On the 23/02/2020 TBM  Joan, named after former Victorian Premier Joan Kirner, broke through in a 13-m-deep shaft at Childers Street, Kensington, completing  the first section of the Metro Tunnel from Arden Station to the tunnel’s western entrance in Kensington.

After tunnelling under rail lines, CityLink, Moonee Ponds Creek, North Yarra Main Sewer and the West Melbourne Terminal Station, TBM Joan, launched in August 2019,  has travelled 1.2 km and installed 4,200 concrete segments (4.5 t each) to create 700 rings lining the walls of the tunnel. The 56,000 segments needed are manufactured by 70 workers at a purpose-built concrete manufacturing plant in Deer Park.

The second TBM, Meg – named after Australian women’s cricket captain Meg Lanning – is travelling on a parallel route to carve out the second tunnel from Arden to Kensington and will break through in the coming weeks.

Click here for the a video, here and au/32 for the tunnelbuilder archive and visit  https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/  and https://www.premier.vic.gov.au . 09/20.