The delivery of the Western Harbour Tunnel Stage 2 project in New South Wales is progressing well as a 100-tonne roadheader commences excavating on the north side of the Harbour at Cammeray.
The roadheader – which weighs as much as 27 adult elephants – is now digging the tunnel from Cammeray heading south to the Warringah Freeway and onwards towards the harbour at Waverton.
The massive roadheader will cut through 1,000 tonnes of rock each day and it is expected to dig a distance of 20 to 25 metres per week before a tunnel boring machine (TBM) takes over tunnel excavation under the harbour.
Stage 2 of the Western Harbour Tunnel project will utilise up to 10 roadheaders over the course of its construction phase.
To date, about 23,000 tonnes of material have already been excavated through the hard work of more than 800 workers along with 1,482 cubic metres of concrete poured in preparation for tunnelling works.
“The start of tunnelling at Cammeray is a major milestone for this project, bringing more motorists a step closer to benefiting from Sydney’s third harbour crossing.
“The new Western Harbour Tunnel will provide time-saving benefits not only for those connecting to the Rozelle Interchange, but for motorists across Sydney’s wider road network.
“Once complete, the Western Harbour Tunnel is a critical part of the NSW Government’s plan to bring traffic relief to arterial roads in the Inner West, where we know that we will have traffic issues along the Western Distributor and Victoria Road,” Minister for Roads John Graham said.
The 6.5-kilometre Western Harbour Tunnel is part of the State Government’s largest infrastructure program that will change the way people move around the region as New South Wales’ motorways are expanded to better serve the growing communities.
The tunnel will bypass the Sydney CBD, taking pressure off the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor corridors. Once completed, Western Harbour Tunnel will help improve transport capacity in and around Sydney Harbour.
Western Harbour Tunnel is being built in two stages with the first stage delivered by John Holland and CPB Contractors. Stage 1 includes the construction of the 1.7-kilometre southern section of the tunnel that connects Emily Street in Rozelle to Cove Street in Birchgrove. Construction on Stage 1 commenced in June 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2025.
On the other hand, Stage 2 is being undertaken by ACCIONA and works will include the construction of the northern end of the tunnel along with connections to Warringah Freeway near North Sydney, tunnelling under Sydney Harbour and complete tunnel fit-out. Early works on Stage 2 started in May 2023.
The overall Western Harbour Tunnel project is estimated to create up to 7,000 jobs.
“This is a milestone for the Western Harbour Tunnel project.
“This project will deliver almost 7,000 jobs.
“Building this road, we will help ease congestion for drivers who use the harbour bridge harbour tunnel, Anzac Bride of Western Distributor.
“We’ll be keeping this important road in public hands,” Premier Chris Minns said.
Source: NSW Government – Media Releases; Transport for NSW (1, 2)