The Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro project has seen the breakthrough of the power station’s 223m-long transformer hall cavern crown.
The delivery team began excavating the transformer hall and machine hall caverns in June 2023, with the power station located approximately 800m underground at Lobs Hole in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales.
Once complete, the machine hall will be 251m long and 52m high and the transformer hall 223m long and 46m high.
Drill and blast methods are used to profile the curved cavern crowns and break up the rock. The exposed solid rock face is then supported with rock bolts and shotcrete.
The machine hall cavern crown breakthrough is set to take place in the coming weeks, with the widening of both cavern crowns planned for completion in the coming months.
“The breakthrough of the transformer hall cavern crown is a really pleasing milestone for the Snowy 2.0 team, reinforcing that we’re making good progress with our underground drill and blast excavation activities,” Snowy Hydro chief executive officer Dennis Barnes said.
“We are well on our way to delivering the largest single project that will help ensure Australia’s secure and reliable transition to renewable energy.”
Subscribe to Trenchless Australasia for the latest project and industry news.