By rosebell
Tunnelling has commenced on Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop.
TBM Alice is now tunnelling from Burwood towards Glen Waverley on the northern section of what will be Melbourne’s first orbital train line. A second machine, Hacia, is in the ground ready to start excavating the second of the twin tunnels in coming weeks.
They are the first of four CREG-manufactured EPBMs that Terra Verde, comprising Webuild, GS Engineering and Construction, and Bouygues Construction Australia, will deploy to the construct the northern section of twin tunnels.
In a Victorian first, the TBMs are being launched using an ‘umbilical method’ because of the confined space on the site. The front part of the TBM will start tunnelling while the rest of the machine is gradually built behind it.
At the Clarinda launch site, TBM Aayushi is being assembled to tunnel towards Glen Waverley this year. More TBMs will launch next year from Burwood towards Box Hill, and from Heatherton to Cheltenham.
On this southern section the Suburban Connect consortium of CPB Contractors, Ghella, and Acciona will launch four Herrenknecht 7.24m-diameter TBMs. They can be converted to EPBMs to suit ground conditions along the alignment.
The SRL will connect every major train line from Cheltenham to the west, via the north, and improve mobility in Melbourne’s middle suburbs.
Major construction is under way at all six station sites at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.
The new line is scheduled to open in 2035.
