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Design, construction and renovation of tunnels
The engineering firm TEC, founded in 1988, designs tunnels, advises on renovations and supervises realization from the planning stage to opening. The specialists form a multidisciplinary team that integrates civil engineering, installations and safety. Tunnel Engineering Consultants VOF - its full name - has its offices in Amersfoort and has been a joint venture between Haskoning and Witteveen+Bos for over 35 years.
“We are an independent engineering firm,” explains Johan Kornet, business developer and project manager at TEC. “We use employees from both parent companies. For the most part, these are people who primarily work on tunnels, but also specialists from other fields. This allows us to assemble the right teams per project and easily scale up and down.” He continues: “The advantage is that we do multidisciplinary work: civil structures, tunnel safety, tunnel technical installations (TTI), renewable energy - everything can be designed integrally.”
That breadth makes TEC special. The agency can take on projects from the planning phase through to opening, including supervision in the maintenance phase. This involves feasibility studies, design and contract formation, tender supervision, execution supervision and test management. “And we make sure that when it opens, all parties are in agreement: client, safety officials, province and municipality. We supervise that entire process from A to Z.”
Projects range from bored tunnels and immersed tunnels to land, rail, streetcar and metro tunnels. TEC worked on the design of the North Tunnel from 1988 to 1992 and was involved in the renovation of the First Heinenoordt Tunnel and the realization of the North/South Line. The firm also has a strong reputation internationally, especially for immersed tunnels. One example is the Fehmarnbelt connection between Denmark and Germany: a 20-kilometer-long combined road and rail tunnel. “We have been working on that since 2009, together with Ramboll from Denmark and Arup from England. We made the reference design and the technical specifications, supervised the permit application and the tender, and are now involved in the implementation as technical consultants.”
Closer to home, TEC is working on PTZ, the South Holland Tunnel Renovations Program. Commissioned by the Department of Public Works, five national tunnels are being renovated, including the North Tunnel, the Drecht Tunnel and the Benelux Tunnel. The approach is innovative: the tunnels have been bundled into portfolios and are being renovated on a roof-top basis. “Normally the renovation of one tunnel takes about seven years. By carrying them out partly in parallel and overlapping, you can complete five tunnels in nine years. That saves enormous amounts of time.” The project runs until 2031 and is being carried out in cooperation with the Department of Public Works and the private sector.
In addition to projects, TEC is strongly committed to knowledge development and digitization. There is no training course to become a tunnel specialist. That is why the agency developed its own Masterclass Tunnels. It consists of nine modules, from organization, project management, safety, civil engineering, TTI, asset management to sustainability. “After that, you are not yet a full expert, but you are ready to start working as a tunnel specialist or to broaden your knowledge,” says Kornet.
Meanwhile, the master class is running for the sixth time. We want to increase the number of ‘tunnelers,’ Kornet says with a smile. “So getting more people ready to design tunnels, renovate them and supervise their realization.”
