ESCO Consultants and Engineers Company was awarded the prize, ‘2025 KTA Tunneling Award’from the Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (KTA) on 24th April 2025, for successful completing the ‘Gangneung Tunnel project’, which includes Korea’s first Shield TBM Pilot-Excavated 2-Arch Tunnel(hereinafter referred to as TBM 2-Arch Tunnel).

This award was recognized for its first attempt of the Technical challenge and outstanding technical prowess in the field of domestic tunnel design.

The Gangneung Tunnel which passes under the existing Gangneung Station, the Namdaecheon River and downtown is a part of the ‘Gangneung-Jejin Single-Track Railway Section 1 Construction Project’. The total tunnel length is 3,096m and TBM 2-Arch Tunnel length is 126m.

For main tunnel, Slurry Shield TBM method is applied with an outer diameter of 8.65m and for the station tunnel TBM 2-Arch tunneling Method which can be regarded as another innovation in the history of domestic tunnels.

Gangneung–Jejin Railway Section 1 including the ‘Gangneung Tunnel’ is scheduled to open in 2028.