CPB Contractors’ delivery of the Sydney Metro West - Eastern Tunnelling Package has taken a significant step forward with the project’s final tunnel boring machines (TBMs) arriving on site.
The two 1,100-tonne TBMs, delivered in 32 sections at Sydney’s White Bay last month, are currently being assembled within the 34-metre-deep station box at The Bays.
Scheduled for launch later this year, they will complete a 2.3-kilometre journey beneath Sydney Harbour to create twin tunnels, firstly connecting The Bays to the new Pyrmont Station before proceeding under Darling Harbour and reaching their final destination at Hunter Street Station in the heart of the CBD.
Both machines have been purpose-built with mixed shield (slurry) functionality, enabling them to excavate through Sydney’s sandstone and under the harbour. This will be the second under-harbour crossing undertaken by Sydney Metro using this technology, following the successful crossing between Blues Point and Barangaroo, also delivered by CPB Contractors, as part of the City & Southwest project.
With an average tunnelling rate of 90 metres per week, the TBMs are projected to arrive at Hunter Street Station by mid-2025.
CPB Contractors is delivering the Sydney Metro West – Eastern Tunnelling Package in a joint venture. Works to be delivered under the package include 3.5 kilometres of metro tunnels between future stations at The Bays and Hunter Street in Sydney’s CBD and the excavation of caverns and shafts at Pyrmont and Hunter Street Stations.