en.Wedoany.com Reported - The first tunnel boring machine (TBM) for the Sydney Western Harbour Tunnel project is expected to launch within the next few days.
After final testing over the weekend, the TBM Patyegarang will begin excavation from a depth of 44.7 meters beneath Birchgrove Oval, advancing toward Waverton under Sydney Harbour.
Patyegarang and its sister machine Barangaroo are the largest TBMs in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest models assembled underground. Manufactured by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG), both machines have a diameter of 15.7 meters and weigh 4,350 tons, using approximately 13,000 precast concrete segments to line the tunnels.
The New South Wales government stated that the project's underground slurry treatment plant also sets a record. The plant can pump up to 3 million liters of slurry per hour to the working face of each tunneling machine, ensuring stability during excavation through soft marine sediments under Sydney Harbour. The facility, measuring over 100 meters in length and 15 meters in height, is the world's first underground slurry treatment plant of this scale.
Dry excavated material will be transported out of the tunnel via WestConnex for use in other projects.
The TBM Barangaroo is 94% assembled and is expected to begin excavation in about four weeks.
These two TBMs will excavate the final 1.5-kilometer section of the twin-tube road tunnel under Sydney Harbour, reaching depths of 50 meters below sea level. The equipment will operate around the clock, with 40 personnel working simultaneously on site per shift.
Overall, tunnel excavation is 81.35% complete. The 6.5-kilometer Western Harbour Tunnel is scheduled to open to traffic in 2028.
Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said the launch of the first TBM marks a significant milestone for the project. She noted that it signals the start of the final phase of excavation under Sydney Harbour, and that assembling these giant machines entirely underground was an extremely complex task, with the team delivering outstanding results. She also highlighted that building and operating the TBM's slurry treatment plant underground represents a major advancement for the community and is an engineering first in Australia and globally.
The John Holland and CPB joint venture (JHCPB) completed the first phase of excavation using a roadheader in December 2024, after which the tunnel was handed over to the second-phase contractor Acciona.
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