The River Torrens to Darlington project – South Australia’s biggest ever infrastructure programme – has reached a major milestone with the first of three 300-tonne TBM cutterheads being lifted into place.
A 500-tonne gantry crane will lower the cutterhead into the 20m-deep Southern Precinct launch box at Clovelly Park.
Around 120,000m3 of material weighing more than 343,000 tonnes has already been excavated in to form the TBM launch box, which measures 120mx50mx20m.
The first and second TBMs are being assembled alongside each other at the Southern Precinct. They will soon start carving out the twin Southern Tunnels on the 4.5km drive towards Glandore and Black Forest.
Meanwhile, all components for the third TBM, which will dig both of the 2.2km-long Northern Tunnels, have arrived in South Australia.
Tunnelling on the A$15.4bn (€9.2bn) T2D[https://www.tunnelsandtunnelling.com/news/first-shipment-of-t2d-tbm-arrives-in-adelaide/] project is expected to commence in the second half of 2026. Once operational, each of the machines will progress approximately 8-10m per day.
Each TBM will be approximately 100m in length, 15m in diameter and weigh approximately 3,500 tonnes.
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.
South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas said the lowering of the cutterhead was a major milestone for the biggest infrastructure project in the state’s history.
“As South Australians continue to drive along South Road each day, all this work will be taking place just metres away,” he said.
“Once completed, this project will allow the north-south corridor to finally flow, letting South Australians bypass 21 sets of traffic lights on their commute and saving them hours each week.”
The T2D Project will complete a 78km non-stop, traffic light-free motorway between Gawler and Old Noarlunga.”
