The first of three TBMs for South Australia’s Torrens to Darlington project has received its official blessing.
TBM Mary will bore the 4.5km-long tunnel north from the Clovelly Park launch box towards Anzac Highway.
The cutterheads for TBM Catherine and TBM Elizabeth have been lowered into the launch shafts and the two machines will start work later this year.
Tunnelling for the entire project will take up to 24 months. Each TBM will advance approximately 8-10m per day.
The three TBMs for the A$15.4bn (€10bn) project have been named after South Australian suffragists. Mary Lee, Catherine Helen Spence and Elizabeth Webb Nicholls were three of the prominent voices that led the campaign that saw South Australia become the first place in the world to allow women to both vote and stand for election.
The names were chosen from more than 2,000 public submissions.
The use of three TBMs will allow both the Northern and Southern Tunnels to be constructed concurrently, enabling the project to be delivered by 2031.
Once complete, the T2D Project will create a non-stop South Road, allowing motorists to bypass 21 sets of traffic lights and cut travel times by up to 40 minutes in peak traffic.
