The first part of the North East Link in Melbourne is taking shape, with two tunnel boring machines ordered and works continuing on the Bulleen park and ride.
The North East Link is the biggest ever investment in the north east. It will give local roads back to local residents, deliver a dedicated bus way, complete the Ring Road in Greensborough and build more than 34 kilometres of walking and cycling paths.
North East Link’s $69 million Bulleen park and ride will have parking for up to 370 cars, bike storage and pick-up and drop off bays – making it easier for people to use bus services to and from the city.
Preliminary works on the second level of the car park are now underway. Crews have excavated more than 13 Olympic sized swimming pools of dirt (34,000m3), drilled a massive 626 piles and poured more than 3,200m3 of concrete for the car park foundations.
The new bus station is first part of Melbourne’s first dedicated busway – which will allow buses to travel uninterrupted along an overhauled Eastern Freeway, cutting commute times for the 17,000 passengers that use Eastern Freeway buses each weekday.
More than 1000 bus services will use the facility each week, providing direct access for passengers from Bulleen, Doncaster, Doncaster East and Templestowe. The Bulleen Park and Ride will open by the end of 2022.
As the project prepares for tunnelling, two giant tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have been ordered to build North East Link’s 6.5 kilometre road tunnels. The machines will be among the biggest in the southern hemisphere and will each be 90 metres long, 15.6 metres in diameter and weigh around 4000 tonnes.
It will take around 18 months for the design, manufacturing, testing and transportation of the TBMs, which will arrive in Melbourne via ship. They will then be transported to site in Watsonia, lowered piece by piece into an excavated box, assembled, and launched on their journey south toward Bulleen.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said the TBMs will form an essential part of the projects competition.
“These massive tunnel boring machines are an impressive feat of engineering – they’ll be able to cater for all ground conditions and will tunnel up to 40 metres underground, well below homes and the Yarra River,” Allan said.
Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll said the progress made on the Bulleen park and ride would allow it to be opened four years ahead of schedule.
“It’s exciting to see such great progress on the Bulleen park and ride and we look forward to seeing buses driving through at the end of the year,” he said.
For more information on the North East Link, click here.
Related stories:
- Recruitment drive is on for Melbourne’s North East Link project
- North East Link’s $11.1B primary package contract awarded
- Closing the loop: Premier Cranes on North East Link Project
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