Tunnel boring finally begins after extensive delays and costs

Almost 1000 days — and $3.9bn — have passed since West Gate Tunnel underground works were due to begin. Find out when machines should finally start digging.

Almost 1000 days — and $3.9 billion — have passed since tunnel boring machines were due to begin digging the Andrews Government’s flagship road project in Melbourne’s west.

After years of delays sparked by the discovery of contaminated soil and massive project cost blowouts, Bella and Vida are finally ready to make their 4km journey.

The Herald Sun can reveal that the 4000-tonne TBMs have been switched on at the West Gate Tunnel work site and are being tested, with workers onboarded to get digging next month.

The TBMs, which were shipped from China in early 2019, will tunnel between Whitehall Street in Yarraville and the West Gate Freeway to create a 4km outbound road and a 2.8km inbound road.

The green light to switch on the TBMs for testing was given due to good progress made on a spoil disposal site being built in Bulla, near Sunbury in Melbourne’s northwest.

That site, operated by Hi Quality, is being transformed to process contaminated material — including soil affected with the industrial chemical PFAS.

A water treatment plant at the site is operational, while a containment cell and holding bays for spoil will be ready next month.

Aerial views of the Hi Quality spoil processing facility in Bulla, northwest of Melbourne. The facility includes holding cells and pre-treatment ponds for holding contaminated material. Picture: Supplied

West Gate Tunnel Project chief executive Peter Sammut said “project partners are making good progress as they construct the Hi Quality site and prepare for tunnelling”.

“We’re looking forward to getting on with delivering this vital project that will transform travel in Melbourne’s west.”

A deal in December to get the project back on track and settle cost blowouts — with project proponent Transurban and the Victorian taxpayers sharing the $3.92bn bill — was subject to TBMs starting in March and the Hi Quality site being ready.

A spokeswoman for Transurban, which pitched the project to the Andrews Government in 2015, said the former landfill site was “key to our ongoing tunnelling operations to allow us to safely manage and dispose of the soil that is excavated”.

The spokeswoman said the project would deliver an alternative to the West Gate Bridge and reduce travel times by up to 20 minutes.

“All elements of the tunnel boring machines are being tested — which is an important part of the overall readiness process and helps us dig the West Gate Tunnel safely and effectively,” she said.

Tunnelling is expected to take 18 months, with the toll road expected to be open in 2025 — three years late.