The 2 TBMs helping build the 6.5km North East Link twin tunnels between Watsonia and Bulleen have broken through at the Lower Plenty Road interchange site – marking a major milestone on Victoria’s biggest ever road project.
TBM Gillian and TBM Zelda, launched in Watsonia last year, have travelled 1.6kms to reach the interchange and installed over 13,500 concrete segments to line the tunnel walls.
Now both TBMs have broken through into the 30-m-deep box at Lower Plenty Road, they will continue laying tunnel wall segments at the bottom of the box before relaunching underground to continue their tunnelling journey to Bulleen.
Work is powering ahead on the Lower Plenty Road interchange that will allow vehicles to enter and exit the North East Link tunnels at Yallambie, while the new Borlase Reserve parklands will return a vibrant green space to the community and create space for 5 MCGs of new parklands along Banyule Creek.
At the Bulleen end of the North East Link tunnels, the Yarra Link green bridge is taking shape and mined tunnelling is continuing with 5 large road headers chipping away at the rock layer deep underground. Crews are also undertaking major upgrades along the Eastern Freeway and the M80 Ring Road to get ready to connect the freeways to the tunnels.
