Sky-high salaries agreed for West Gate tunnellers

15 June 2021


Following the successful conclusion of a pay deal between the contractor and a local building union, tunnellers working on the US$5.2bn West Gate Tunnel project in Melbourne, Australia, look set to earn more than US$240,000 a year.

Approved by the country’s Fair Work Commission, the pay deal concludes a three-year stand-off between John Holland – the project’s main contractor – and the Australian Workers Union (AWU). It is thought the agreement will set the standard for future tunnel projects in the state of Victoria. The eye-watering salaries are higher than average given Victoria's construction workers are typically among the highest paid of the country’s blue-collar workers, due mostly to the power of local building unions.

According to Melbourne newspaper The Age, entry-level tunnellers working a six-day week would earn US$177,000, excluding superannuation but including travel and site allowances. More experienced workers on 12-hour shifts worked over seven-day blocks would earn more: for example, an experienced TBM driver could earn up to US$246,000 a year.

Providing an alternative to the West Gate Bridge, the West Gate Tunnel Project will comprise twin tunnels of unequal length: a 2.8km-long inbound tunnel and a 4km-long outbound tunnel. The latter is expected to take around 18 months to excavate. Two 15.6m-diameter Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines will be used, operating at up to 27m below ground. Routine maintenance of cutterheads will be conducted under hyperbaric conditions.