West Gate Tunnel dig to remove 9000 tonnes of rock and soil
A shed the size of four soccer pitches has been erected in Yarraville to sort enough soil and rock to fill the MCG after excavation begins for Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel.
VIC News
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Enough soil and rock to fill the MCG will soon be excavated from under Melbourne as boring machines make way for the West Gate Tunnel.
A shed the size of four soccer pitches has been erected in Yarraville to sort the “spoil” as it is spat out during the big dig.
About 9000 tonnes of rock and soil will go through the shed each day when the first of two boring machines starts work in July.
The machines — dubbed Bella and Vida — are currently being assembled.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the “engineering endeavour” of building the West Gate Tunnel was “enormous”.
A conveyor belt system will follow the tunnel boring machines as they excavate the rock and soil, spitting it back out to the site of the northern portal.
It will then be carried “overhead” across Somerville Rd and into the shed, where it will be classified and sorted.
The conveyor belts will keep the soil off from having to be carted by trucks until it is moved to its disposal site.
A bird's-eye view of the West Gate Tunnel site and big shed in Yarraville pic.twitter.com/SutnoeOwiU
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) May 23, 2019
Mr Andrews said it would avoid “literally tens of thousands” of truck movements each month.
“This is a great outcome for safety, a great outcome for the environment as well,” he said.
“It will allow us to sort the soil and rock efficiently, and then get it out to its ultimate place in the less disruptive way.”
It has not yet been decided where the 1.5 million cubic metres of spoil — enough to fill the MCG — will be disposed but it could be used to fill a quarry.
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