The first components of TBM Aayushi have arrived at the Clarinda launch site for Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop East (SRL East).
The first components included the 230-tonne front shield and 190-tonne middle shield. The parts were transported separately from the Port of Hastings under superload permits. The heavy haulage vehicle used for the deliveries was 55m long, 7.5m wide and 5.4m high.
The TBM’s tail shield has also now arrived at Clarinda. The remaining components, including the back-up gantry structure, will be delivered over the coming weeks.
The Suburban Connect consortium comprising CPB Contractors, Ghella, and Acciona will launch TBM Aayushi from Clarinda later this year to work on the southern twin tunnels towards Glen Waverley.
Assembly of two TBMs for the northern twin tunnels is also under way at the Burwood launch site. Terra Verde, comprising Webuild, GS Engineering and Construction, and Bouygues Construction Australia, have lifted the TBM shields into the shaft and the machines will be launched using an ‘umbilical’ method, where tunnelling begins while the TBM is still being built.
Eight TBMs will be deployed to excavate SRL East’s 26km of twin tunnels. Four TBMs will launch from Clarinda to excavate the southern section of tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley, and another four from Burwood to dig the northern section of tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill.
