North East Link tunnelling begins between Watsonia and Bulleen

Jacinta Allan has assured residents there’ll be “very little” impact of noise and vibration, as tunnelling works begin on the delayed North East Link project.

Residents in Melbourne’s northeast have been told to not worry about noise or vibration as tunnelling begins on the North East Link.

The state government announced that a tunnel boring machine (TBM) has started digging on the 6.5-kilometre tunnel between Watsonia and Bulleen.

It is the first of two massive machines that will dig up to 15 metres per day and will tunnel 45 metres underground.

However, on Monday residents were told they would not be impacted.

Tunnelling works have finally begun for the North East Link project. Picture: David Crosling

Premier Jacinta Allan assured locals “very little” noise and vibration would be felt as a result of the ongoing works. Picture: David Crosling

When asked about the impacts on residents Premier Jacinta Allan said there would be “very little”.

Duncan Elliot Chief Executive Officer at Major Road Projects Victoria said “the tunnel boring machines on average are twenty-metres below the surface and they do get down to 45 meters so there is very little if any feeling of the machine in the surface.

“But just to protect any assets in areas where the digging is shallow we do do inspections”.

Thousands of tonnes of dirt will be removed and 44,000 individual concrete segments made locally in Benalla will be brought in to create the tunnel walls.

On Monday, Premier Jacinta Allan said it was a “milestone” in the project.

The tunnelling marks a new milestone for the project, set to be completed by 2028. Picture: David Crosling

The road being built between the Eastern Fwy and the M80 Ring Rd in Greensborough, is expected to open in 2028.

When announced in 2019, it was initially expected to cost $15.8bn.

But in December last year, the state government inked contracts for the toll road’s spaghetti junction interchanges at the Eastern Fwy and at the M80.

This pushed the total project cost to an incredible $26.1bn, making it the most expensive road in Victoria’s history.

The federal government are stumping up $5bn in funding Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said: “Building the North East Link is critical to future-proof Melbourne’s road network for the growing population of Victoria.