Final breakthrough of CBD tunnel achieves engineering feat

27/10/06

The New MetroRail City Project has reached its most important milestone yet, with the successful completion of all tunnelling through the Perth CBD.

Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan inspected the work of the tunnel-boring machine (TBM), which broke through underneath Roe Street on Tuesday, October 24 at about 8:45pm.

“Building this tunnel and the underground station is one of the most significant engineering tasks ever undertaken in Australia,” Ms MacTiernan said.

“We can now celebrate successfully completing the last of the major construction work we were told would be impossible to achieve.

“This is an exciting phase in this massive project, as the commencement of passenger services on the Southern Suburbs Railway is on track for the target date of July 2007.

“Our contractor Leighton-Kumagai deserve congratulations, including the engineers and construction workers committed to making this happen.”

The entire tunnelling operation two tunnels of 770m each, was completed safely with minimal ground movement and without any damage to the infrastructure and buildings above.

“The two tunnels now connect the new Esplanade Station to the Perth railway yard in Roe Street, enabling the existing Joondalup Line to link up with the new Southern Suburbs Railway when it is completed,” the Minister said.

“The tunneling team excavated 57,000 cubic metres of soil from beneath the city and worked around the clock during the operation.

“Tracklaying between the Narrows Bridge and Mandurah will be completed by the end of the year and all stations on the new line will be finished over the next three months.”

All the City Project works were on target for completion by April 2007.

Ms MacTiernan said an extensive commissioning process and driver training would begin following the end of construction on the new line.