Acciona awarded Western Harbour Tunnel contract

2 December 2022


Acciona has won the contract to deliver stage two of Sydney’s third harbour crossing.

The A$4.24bn (US$2.89bn/£2.36bn) Western Harbour Tunnel will provide a western bypass of the CBD, and take pressure off the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel, and Anzac Bridge. It will connect to WestConnex at the Rozelle Interchange, cross underneath Sydney Harbour between Birchgrove and Waverton, and connect with the Warringah Freeway near North Sydney via a 6.5km with three lanes in each direction.

An immersed tube tunnel was initially envisaged for the crossing but minister for Metropolitan Roads Natalie Ward said the new tunnel would now be underground and built using TBMs. This will remove the need for two planned jobsites.

Once complete, the Western Harbour Tunnel will cut traffic by 20% in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and by 17% on the Harbour Bridge.

Construction of stage one is under way, with a John Holland and CPB joint venture building the 1.7km of tunnels from Rozelle to Birchgrove. For stage two, further community consultation will take place next year before the start of major work later in the year.