SHORT TUNNELS = HIGH RISK?: PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION INVOLVING OPEN-CUT AND TUNNEL SEGMENTS

In the world of tunneling the glamour is in the large diameter, long tunnels, but perhaps the number of projects for small diameter and short length tunnels are greater and generally have higher risk factors. Reasons for these higher risks include both the "boiler plate" contract provisions used on these types of contracts, the technical specifications related to the tunnel work (versus the pipeline construction), the bid practices including measurement and payment and the construction. This paper reviews and comments on some of the key issues the authors have observed in recent major pipeline projects that involve a small percentage of tunneling footage of the total contract.