Recently members of the RA team were fortunate enough to get an up-close look at the southern hemisphere’s largest tunnel boring machines (TBMs) in operation when we visited the West Gate Tunnel Project.
This massive project will deliver a vital alternative to the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, providing a second river crossing that facilitates quicker and safer journeys and will remove thousands of trucks from residential streets.
The West Gate Tunnel project is being delivered through a partnership between Transurban and the Victorian Government’s Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA), with construction work being undertaken in a joint venture between CIMIC Group’s CPB Contractors and John Holland.
RA team members were grateful for the opportunity to visit the project’s information centre to get a full understanding of how the West Gate Tunnel will not only improve journey times and road safety, but also how its design features, complementary active transport infrastructure and accompanying green spaces will enhance mobility and liveability for local communities.
We were extremely lucky to also have the chance to walk through one of the two tunnels currently under construction and see TBM Vida in operation, as it continues work to excavate the 2.8km-long citybound tunnel.
You can learn more about the West Gate Tunnel Project here.
