Turkey’s Ilci Construction has extended its partnership with Seli on water tunnel excavation with an agreement to construct a new project in the Suruc region.
The 17km long tunnel is to be excavated using a 7.83m diameter double shield TBM supplied by Seli. The Italian firm will also provide auxiliary equipment, maintenace services and technical assistance during the drive.
Excavation is expected to commence around the second quarter of 2010 and be completed within three years. The bore is to be lined with 300mm thick hexagonal concrete segments.
The Suruc project is a water transfer tunnel to support irrigation improvements in the region.
Seli and Ilci have been working together on another water tunnel project in Turkey – the 17km long Mavi (“Blue”) bore, for which Seli has supplied a 4.88m diameter double-shield plus back-up and equipment (T&TI, December 2008, p10).
