At the beginning of August two TBMs (weight 1350 t and 165 m length)  arrived in Queensland, ready to be fitted out before being deployed to dig the Cross River Rail twin tunnels in early 2021. These are the same machines that had dug the Sydney Metro. Now they will get a full refit and refurbishment at Herrenknecht’s north-side facility, to prepare them to dig Brisbane’s first underground. New shields will be required and will come from China. The TBMs will be launched from the Woolloongabba station site and will dig a tunnel each under the Brisbane River to the Albert Street station. They will then continue to the new Roma Street station before emerging at the project’s northern portal at Normanby. Click here and au/37 for the tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/.36/20.