With the first TBM launching soon, the project at Forrestfield-Airport Link has kicked into full swing. Tunnel segment production has commenced at the project’s batching plant facility, and key infrastructure has been installed east of Dundas Road in Forrestfield to support tunnelling operations. In the coming weeks TBM Grace will be lowered into the tunnel portal using a 600t crawler crane – one of the largest cranes in Perth.
The second TBM, named Sandy, has just reached Australian shores and will now be assembled and tested onsite at Forrestfield before launching from the dive structure later this year.
The first TBM has been named Grace, in honour of pre-primary student Grace McPhee who was nominated by her classmates at Edney Primary School in High Wycombe. The students said Grace, who is undergoing treatment for leukaemia, was the toughest person they knew - a toughness the TBM would need to bore through the earth.
The second TBM, which will begin work in September, has been named Sandy - suggested by High Wycombe Primary School Year 4 student Sarah Spratt. Sarah was inspired after finding a sandgroper in her backyard, as the local insect (which is also a colloquial name for Western Australians) is 'excellent at tunnelling, just like the TBM'. After six months of building diaphragm walls, and with excavation now complete, tunnel portal is ready for the first TBM to be lowered into position and begin tunnelling later this month. The structure is approximately 260m long and up to 22m wide. Preparation of the Forrestfield construction site east of Dundas Road is also progressing well. Key infrastructure, including slurry separation plant, grout plant and the water treatment plant, will be fully installed and ready to support TBM operations in the near future.
The Forrestfield-Airport Link will travel through 8km of twin-bored tunnels, with safe entry and exit points via underground stations at Belmont and Airport Central. Trains will enter and exit the underground rail line via tunnel portals at Bayswater and Forrestfield.
Given the length of the tunnels, additional infrastructure is required between the stations to allow safe egress to ground level in the event of an emergency, and also will allow access to the tunnels for maintenance. Three emergency egress shafts (EES) will be built along the alignment to provide access to the surface via stairs and lifts. Click here and au/34 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.forrestfieldairportlink.wa.gov.au/news-resources/display-article/july-2017-update. 29/17.
