The tunnel project, delivered by CPB Contractors and John Holland JV, is the largest piece of road infrastructure to be completed in Melbourne since CityLink opened in 1998.
The twin underground tunnels from the West Gate Freeway to Yarraville connect to a new bridge over Maribyrnong River. The scheme is designed to ease congestion on the West Gate Freeway and West Gate Bridge, and reduce the number of trucks on residential streets by providing a direct route to the port.
The 4km outbound tunnel will be known as the Eureka Tunnel, a symbol of the Australian worker and the new gateway to Ballarat and western Victoria the West Gate Tunnel will create. The 2.8km citybound tunnel will be called the Bundawanh Tunnel, meaning “he/she dug” in the language of the Bunurong people, the traditional owners of the land where the tunnel sits.
The tunnels were excavated by the 15.6m-diameter TBMs Bella and Vida.
West Gate is the first Australian tunnel to be constructed with an elevated road surface, providing another tunnel underneath for maintenance of critical services, ventilation and emergency access.
The West Gate Tunnel inauguration follows the opening of the Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel on November 30.
