By rosebell
At the Lower Plenty Road interchange site, the TBMs that are constructing Melbourne’s 6.5km North East Link twin tunnels between Watsonia and Bulleen have broken through.
With the aim of reaching the interchange, the 15.6m-diameter Herrenknecht TBMs Gillian and Zelda have travelled 1.6km since their launch last year, whereas they have over than 13,500 concrete segments.
Being break through into the 30m-deep box at Lower Plenty Road, currently both TBMs are due to continue laying tunnel wall segments at the bottom of the box before relaunching underground to continue their drive to Bulleen.
In order to allowing vehicles to enter and exit the North East Link tunnels at Yallambie, the Lower Plenty Road interchange will be a good option.
At the Bulleen end of the North East Link tunnels, the Yarra Link green bridge is taking shape and mined tunneling is continuing with five large roadheaders chipping away at the rock layer deep underground. Crews are also undertaking major upgrades along the Eastern Freeway and the M80 Ring Road to get ready to connect the freeways to the tunnels.
The responsibility of operating TBMs is up to Spark consortium comprising Webuild, GS Engineering and Construction, CPB Contractors, China Construction Oceania, Ventia, Capella Capital, John Laing Investments, DIF and Pacific Partnerships.
The 2028 is determined date for completing North East Link, while it is Victoria’s largest road project, and the biggest investment in Melbourne’s north-east. As well as the tunnels, it includes the Hurstbridge Line Duplication, Fitzsimons Lane Upgrade and removing 21 level crossings.
