Two more giant tunnel boring machines are now working underground to build the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East twin tunnels.
Tunnel boring machine (TBM) Hacia – named after construction industry trailblazer Hacia Atherton – joins TBM Alice building the twin tunnels from Burwood to Glen Waverley.
Tunnelling has also started for the southern section of the SRL East tunnels. TBM Aayushi – named after health advocate and medical student Aayushi Khillan – has launched from the Clarinda site and is now digging towards Glen Waverley.
The 3 TBMs have constructed 138 metres of tunnel since tunnelling started in September.
A fourth machine, Belinda – named after Puffing Billy steam train driver and medical student Belinda McKenzie – is now being assembled on site at Clarinda and will launch soon.
The TBMs are being launched using an ‘umbilical method’ due to the confined space on the sites, where the front part of the TBMs start tunnelling while the rest of the machines are gradually built behind it.
Significant progress is also being made above the ground.
Crews in Burwood are also digging out the site of the new SRL station, and a second TBM launch site, where 2 more machines will head north towards Box Hill next year.
The new SRL station at Burwood will deliver a direct train service to Deakin University for the first time – reducing travel times for staff and students. A student from Cheltenham will be able to travel to Deakin University in just 19 minutes by public transport – a saving of around 40 minutes.
In Clarinda, crews are building an acoustic shed over the launch site to reduce noise, light and dust for nearby residents, and installing systems to remove excavated soil and cabling to provide power to the TBMs.
Next year, more TBMs will also launch from Heatherton to Cheltenham.
All SRL TBMs will be powered by 100% renewable electricity. On average, the SRL East tunnels will be approximately 26m deep – that’s approximately 6 storeys below ground.
Six new underground stations are under construction at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill, linked by 26km of twin tunnels.
More than 4300 people are working on the project.
