Digging at halfway point as Metro Tunnel machines break through at Parkville and South Yarra
Massive diggers working on the Metro Tunnel have broken through underground at Parkville and South Yarra, with more than 364,000 cubic metres of rock and soil excavated. WATCH THE VIDEO
Victoria
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Massive diggers working on the Metro Tunnel have broken through underground at Parkville and South Yarra, marking the halfway point for tunnelling on the $11 billion project.
More than 364,000 cubic metres of rock and soil have been excavated in total, with twin tunnel boring machines now finished digging the length of the journey from Kensington to North Melbourne and then on to Parkville.
In another breakthrough, another digger has broken through at South Yarra at the spot where high-capacity trains will eventually join the rest of the railway network south of the CBD.
Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham services will all run through the Metro Tunnel when it is completed.
The twin tunnels will be 9km each and at their deepest point be 30m underground, including under the Yarra River.
Tunnel boring machines Meg and Joan, named after Meg Lanning and Joan Kirner, will now be prepared and relaunched towards Melbourne’s CBD and the site of the future State Library Station.
Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said workers had been closely following safety guidelines to keep work going during coronavirus restrictions.
“To reach the halfway mark of tunnelling and to have two major breakthroughs in successive days just shows how hard crews have been working to keep building major infrastructure Victorians will benefit from,” she said.
“The Metro Tunnel Project is just one of the pipeline of major projects that will continue to drive our economy and create jobs as we rebuild in the coming months and years.”
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