By Tom Cowie
Tunnelling on the state government’s $26 billion North East Link has come to a halt after a sinkhole emerged near the road project’s two boring machines.
The 4000-tonne boring machines, named Zelda and Gillian, will stop digging while engineers investigate the problem that occurred near the Lower Plenty worksite.
An aerial view of works on the North East Link on Friday.Credit: Jason South
A Major Road Projects Victoria spokesperson said Zelda would continue moving to a safe location, while Gillian will pause operations after the detection of the “surface hole”.
The sinkhole is 18 metres deep and one metre in diameter. The length of the expected delay is not yet known.
“There is no risk to the community or property,” the spokesperson said on Friday. “Surface remediation works will be undertaken later today.”
So far, Zelda has excavated 1.2 kilometres of the North-East Link’s northbound tunnel, while Gillian has completed a bit over 1 kilometre of the southbound tunnel.
Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams said the sinkhole had opened up on an old army barracks site.
She said one of the tunnel boring machines was below the sinkhole.
“Our expert engineers [are] running a very thorough investigation to try to understand exactly what has happened and why, with a plan to review those [tunnel boring machine] operations as soon as possible, hopefully in coming days,” she said.
“There is no risk to either property or community from this. The site is safe. No one has been injured or hurt.”
The machines were launched from Watsonia in mid-2024 and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, each with crews of up to 20 people.
The project, which will connect the Eastern Freeway in Bulleen with the Metropolitan Ring Road at Greensborough, is predicted to take 15,000 trucks off suburban streets and cut travel times by half an hour.
The 10-kilometre road has been plagued by budget blowouts, with the most recent estimate in December 2023 putting the cost at $26 billion.
That is more than double the initial price tag of $10 billion provided when the project was first announced by the Andrews government in 2016. It was later reassessed in 2019 at a cost of $15 billion.
The tollroad is expected to open in 2028.
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