Crews are making steady progress on the West Gate Tunnel Project with the excavation of the connecting passage between the twin tunnels and maintenance levels now complete.
Below the streets of Yarraville, the twin tunnels are connected with 31 passages which will play a vital role in keeping the public safe in emergency situations.
These passages are 120 meters apart and connect the city and westbound tunnels and will serve as evacuation routes in the event of incidents.
Next up, crews are now installing more than 10,000 architectural panels on the walls of the tunnels, with more than half of the panels already in place. Works is currently ongoing in getting lights, traffic management systems, electrical wires and ventilation fans into place inside the tunnels, before asphalting starts on the nearly seven kilometres of underground roadway in 2025.
Once complete, crew will have installed:
- More than 1.1 million metres of cable across the twin tunnels – enough to stretch from Melbourne to Newcastle
- More than 40,000 metres of cable storage and support
- More than 8,400 metres of fire mains – a distance longer than 20 laps of the MCG
- More than 26,000 metres of deluge piping for fire protection systems – about the same length as Philip Island
- More than 1,180 tunnel roadway lights
- More than 1,900 Intelligent Transport System (ITS) assets
- More than 600 safety components that will help ventilation.
Above ground, construction is forging ahead on the landmark architectural structures at the tunnel entry and exits in the West Gate Freeway and near the Maribyrnong River.
The heritage of the west is reflected in the design of the timber net structures which sit at the tunnel entries, which have been inspired by the long maritime history associated with the area’s local waterways.
The installation of the steel frame that will wrap around the tunnel exit structure in the West Gate Freeway South Kingsville is continuing, with installation underway of the external cladding.
When the West Gate Tunnel Project opens by end 2025, the twin tunnels will serve as a much-needed alternative to the West Gate Bridge. Using the newly expanded and strengthened West Gate Freeway and the twin tunnels, trucks will now have a direct access to the Port of Melbourne to and from the west, resulting in less trucks on inner west roads. The widening of the Freeway will also provide motorists with a clear run to the West Gate Bridge from the M80 interchange via express lanes.
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