en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Torrens to Darlington (T2D) tunnel project in South Australia has completed the lifting of the cutterhead for the third tunnel boring machine (TBM), which is now in position at the project's Central North site in Adelaide. This marks a new phase for the project, with all three large TBM cutterheads now installed, making it the first road project in Australia to operate three large TBMs simultaneously.
After being lowered 20 meters into the launch shaft by a 500-tonne gantry crane, the third cutterhead has now been installed on the front of the TBM, where it will use cutting tools and rotation to excavate rock and soil (known as spoil) from the tunnel face. Each cutterhead weighs over 300 tonnes. State Infrastructure and Transport Minister Joe Szakacs said this historic first highlights the scale of the works, and for motorists driving past the site daily, this milestone is a visible sign of the project's progress.
With the cutterhead installation complete, crews will continue assembling the remaining TBM components and conduct final testing and commissioning. Tunnelling operations are expected to commence in the second half of 2026. The third TBM will launch from the suburb of Hilton, boring 2.2 kilometers north to the Northern Works Area near the Brickworks Marketplace in Torrensville, where it will turn around and return to Hilton to complete the northern tunnel.
Once operational, each TBM will run around the clock, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, advancing approximately 8 to 10 meters per day. During construction, up to 20 specialist workers can be accommodated inside each TBM. Each TBM is approximately 100 meters long and about 15 meters in diameter, roughly the height of the Her Majesty's Theatre or the height of the goalposts at Adelaide Oval. Using three TBMs allows the northern and southern tunnels to be advanced concurrently, with project completion targeted for 2031 or earlier. The project is jointly funded by the Federal Government and the South Australian Government, each committing $7.7 billion.
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