Comments on: CityLink’s clever tunnelling technologies

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 05:50:24 +0000

In reply to Michael Bell. I can remember as a kid seeing the big pink building at the Hoppers Crossing pumping station take shape - it was right next door to the freeway on the drive from Geelong to Melbourne.

By: Michael Bell

Michael Bell — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 12:32:18 +0000

In reply to Michael Bell.

ATS is an excellent resource for tunnel-rats!
http://www.ats.org.au
http://www.ats.org.au/index.php/resources/tunnel-dbs/165-australian-tunnels/file

By: Michael Bell

Michael Bell — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 12:24:34 +0000

In reply to Marcus Wong.

A couple more tunnel-related links:

Catalyst story about Sydney’s new Northwest Rail Link, under construction. It includes tunnel and viaduct sections. This story is about the tunneling.
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4132605.htm

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, MMBW tunneled the Western Trunk Sewer to replace the aging, ground level Main Outfall Sewer, between Brooklyn and Werribee. As an engineering student on work placement at the Board of Works in 1990, I visited the tunnel while it was under construction. A video about the project was produced – I can’t find a copy published, but here’s a catalogue link:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21201565?q&versionId=45433362
John Holland played a role in the project:
http://www.cimic.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/10574/JHG_TunnellingBrox.pdf

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:33:44 +0000

In reply to Graham Bradshaw.

Quite a project – three TBMs to bore 12.5 kilometres of tunnel 3 to 4 metres deep!

http://www.johnholland.com.au/our-projects/northern-sewerage-project

Not quite as long, but complex due to the river crossing was the Melbourne Main Sewer replacement project:

http://www.johnholland.com.au/our-projects/melbourne-main-sewer-replacement

Just like CityLink, they used a cofferdam to cross the Yarra River, this time beside the Charles Grimes Bridge.

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:29:05 +0000

In reply to Greg Foletta. Google does an impressive job at their 3D views, plus they've scrubbed out cars on the road!

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:27:34 +0000

In reply to Evan.

Some good photos of the work at Boronia in 1998 is here:

http://www.westonlangford.com/search/?q=Boronia

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:25:02 +0000

In reply to Andrew S.

Not to mention that Swanston Street passes over the top of the railway tracks at Flinders Street Station via an aging deck – the ‘Flinders Street Station Concourse Rehabilitation’ project patched it up about a decade ago:

http://www.eptec.com.au/Projects/InfrastructureProjects/FlindersStStation3.aspx

By: Marcus Wong

Marcus Wong — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 06:58:04 +0000

In reply to Michael Bell.

Some nice finds there – I haven’t seen photos of the cofferdam from that angle before.

As for the second one, it provides plenty of detail about the various emergency exit pathways. 😉

By: Graham Bradshaw

Graham Bradshaw — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 07:14:21 +0000

The other big (longer?) tunnelling project in recent years was the Northern Sewer project. There was a TBM involved with that, I think, and although it didn’t involve the slushy ground near the Yarra it was still a major undertaking, although perhaps less glamorous and of no immediate interest to the citizenry!

By: Greg Foletta

Greg Foletta — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 02:17:38 +0000

Here’s a 3D Google Maps which gives a different view:

http://i.imgur.com/29bMQ4p.jpg