Difficulties and controversies Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway

1 difficulties , controversies

1.1 financial difficulties
1.2 administrative disputes , tender controversies
1.3 dirt dumpage , engineering problems
1.4 yitla stream
1.5 west bank passages , mevasseret zion

difficulties , controversies
financial difficulties

due extremely high cost of project, faced financial difficulties start, despite being israel railways flagship project. initial cost estimated @ nis 2.8 bln., although after re-evaluation in 2008, rose nis 6 bln, , required nis 2 bln. more invested israeli government. has caused significant delay in starting tunneling stage of project pending evaluation ministry of transport, showed that, while costs rose sharply, forecast demand rose sharply well. ministry further decided indefinitely postpone implementing plans future link railway modi in (b2) east jerusalem. on december 2, 2008 israeli cabinet instructed israel railways continue project despite higher estimate , ministry of finance allocate additional nis 3 bln coverage necessary proceed construction. 2010, cost had risen nis 6.9 bln.

shapir engineering, won tender build section c between sha ar hagai , mevasseret zion, forced delay project 2 years because israel railways issued tender before necessary permits procured relevant government authorities. issue resolved in summer 2009. shapir suffered financial losses because of this, , sued israel railways nis 500 million, sum added project s overall cost if courts side shapir.

administrative disputes , tender controversies

israel railways published tender supervising constructions of sections b , c, stipulated companies experience overseeing projects of nis 1 bln or more participate. caused controversy because company dana engineering had such experience in israel. companies eldad spivak , a. epstein joined holding company in order compete in tender, won.

however, israel railways appointed dan ari, former executive in dana engineering, responsible entire project, , disputes between spivak , epstein , ari led holding company s resignation project. replaced dana engineering. in late 2010, railways decided create new administration project, leaving dan ari out of picture.

dirt dumpage , engineering problems

a notable stumbling block, still unresolved of january 2008, issue of put excess dirt dug in tunnels. temporary mounds have been created, method, aside hurting environment, insufficient main tunnel (tunnel 3). israel railways has come odds engineering company, ami mtom, responsible project involving additional payments made due changes made original design of railway, further delay progress. additional dirt dumped in new landfill on site next sha ar hagai interchange between tel aviv , jerusalem.

the project has come under fire 2 consecutive tunnel collapses in tunnel 3a in january , march 2011. both incidents ended without casualties.

yitla stream

one of main environmental issues project, , source of opposition green organizations, railway s passage through yitla stream, national park , biblical location mentioned in book of joshua. greens campaign led ze ev hacohen parks authority , avraham shaked society protection of nature (spni), proposed alternate design have replaced tunnels 2 , 3 single, combined longer , deeper tunnel pass under stream, based on opinion of german tunneling expert alfred haack. according them, proposal, opposed israel railways, have saved money in long run.

the main points of contention israel railways proposed design 150 m rail bridge (bridge 8) on stream, , 200 m paved access road created aid construction work. while israel railways , ministry of finance claimed oppose longer combined tunnel proposal on financial , construction-time related reasons, globes columnist moshe lichtman argued opposition based on combination of ego , unwillingness, in principle, change construction plans @ last minute. nevertheless, in march 2009 jerusalem area regional infrastructure planning commission recommended against environmentalists plan , choose proceed israel railways original two-tunnel plan. plan forwarded national infrastructure planning commission final decision on matter. on april 5, 2009, spni submitted petition thousands of signatures against line, including of prof. robert aumann.

on june 23, 2009, environmentalists petitions rejected, , planning committee decided there bridge on yitla stream, in line previous recommendations of sadan committee. israel railways , jerusalem municipality supported decision. decision in favor of bridge on stream ratified national planning committee in august 2009, subject design changes made bridge site make environmentally friendlier. result, reduce bridge s footprint, overall design changed conventional concrete beam bridge composed of multiple segments long concrete balanced cantilever design, supported in middle single set of columns. in addition, care taken minimize as possible construction activities impact on stream s surroundings. instead of wide access road, smaller route employed , heavy equipment (such sections of tbms tunnel 3) , digging discharge associated construction of 12 km-long tunnel 3 instead transported , site through tunnel 2 , on new bridge.

west bank passages , mevasseret zion

the railway has been criticized political left , palestinians having 2 separate sections pass through west bank, totaling 6 km. of distance passes through tunnels, 1 in latrun area, , other north of mevasseret zion, after town s residents protested route going underneath town. reason, german company deutsche bahn, advised israel railways on project, withdrew under pressure of pro-palestinian organizations. residents of mevasseret waging campaign in favor of using tunnel boring machine (tbm) dig tunnel in section. italian municipality of rho near milan adopted resolution in november 2011 expressing moral , political censure towards pizzarotti, italian company based in parma, due involvement in construction of railway. municipality of naples asked pizzarotti withdraw project. should noted however, section of railway pizzarotti involved (i.e., tbm-bored, western portion of tunnel 3) not located in west bank.