An order for two Herrenknecht TBMs has been placed by the joint venture of Theiss and John Holland for the excavation of Brisbane’s Airport Link tunnel.
The contract value for the pair of 12.48m diameter shields is more than US$70M, the JV said. The TBMs are scheduled to be delivered to site in about a year and be launched in mid-2010.
The contractor is undertaking the design and construction of the project under a fixed-price, fixed term contract for completion by 2012.
The JV contractor has been hired by BrisConnections, which a few months ago awarded the contract to design, build, finance, own and operate the toll Airport Link by the state Government of Queensland. BrisConnections is a consortium of Macquarie Capital Group, Thiess, John Holland, Arup and PB, and will also build the Northern Busway (Windsor-Kedron) and Airport Roundabout Upgrade.
While TBM drives will be a major feature of the 5.25km long toll tunnel, the project calls for a total of nearly 11.8km of excavation which will also call on roadheader and cut and cover construction. The tunnels will be driven between Bowen Hills and Toombul.
The JV design and build contractor plans to use the two TBMs at Toombul to drive south, and roadheaders elsewhere.
The contract package also involves construction of a 3km long road (half in tunnel) between Windsor and Kedron on the Northern Busway.
The airport link project is part of Brisbane City Council’s TransApex plan, and will operate as a 6.7km long electronic toll road. The state Government said the airport link will cost US$2.6bn but the concession financing package means taxpayers will only have to contribute US$36M.
