Bauer involved in constructing a tunnel under the Suez Canal

The “New Suez Canal” was officially opened in August 2015 during a grand ceremony. The waterway, which has great significance for world trade, had been widened at certain points and expanded. It connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea and is the shortest sea route from Asia to Europe. The reopening of the Suez Canal does not mean that all construction work on the waterway has been completed though. For instance, a new road tunnel up to 25 meters below the bed of the Suez Canal an 70 meters below the ground level is currently being built north of the city of Ismailia. BAUER EGYPT S.A.E., the Egyptian subsidiary of BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, has been carrying out the necessary specialist foundation engineering works as subcontractor for the joint venture between Egypt based companies PETROJET and Concord for Engineering & Contracting and on behalf of the Egyptian client Engineering Authority-Armed Forces-Military Engineers Administration since May 2015.

Advertisement

For the ventilation system Bauer is constructing four shafts with a depth of up to 85 meters and a diameter of 21 meters using diaphragm wall technology; additionally, Bauer is constructing a diaphragm wall around 110,000 square meters in size and up to 50 meters deep to serve as start and target shafts for the tunnel boring machine. The scope of works also includes the construction of a soft gel blanket covering 21,250 square meters and the installation of 150 temporary anchors. Among other equipment, a BAUER MC 128 and an MC 96 duty-cycle crane, both equipped with a BC 40 cutter, are being used along with two BAUER BG 28 drilling rigs.

BAUER EGYPT S.A.E. expects to be finished with its specialist foundation engineering works in July 2016. Once it is completed in 2018, the twin-tube Ismailia road tunnel including the tunnel approaches will stretch approximately six kilometers underneath the Suez Canal.