18 TradeEarthmovers.com.au
PROJECT NEWS
T
hreemassiveundergroundexcavators–
eachweighingmorethan 100 tonnes– have
met 30 metresunderground,inthefirstmajor
breakthroughofMelbourne’sMetroTunnel.
Theroadheadershavebeenminingstation
cavernsandundergroundpassengerconnections
underSwanstonStreet,nearFranklinStreet,forthe
newStateLibraryStation.
In total,morethan500,000tonnesofmaterialwill
beexcavated,with1,500tonnesofrockandsoil
removedevery 24 hours.
Sevenroadheaderswillbeusedin theCBDaspart
oftheproject– fourforStateLibraryStationandMelbourneMetro
Tunnelcelebrates
firstbreakthrough
Volvo CE is
involved in
constructing the
world’s longest
and deepest
underwater
highway
R
econstruction of the Coastal Highway Route
E39 in Norway is not only the country’s
biggest ever infrastructure project – but the
Rogfast Tunnel, of which it is part, will be the
world’s longest and deepest underwater highway.
With a depth of up to 392 meters below sea
level, this pioneering project is the eighth
instalment in Volvo Construction Equipment’s
(Volvo CE) Megaproject Listing.
Using new bridge and tunnel building
techniques, the project is set to cut travel times
between Kristiansand in the south and Trondheim
in the north by half. Currently this journey takes
21 hours.The complete reconstruction of the E39 is
costing US$39 billion (A$56.8 billion). About a
third of Norway’s 5.3 million people live along this
highway, which is also an important trade route
for Norwegian businesses, as some 60 per cent
of the country’s export goods are produced on
the west coast.
Håvard Langåker, a truck driver for Vassbakk &
Stol, says that driving this stretch of coastline can
be hard.
“I go and get the rocks at the construction site
and then I drive it to the other sites in need of
material,” explains Langåker.
“On the road I need to wait for ferries, stand
in ferry lines, deal with cancelled ferries and
narrow roads. We have islands and fjords with
roads which follow the coastline. It is quite time
consuming.” But all this is about to change.
The Rogfast Tunnel, set to be complete in 2026,
will stretch 27km and will include two separate
tunnels for traffic flow. In addition, every 250
meters will be passages that connect the two
tunnels, allowing for a quick and easy exit in case
of emergencies.threeforTownHallStation.Each weighs 118-tonnes,
is 15-metreslongandis lowered underground
in separatepieces,beforebeing re-assembled
underground.
Theroadheadershavedugout more than 20
percentofStateLibraryStation, with excavation
expectedtobefinishedbylate 2020.
Asconstructioncontinueson the Metro Tunnel,
Melbourne-basedTTMRailhas been awarded the
$1.6millioncontracttofit outtwo X’Trapolis trains
forHighCapacitySignalling(HCS) to be tested on
theMerndaLine.
Workhasalreadybeguntoprepare the track
betweenEppingandSouthMorang stations for
testingin 2020.
HCSis usedonrailnetworks in major cities such
asLondonandHongKongtorun more trains,
moreoftenandmorereliably. When the project is
complete,HCSwillbeinstalled on the Cranbourne,
PakenhamandSunburylines.
TheHCSroll-outontheexisting rail network is an
Australianfirst,andtestingwill involve running the
twotesttrainswithoutpassengers to adapt the
technologytoMelbourneconditions.going
underground
Above: Anzac station is
one of five new stations
being built
Left: The Rogfast Tunnel
will be the world’s longest
and deepest underwater
highwaydigging
deep