Airport Central Station is the most advanced with excavation up to 17m below the surface complete and preparation of the base slab, or station floor, well underway. The underground station box at Redcliffe is also taking shape, with excavation now down approximately 5m from ground level.
Bar these stations, we have plenty more to dig, with excavation also underway at the emergency egress shafts, and starting soon at the Bayswater Dive structure. As the infrastructure along the new line grows, it becomes clear this project is much more than just tunnelling.
Airport Central Station
We have now poured three of the six base slabs, totalling more than 6000m3 of concrete, for Airport Central Station. Other works required to prepare the base slab for concrete pours are progressing well, with 80 per cent (3600sqm) of waterproofing and 60 per cent (1000T) of steel reinforcing now in place.
Construction of the false blocks to receive the TBMs has begun, with the first of four mass concrete pours recently completed.
Click here to see what Airport Central Station will look like when complete.
Forrestfield Station
Construction of the retaining wall for Forrestfield Station is progressing well. The wall will be up to 8.2m high and more than 100 counterforts are being installed to support the 18 tonne wall panels, as well as the backfilling required to raise the ground level at the station by 6m. Backfilling has begun and the ground level has been raised by 2.5m in some areas.
Click here to see what Forrestfield Station will look like when complete.
Meanwhile, excavation and service relocation for the stowage building is also continuing.
Works have also begun to realign Dundas Road, with the new road expected to open mid-year. While much of the work for the new road will be completed behind a fenced area with minimal impact on road users, there is some work to be done along Dundas Road to establish the two intersections. Construction of the traffic barrier adjacent to the tunnel portal is almost finished. Once the realignment is completed and open to traffic in mid-2018, the current Dundas Road will be closed south of Maida Vale Road and north of Imperial Street.
View a map of the changes to Dundas Road.
Redcliffe Station
Excavation is 18 per cent complete for the new underground station at Redcliffe, with 7500m3 of spoil removed. Dewatering is also now underway, with six dewatering wells installed and three in operation.
Once excavation is complete, works will turn to pouring the concrete for the base slab of the station box. Dewatering will be turned off once the base slab is finished around late August 2018.
To date, more than 11,461m3 of concrete has been used on site for the diaphragm walls and station construction.
Click here to see what Redcliffe Station will look like when complete.
Excavation of emergency egress shafts
Of the three emergency egress shafts (EES) being built along the alignment, the Abernethy egress shaft is the most progressed. The egress shaft has been fully excavated to base slab level and in coming weeks will be connected to the tunnel. Over the last month the Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA's urban search and rescue team (USAR), in conjunction with St John Ambulance WA's special operations unit, have been using the 23m deep shaft for rappel and rescue training.
With completion of diaphragm walls for the Wright Crescent EES, jet grouting has begun for the cross passage between the tunnels and the EES. The process will be ongoing for the next three months, at which point works will shift to excavation.
At the Airport West EES, a crane has been mobilised to the site for excavation of the shaft. There will be a slight increase in truck movements into and out of the site over the next couple of months as this excavation is completed.
Works on the Bayswater dive underway
Diaphragm wall construction continues at Bayswater Junction, with 40 diaphragm wall panels completed at an average 25m depth.
The removal of guide walls and installation of capping beams has commenced. When complete, the dive structure will be more than 400m in length and provide the entry/exit point to the tunnels for trains.
Reminder to have your say
Every six months we conduct market research so the community can provide feedback on the Forrestfield-Airport Link project. With seven construction sites now active on the project, it is even more important that you have a chance to have your say.
The survey is a ‘health check’ for our team to gain insight and feedback from those who live nearby the works, so we can better understand what we do well and what we can improve on. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
You can complete the survey by clicking here.