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Map: Courtesy Crossrail Ltd.

Crossrail Ltd. plans to award 30 contracts in the next year to construct the $23-billion London rail project.

Bids below the original estimates were a positive development for project managers, who are striving to meet a trimmed budget mandated by recent government-enacted austerity measures. To date, an estimated $1.5 billion has been cut from the project’s original $25.3-billion budget, ensuring the project survives the U.K. government’s tough austerity drive, say officials. Value engineering and rescheduling of shaft and tunnel work contributed to the budget savings, says a spokesman with Crossrail Ltd., part of Transport for London. The changes will delay completion of the central section to 2018 from 2017. Crossrail still has to trim over $600 million to meet the government’s $23-billion budget target.

The new contracts represent “a significant milestone,” according to a statement from Rob Holden, Crossrail’s chief executive. After two years on the job, Holden this month unexpectedly announced his plan to retire. “Crossrail needs a chief executive who can commit to lead right through to opening in 2018,” he stated. Holden previously led construction of the High Speed 1 railroad from London to the Channel Tunnel.

项目官员说，隧道钻孔应在2012年春季开始，当时承包商开始使用六米迪亚（Dia）隧道中的七台计划中的隧道机器中的前两条，该隧道将将首都东部和西部的地区联系起来。新合同涵盖了该线穿过城市21公里双孔隧道的18公里。

Among the new packages, a 6.2-km section of western twin tunnels, from Royal Oak to Farringdon, went to a joint venture of Dutch-owned BAM Nuttall Ltd., Spain’s Ferrovial Agroman (U.K.) Ltd. and locally based Kier Construction Ltd. The same team won a separate contract for access shafts and tunnels at the Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road stations. Crossrail Ltd., the project’s sponsor, will combine these two contracts into one worth about $790 million.

爱尔兰共和国的John Sisk＆Son（Holdings）Ltd.与西班牙承包商Dragados S.A.赢得了从Farringdon到Limmo Peninsula的11.9公里东部隧道的约8亿美元合同。Whitechapel和Liverpool Street车站的轴和车站隧道建设将由奥地利的Alpine Bemo Bemo Tunneling Gmbh。进行，巴尔弗·比蒂·比蒂·比蒂·布特蒂土木工程有限公司（Balfour Beatty Civy Engineering Ltd.in the U.K., plus France’s Vinci Construction Grands Projets.

Planning the tunnels to minimize disturbance to buildings and utilities has been the biggest challenge for the design team, notes Peter Chamley, project director with Arup Group Ltd., London. A joint venture of Arup with W.S. Atkins plc., London, is designing the western tunnels. More tunnel contracts will be awarded later this year, including the line’s sole River Thames crossing.