Revised BaT tunnel reference design to eliminate eyesore
12 January 2015AUSTRALIA – Brisbane’s Bus and Train Tunnel project plan has been updated to eliminate an existing ‘eyesore’ in the city. The Australasian Tunnelling Society reported last month that an underground station, previously to be located next to the Roma Street Parklands, will now be housed beneath a redeveloped Brisbane Transit Centre.
The AUD 5n (USD 4bn) project will run 4km from Drutton Park to Spring Hill in Brisbane to ease a bottleneck in south east Queensland's rail network, the Brisbane hub. The concept is a 15m-wide, double-decked single tube to deliver combined rail and bus travel. There will be three underground stations, and the maximum depth along the alignment will be 58m. At each end of the combi-tunnel, the bore will split into routes for trains and buses respectively.
The tunnel will be excavated by hard rock TBM, with the possibility for some roadheader work depending on contractor wishes. Vertical station shafts would likely be constructed top-down with rock breaker equipped excavators and possibly drill and blast. Station caverns are to be excavated by road headers and drill and blast.
The latest revisions are currently out for public comment.
