Australia

Construction Work for West Gate
Tunnel in Melbourne has started

Major construction work has begun on Victoria’s multi-billion dollar West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne. CPB Contractors was selected by road operator Transurban and the State Government of Victoria as the preferred contractor for the project in April 2017, in a 50:50 joint venture with John Holland.

The West Gate Tunnel project, one of Victoria’s largest ever urban road projects, will deliver a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge, provide quicker and safer journeys, and remove thousands of trucks from residential streets. The project is scheduled to open to traffic in 2022 – but it is disputed on the political level. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on January 31, that the West Gate Tunnel had started to be built, and would proceed even if it did not get planning approval in Parliament.

Design and construction works include widening the West Gate Freeway from 8 to 12 lanes between the M80 Ring Road and Williamstown Road; a 2.8 km eastbound tunnel and 4 km westbound tunnel under Yarraville; a new bridge over the Maribyrnong River; an elevated road along Footscray Road to the Port of Melbourne, CityLink and the city’s north. The West Gate Tunnel project will cost 6.7 billion Australian dollars (4.3 billion euros).

Two Herrenknecht TBMs with 15.6 m diameter are on their way to Melbourne. According to the Victorian Government, the machines are the biggest TBMs in the Southern Hemisphere,

The first TBM will be launched at the northern tunnel portal in Footscray in early 2019. At an estimated advance rate of around 9 m per day, the TBMs will approximately take two years to build the 6.8 km twin tunnels between the Maribyrnong River and the West Gate Freeway.

 

x

Related articles:

Australia

Acciona, Cimic and Ghella To Construct Public Transport Tunnelling Project in Melbourne

The package, valued by the Victorian government at 3.6 billion Australian dollars (2.2 billion euros), in which CIMIC subsidiary CPB Contractors has a 40 percent stake, includes the construction of a...

more
Issue 04/2017

Minimal Settlement under 18th Century Jaipur City Gate

Geology and Gate Structures Chandpol gate, one of the seven, is directly above the bore path for the Line 1 extension, and serves as a historical landmark (Fig. 1). Contractor Continental Engineering...

more
India

Minimal Settlement under 18th Century Jaipur City Gate

Geology and Gate Structures Chandpol gate, one of the seven, is directly above the bore path for the Line 1 extension, and serves as a historical landmark (Fig. 1). Contractor Continental Engineering...

more
Issue 02/2018 Germany

Extension of the Urban Railway Line U5 in Frankfurt/Main

With the extension of the urban railway line U5 past the main station to the west, Frankfurt’s Europaviertel quarter will gain a high-capacity link to the public transport network of the city. The...

more
Issue 07/2010 Switzerland

Improving national road tunnel safety

The tunnels of the 1,800 km Swiss national road network are among the safest in the world. However, standards and guidelines evolve continuously. The Swiss Road Authority (ASTRA) is addressing this...

more