Tunnel Borers Poised for Vic Rail Loop Project

The Victorian government has announced their preferred bidder for the first tunnelling contract for the SRL East part of the Suburban Rail Loop project—the consortium Suburban Connect. 

CPB Contractors, Ghella and Acciona Construction make up the consortium that will build a 16km section of twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley. 

SRL East will create up to 8000 jobs with six new underground stations planned for between Cheltenham and Box Hill across a total of 26km of tunnels. 

“SRL will not only transform our public transport network, it’ll reshape how Melbourne grows in the decades ahead, taking thousands of cars off roads, delivering 24,000 jobs across the life of the project and boosting hundreds of small local businesses,” Suburban Rail Loop minister Jacinta Allan said.

Ten tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be used with tunnel boring starting from Monash, Burwood and Heatherton. 

A second contract will be awarded in 2024 for the tunnelling between Glen Waverley and Box Hill.

The SRL Precincts Discussion Paper has been released for community consultation ahead of detailed drafts of the project visions for each of the six new stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill. 

Those drafts will be released for community consultation this year. 

▲ A render of the Monash station, part of the Melbourne Rail Loop project.

Meanwhile, the first of two tunnel boring machines will arrive in Melbourne soon to be used for the North East Link Tunnels project. 

Weighing 4000 tonnes and with a 15.6m diameter when assembled, the machine’s parts will travel from the Port of Melbourne from September onwards.

It will take six months to assemble on site and to be lowered into position in the ground by a 550-gantry crane. 

From mid-next year, the machine and its counterpart will work through the day and night, digging a pair of 6.5km twin tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen. 

It will mean trucks and other heavy traffic can move through the tunnels under suburbs rather than through them.

Greensborough Road will be fully closed overnight in late September to install an enclosed conveyor and a 200m long tunnel launch area will be built on its eastern side.

A 13m high shed will also be built to store concrete segments needed for lining the tunnel walls.

Bulleen Road will be moved further west to build the new Yarra Link green bridge connecting Koonung Creek Trail to Bulleen Park and the realignment will be completed in late 2023.

More than 10,000 jobs will be created through the entire North East Link program which will be completed in 2028, taking 15,000 trucks off local roads.

The program also includes the Hurstbridge Line Duplication, Fitzsimons Lane Upgrade and removing 21 level crossings. 

It is jointly funded by the federal and Victorian governments.