Construction underway on Melbourne Metro tunnel stations as final major contract awarded

PREPARATIONS for a massive Melbourne Metro excavation near Parkville’s medical complex have begun, with significant measures taken to avoid impacting on lifesaving equipment at nearby hospitals.

DOZENS of support piles have been rammed underground at the site of Melbourne Metro’s Parkville station so 200,000 cubic metrics of rock and soil can be excavated.

About 500 pile sites must be reinforced before the huge excavation can begin, with workers using chemicals to break up the ground and minimise vibrations.

Concerns have emerged from nearby hospitals that the construction could affect lifesaving equipment, including radiotherapy machines.

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The design of Parkville Station. Picture: Supplied

Major work is underway on the Melbourne Metro tunnel, including here at the Town Hall site. Picture:

But Rail Projects Victoria’s Peter Wilkinson said there had been no disruption to date.

“At the moment, we are working with the individual institutions,” he said.

“They’ve all got very specific, bespoke equipment that needs to be understood in quite a bit of detail.

“We are well into piling now, about 20 per cent of the piles (are) in.

“That’s allowed us to work with the institutions, with our neighbours, the stakeholders to make sure they can keep doing their work and we can keep doing our work.”

The concourse at Parkville station. Picture: Supplied

The impression of the Anzac station concourse. Picture: Supplied

An acoustic deck is also being used at the Parkville site to block below-ground noise and dust during excavation.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said those techniques were “innovative” and Australian-first.

“This is a really complex precinct, you’ve got the medical activities, the research activities that are undertaken here,” she said.

“The team have worked very closely with the institutions that call this area home to understand their work and what modifications need to be taken.”

Construction on the Melbourne Metro tunnel continues, including here on Grattan St where the Parkville Station will be. Take a look... pic.twitter.com/TPeslGTiUH

— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) July 16, 2018

It comes as the final major contract for the tunnel, the $1 billion Rail Infrastructure Alliance package, was awarded to a consortium of John Holland, CPB Contractors and AECOM.

The consortium will build the ”portals” at South Yarra and Kensington that lead to the 9km twin tunnels.

Trains will pass through the new entrances every two to three minutes in each direction, thanks to new high-capacity signalling.

Site preparations around the entrances will begin later this year.

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