By Ashley Karen
The Victorian Government has declared that it will deliver innovative virtual skills and training programs to prepare thousands of workers for delivering the state’s greatest infrastructure projects.
In an Australian-first, virtual training will be employed at the Victorian Tunnelling Centre to give North East Link workers a simulated experience of operating and staying safe underground.
With tunneling presently finished on the Metro Tunnel and edging closer to completion on the West Gate Tunnel Project, concentration is shifting to the next big tunnel – the North East Link.
Thousands of workers are required to construct the North East Link Tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen, with the VTC at Holmesglen Institute in Chadstone playing an essential role in preparing them to build the 6.5km tunnels.
In addition, the tunneling center contains life-sized replicas of mined and excavated tunnels and a giant tunnel-boring machine cutter head.
Daniel Andrews, Victorian Premier, expressed: “The North East Link is more than just Victoria’s biggest road project – it’s an investment in communities in Melbourne’s northeast, getting trucks off local roads, slashing travel times and improving community facilities.”
The facility is the only one of its kind in Australia and is upskilling the giant pipeline of tunneling workers required to deliver the North East Link, Metro Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel, and Suburban Rail Loop East projects, generating almost 31,000 local construction jobs combined.
Jacinta Allan, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, claimed: “Our nation-leading skills and training programs are preparing Victoria’s next generation of Big Build workers, opening the door to thousands of job opportunities on the state’s biggest construction projects.”
Over 4,200 North East Link workers, such as tunneling specialists and construction workers, have already achieved the training.
The North East Link tunnels and freeway advancements will be finished in 2028, cutting travel times by up to 35 minutes and taking 15,000 trucks off local roads.
