The last truck of spoil excavated from the NorthConnex tunnel was delivered to Hornsby Quarry on 25.01.2019. More than one million cubic metres of spoil was placed to partially fill the quarry, allowing Hornsby Shire Council to rehabilitate the site to create a park benefiting the local community. Demobilisation of Hornsby Quarry has started and the site is expected to be handed back to the Council in mid-2019.

NorthConnex is a 9km tunnel which will link the M1 Pacific Motorway at Wahroonga to the M2 Motorway at West Pennant Hills.

The successful final breakthrough was on the 08.10.2018 at the future M1 southbound ramp in Wahroonga.  All the major tunnel excavation is now completed, and trenching to excavate troughs that will house electrical conduits and drainage will continue until the end of February 2019.

Construction has now entered a new phase which includes lining and paving the tunnel, painting the tunnel roof black to increase safety by minimising distractions for drivers. The Northern Ventilation Facility has topped out, this means it has reached its full height. Work to fit out the facility is now underway.

All of the project’s 20 roadheaders have been removed. The NorthConnex’s 20th roadheader, Claire, was decommissioned at the end of 2018. Claire was the last roadheader to join the project and was named after the Northern Tunnel Project Manager’s wife, which is a tunnelling tradition. The roadheader had an eventful 14 months, excavating more than 1.2 km of tunnel and completing the final breakthrough.

Due to challenging ground conditions and site access difficulties, the construction program has been reviewed and the tunnel is now set to open in 2020. Click here for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.northconnex.com.au/.

08/19.
Links:-

https://youtu.be/xr1sumvgcX4

https://tunnelbuilder.com/News/First-roadheaders-to-start-operating-at-NorthConnex.aspx