Following the breakthrough at the power station’s transformer hall, Snowy Hydro 2.0 has seen the breakthrough blast of the machine hall cavern crown.
Excavation of the cavern has now taken place at both ends, with the final three metres of rock drilled.
The tunnels are cleared and will have an electronic blasting system, which uses an electrical pulse to initiative firing of the explosives.
This achievement signals further progress after the restart of tunnel boring machine Florence in the headrace tunnel at Tantangara.
“These milestones are only possible with the whole team working together as one, whether they are subcontractors like Orica, the company managing underground blasting operations, or the lead contractor Future Generation and Snowy working so closely together,” Snowy 2.0 project director Dave Evans said.
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 manufacturing of major hydropower components is underway as underground drill and blast works continue.
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