By rosebell
Considering that 12 months since the commence of Stage 2 on the Western Harbour Tunnel from the Warringah Freeway to Cammeray has been passed and six roadheaders have excavated 2.9km of twin three-lane road tunnels, passing above the Sydney Metro tunnel at North Sydney and working towards Waverton, tunneling for the third road crossing of Sydney Harbour is more than 60% complete.
The weekly advance of tunneling process is almost 25m towards the harbour.
While decreasing the journey times between North Sydney and Sydney Olympic Park or Leichhardt by 20 minutes, the 6.5km Western Harbour Tunnel is the first new road crossing of the harbour in more than 30 years and is due to inaugurate in 2028.
The excavation of twin 1.7km road tunnels to Birchgrove that connect into the Rozelle Interchange,which is the first stage of tunneling work has all been completed.
In order to linking at Waverton, the largest TBMs ever used in the southern hemisphere will be assembled at Birchgrove and tunnel beneath the harbour floor in late 2025.
Each roadheader can excavate 1,000 tonnes of rock per day. Transport for NSW, in partnership with Stage 2 contractor Acciona, is trialling a remote control roadheader that enables workers to remain 200m away from the rock face.
The total number of installed rock bolts on both stages of the project is 666,000.
According to Minister for roads John Graham: “Over projects fromWestConnex to Sydney Metro to the Western Harbour Tunnel, NSW had the world’s premier underground construction workforce and thanked the 5,800 workers for what they have achieved. At the 12-month mark of Stage 2, we are seeing great progress, with more than 60% of the entire tunnelling task now complete and the project on schedule to provide the first new road crossing of Sydney Harbour in more than 30 years.”
He also added: “Anyone who has crossed the harbour by road knows the system is constrained and the Western Harbour Tunnel will provide much-needed relief, slashing travel times by 20 minutes on a journey from North Sydney to Leichardt or Sydney Olympic Park.”
