The project’s first two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have finished digging between the tunnel’s western entrance in Kensington and the site of the new Parkville Station, with a breakthrough at Parkville occurring last week.
Metro Tunnel shared the video on social media, saying these milestones mark a 50 per cent completion of tunnelling for the entire project.
The project’s third TBM also completed tunnelling between the new Anzac Station site under St Kilda Road and the eastern tunnel entrance in South Yarra on Friday, while the fourth TBM is finalising its parallel route.
To date, the TBMs have excavated more than 364,000 m3 of rock and soil as well as installing more than 30,000 individual concrete segments – each weighing 4.5 t – to line the tunnel walls.
Metro Tunnel said its crews have been working around the clock with stringent health measures in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, in line with the Victorian Government’s Stage 4 restrictions.
Once completed, the project will create additional capacity for more than half a million passengers a week during peak periods and transform the way Victorians travel around Melbourne.
It will connect the Sunbury Line to the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines via two 9 km rail tunnels up to 30 m below the streets of Melbourne and five new underground stations, which will be linked to the existing network at key locations.
For more information visit the Metro Tunnel Project website.
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