The CPB Contractors team delivering the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport, Station Boxes and Tunnelling (SBT) project celebrated a significant achievement: the recent successful completion of all tunnelling on the project. This milestone signifies the culmination of efforts by tunnel boring machine (TBM) Marlene, which recently excavated the final stretch of shale at the project’s St Marys site.
In August 2023, the CPB Contractors project team launched TBM Marlene on a 10-month journey from Orchard Hills, excavating 443,000 tonnes of earth to create a 4.3-kilometre tunnel to St Marys via Claremont Meadows.
TBM Marlene's path included navigating beneath major infrastructure such as the M4 Motorway and the Great Western Highway while also running alongside St Marys Station on the T1 Western Line.
Throughout the tunnelling process, the TBMs placed over 15,600 pre-cast concrete segments to form the tunnel’s lining.
With the completion of TBM Marlene's operations, the project team also successfully removed the machine's 72-tonne cutterhead from the station box during a nighttime operation.
CPB Contractors is delivering the SBT project in a joint venture with Ghella. Works include the design and construction of 9.8 kilometres of twin tunnels and excavations for stations at St Marys, Orchard Hills, Airport Business Park, Airport Terminal and Bradfield and access shafts at Claremont Meadows and Bringelly.Congratulations to the tunnelling contractor team CPB Contractors Ghella for this significant achievement.