Melbourne Metro Tunnel design build contractor chosen

18 July 2017


Australia – A consortium of Lendlease, John Holland, Bouygues and Capella Capital will construct the AUD 6bn (USD 4.75bn) Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project. The contract covers main tunnelling works, five underground stations, station fit-out, mechanical and electrical systems and specific maintenance services for the infrastructure delivered by the package and commercial opportunities at the new stations.

The twin 7m o.d., 9km-long tunnels will be constructed by TBM at a depth of up to 42m through a range of ground conditions, as ascertained by 270 boreholes to a 50m depth, ranging rock to sands, clays and silt. The TBMs will also underpass two waterways: the Yarra River and Moonee Ponds Creek.

The two stations in the central business district will be built as trinocular caverns. Three overlapping tunnels will be mined by road headers to create a wide open space that allows the concourse and platforms to be integrated on a single level. The result is a spacious station cavern with vaulted ceilings, rather than two separate tunnels separated by a cross passage. The total platform width at the CBD stations will be around 19m. Other stations will be constructed by cut and cover.

On muck removal, a spokesperson for the client said: “Around 1.8 million cubic metres of excavated soil and rock will be produced during the construction of the Metro Tunnel. Given the importance of roads to local communities, effective traffic management plans will manage truck movements. The predicted daily truck movements for Metro Tunnel will not create substantial increases in daily traffic volumes on the arterial roads to be used.

“As the bulk of works are underground, there will be limited opportunities to re-use excavated clean fill as part of Metro Tunnel's construction. As such, it will need to be removed from construction work sites and potentially re-used at other locations. Materials that cannot be re-used due to contamination will be disposed of in line with Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria and WorkSafe Victoria guidelines.”

Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews said: “We’re building the turn-up and go train system Victoria has been waiting for. We’ve chosen the design, we’ve chosen the builders and we’re getting on with it. “We don’t just talk about it – we’re building the train network Victoria needs and creating thousands of local jobs.”