A huge tunnel boring machine (TBM) ordered by Tel Aviv light rail contractors has been stuck at Ashdod Port for two weeks, due to delays in obtaining the permits needed to bring it to Tel Aviv, sources inform "Globes." Sources close to the project blame NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd., which in turn puts the responsibility on Chinese company CRTG.
Work on the first light rail line began with great fanfare in August 2015. 24 kilometers of track and 24 stations throughout Tel Aviv are slated for construction, and a substantial portion of the infrastructure work has been given to Shikun u'Binui Solel Boneh Infrastructures Ltd., controlled by Shari Arison, and CRTG.
This work requires enormous 150-meter long, 4,000-ton TBMs equipped with 7-14-meter diameter drills. Six such machines are expected to operate in Tel Aviv simultaneously. The first machine left Qingdao Port in China five weeks ago, and reached Israel after a three-week voyage. Two weeks have since passed, and the machine is still in the port. Sources inform "Globes" that the reason is delays in obtaining the permits for bringing the machines to the site. Dozens of trucks and complex engineering coordination are needed to transport the machines.
While sources close to the project blame NTA for the delay, NTA says that the Chinese company is responsible for the coordination. The sources are also warning about a possible delay in beginning the work, but NTA says that the machine is scheduled to go into operation only in 2017, so that no delay in the project timetable is expected. Infrastructure sector sources today estimated the cost of the delay in bringing the machines in the hundreds of thousands of shekels.
NTA stated, "The first TBM to reach Israel is in a temporary warehouse until a permit is obtained from the Tel Aviv municipality to transfer it to the railway site. NTA is helping to coordinate the machine's arrival according to the timetable. Assembling the machine will take several months, and digging the tunnels will begin in 2017."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 7, 2016
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