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North East Link taking shape in Watsonia

The North East Link Program recently completed piling works within its site on the east side of Greensborough Road, Watsonia, forming the structural foundations of the 40-metre deep, 200-metre-long Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) launch area.

The North East Link Program recently completed piling works within its site on the east side of Greensborough Road, Watsonia,  forming the structural foundations of the 40-metre deep, 200-metre-long Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) launch area.


Four giant piling rigs have been hard at work digging 379 holes since last October, with each hole being reinforced with a steel cage and filled with concrete.

“About 7400 cubic metres of concrete was used for the box piles alone (almost 19 elephants’ worth) and if you stacked each pile end to end, it would be almost 7.2km long,” shared the North East Link Program team.

Once a pile is set, each one is cut to the required height – then a concrete capping beam is poured, connecting all the piles together,  adding more stability to the structure to allow major excavation.

“Now complete, this area is on its way to becoming a solid launch area for our two massive TBM, forming the beginning of the North East Link Tunnels,” said the team.

The North East Link Tunnels will take 15,000 trucks off local roads every day and reduce travel times by up to 35 minutes.

This will be made possible thanks to longer tunnels of 6.5km to Watsonia, simpler interchanges at Lower Plenty Road and Manningham Road, 5 MCGs of parklands along Banyule Creek at Borlase Reserve, a new 2km tree-lined boulevard for Greensborough Road, a  2 hectare Yarra Link green bridge over Bulleen Road as well as three new wetlands along the Yarra River and Koonung Creek in Bulleen and Balwyn North.

The design and planning stage started in 2019, followed by a community feedback phase in 2022.

Construction started also in 2022 just after the exhibition of a Urban Design and Landscape Plan (UDLP) to allow for community feedback, which was approved on 3 February 2023 by the Minister for Planning.

Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2028.

Learn more about the North East Link Tunnels here.

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