Two major tunnelling sites on the New M4 in Sydney have finally met, marking the first underground breakthrough on the project and 70 per cent completion of mainline tunnelling.
The separate tunnels, 40 metres underground, have connected at Concord and from a critical component of the future WestConnex tunnel connecting Haberfield and Homebush. Nine kilometres of tunnels have been created for the project in less than a year.
The New M4 Tunnels will connect to the widened M4 and extend it underground, three lanes in each direction.
Minister for WestConnex Stuart Ayres said the flow on benefits from WestConnex are enormous with more than $1 billion in contracts signed for goods and services on the New M4 section alone.
“WestConnex has created a veritable jobs boom—more than half of people involved in the New M4 hail from greater Western Sydney and more than 10,000 people will be employed across the life of the project.
“The next significant phase of work – tunnel fit out—gets underway in the coming months, while the Powells Creek on-ramp, is scheduled to open to traffic later this year.