
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