Melbourne Metro have reached a major milestone with tunnelling starting on the North Melbourne to Kensington section of the Tunnel Project. Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Joan was the first to break ground, with Meg following shortly afterwards.

Joan, named after Victoria’s first female Premier Joan Kirner, has already travelled more than 250 metres west from North Melbourne and installed more than 140 rings to line the new tunnel.

Named after Australian women’s cricket captain Meg Lanning, Meg the TBM has progressed approximately 50 metres towards the tunnel entrance in Kensington, installing more than 20 rings that form the walls of the tunnel. During tunnelling towards Kensington, the TBMs will pipe the excavated soil mix (slurry) back to a site in North Melbourne, while lining the tunnel with curved concrete segments.

Joan and Meg will arrive at Kensington in early 2020 before being transported back to the site in North Melbourne, where they will start tunnelling towards Parkville and the CBD.

Two other TBMs – Alice and Millie – will be launched in 2020 from the future Anzac Station in the Domain Precinct towards South Yarra.

Each tunnel ring comprises six concrete segments, which are being manufactured at a purpose-built facility in Deer Park that is supporting 70 jobs. The Metro Tunnel will use more than 56,000 segments in its construction. The TBM is powered by a purpose-built electrical substation that supplies power to the site and the TBMs, which are working round the clock to build the twin 9 km tunnels. Each TBM is 7.28 m in diameter, 120 m long and weighs more than 1,100 t. During tunnelling towards Kensington, the TBMs will pipe the excavate soil mix (slurry) back to a site in North Melbourne, while lining the tunnel with curved concrete segments.

By taking three of the busiest train lines through a new tunnel under the city, the Andrews Labor Government’s Metro Tunnel will free up space in the City Loop to run more trains, more often, right across the network.

For further information click here and au/32 for the tunnelbuilder archive for information on the project click here and visit  https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/  and https://www.premier.vic.gov.au . 45/19.