By rosebell
In order to advancing the South Australia’s biggest infrastructure project, the first TBM components have arrived in Adelaide.
While the Torrens to Darlington (T2D) road project’s value is A$15.4bn (US$10bn) this machine is one of three TBMs that will be deployed fo this project.
The cutterhead that is delivered in five pieces is the content of this shipment and the largest and heaviest centre section weighs around 175 tonnes and has a 9m diameter,whereas it will have a 15m diameter after assembling.
The scheduled date for transporting the components from Port Adelaide to the T2D Project Southern Precinct in Clovelly Park is 25 October and tunneling is planned to start in the second half of 2026.
With the aim of constructing the twin 4.5km Southern Tunnels and twin 2.2km Northern Tunnels, in total, three TBMs, each over 100m long, will be used.
While the location of launching two TBMs will be the project’s Southern Precinct in Clovelly Park, the third is set to be started up from the Central North Precinct at Richmond, making the T2D Project an Australian first of three TBMs operating at the same time.
According to Federal infrastructure, transport, regional development and local government minister Catherine King: “The arrival of the first components was an exciting step forward for the project.From Sydney Metro, to Melbourne’s North East Link, and now here in Adelaide, TBMs are tunnelling through our major projects, creating world-class transport connections.”
The advantage of the T2D Project following completion will be creating a non-stop South Road, allowing motorists to bypass 21 sets of traffic lights and cut travel times by up to 40 minutes in peak traffic.
