Bauer Aids in Suez Canal Tunnel

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 82 ft below the bed of the Suez Canal and 230 ft below the ground level is currently being built north of the city 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.

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For the ventilation system, Bauer is constructing four shafts with a depth of up to 278 ft and a diameter of 68 ft using diaphragm wall technology; additionally, Bauer is constructing a diaphragm wall around 27 acres in size and up to 164 ft 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 5.25 acres 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. was on pace to finish its specialist foundation engineering works in July 2016. Once completed in 2018, the twin-tube Ismailia road tunnel including the tunnel approaches will stretch approximately 4 miles underneath the Suez Canal.