By Lynda Myer
The first of two Herrenknecht TBMs, which is 4000-tonne, 15.6m diameter and is due to dig the North East Link Tunnels, will arrive in Melbourne soon by the ship carrying and the parts are slated to travel from the Port of Melbourne in September to the launch site.
While the estimated time for assembling the TBMs on site is almost six months, they will be lowered into the shaft by a 550-tonne gantry crane and are going to commence work mid next year. In order to eliminating the traffic from suburban roads, the machine will build the 6.5km twin tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen.
Arrival of TBMs will host by preparing major work sites across the north-east, including a 200m-long tunnel launch area being built on the eastern side of Greensborough Road and a 13m-high shed to store the tunnel segments.
As Victoria’s largest road project, and the biggest investment in Melbourne’s north-east, North East Link is scheduled to be completed in 2028. As well as the tunnels, it includes the Hurstbridge Line Duplication, Fitzsimons Lane Upgrade and removing 21 level crossings.
The contract to build, operate and maintain the tunnels and key interchanges was handed to Spark consortium, comprising Webuild, GS Engineering and Construction, CPB Contractors, China Construction Oceania, Ventia, Capella Capital, John Laing Investments, DIF and Pacific Partnerships, in October 2021.
