By rosebell
Constructing the Sydney Metro West line, TBMs Jessie and Ruby have passed the point 35m beneath the water’s surface on their second drive across the harbour, whereas they previously travelled below Sydney Harbour at Johnstons Bay.
In order to reaching their final destination at the future Hunter Street metro station in the heart of the Sydney CBD, each TBM now has less than 700m of tunnel left to build.
The travel of TBMs from the Australian Maritime Museum on the western shore towards King Street Wharf on the east was for constructing the 250m tunnels under Darling Harbour.
Involving York, George and Pitt streets, the TBMs are next due to dig beneath some of Sydney’s busiest and best-known streets, while they will pass closely underneath Wynyard Station to reach the Hunter Street cavern.
Considering that the TBMs bore close to existing critical infrastructure including the City East Cable Tunnel and a 132KV underground cable that is responsible for powering the CBD, this part of the journey is going to require precision tunneling.
TBMs Ruby and Jessie have excavated about 286,692 tonnes of earth so far and have about 7,000 precast tunnel segments to install to reach Hunter Street.
The weekly advancing rate of these mix shield TBMs is at a steady pace of almost 90m and they are on track to reach the Hunter Street site by the end of this year.
Being built specifically for this project, TBM Jessie and Ruby’s some components are refurbished, whereas parts for both machines came from the TBMs used to construct the Sydney Metro City & Southwest tunnels including part of the main drive, transformers, control cabinet, erector and switch cabinets.
The two TBMs made a double breakthrough at the Pyrmont metro station cavern in July this year.
The date of commencing tunneling process for Sydney Metro West was early 2023 and has reached 97% completion for the 24km line linking Westmead to the Sydney CBD. Providing a 20-minute connection between the Sydney CBD and Parramatta,the new line, is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2032.
Once Sydney Metro West opens, passengers will have fast, high-frequency metro services connecting the Sydney CBD with Parramatta in a 20-minute trip, doubling rail capacity between those two centres.
