Gillian and Zelda, the two massive TBMs building Victoria’s longest road tunnels are back in action, relaunching from Lower Plenty Road to continue their journey towards Bulleen as part of the North East Link project. 

The 2 TBMs broke through at Lower Plenty Road earlier this year, and have now been serviced, moved through the box, and relaunched to continue digging the remaining stretch of the 6.5-km tunnels to Bulleen. 

Construction will continue at the Lower Plenty Road site as crews build the entry and exit ramps which will provide access to the tunnels, before building the new Borlase Reserve parklands that will return green space to the community, including space equivalent to five MCGs of parklands along Banyule Creek. 

Meanwhile, the teams are working at Bulleen on completing works to realign Bulleen Road onto its permanent alignment, expected to be complete later this year. Major upgrades along the Eastern Freeway and the M80 Ring Road are continuing, with the foundation structures being built to connect the freeways to the tunnels. 

For further information on the project click here and au/36 for the tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/. 25/25.