Three TBMs are now working on South Australia’s River Torrens to Darlington (T2D) project after the final machine was launched at the weekend.
It is the first time in Australian history that three TBMs have tunnelled simultaneously on the same underground road project.
Each of the three Herrenknecht TBMs has a 15m-diameter, 300-tonne cutterhead fitted with 82 cutting discs weighing up to 350kg each.
They will bore the project’s southern and northern tunnels at depths of 10-25m and are expected to achieve a daily advance of 8-10m.
Around 7.5 million tonnes of spoil will be generated across the T2D project, including approximately five million tonnes from tunnelling and 2.5 million tonnes from civil works.
Tunnelling will be completed in up to 24 months, and the South Road is scheduled to open by 2031.
The A$15.4bn (€9.35bn) T2D is South Australia’s largest-ever infrastructure project. The T2D Alliance of John Holland, Bouygues Construction, Arcadis Australia, Jacobs and Ventia is delivering the project on behalf of the South Australian and Australian governments.
