23 Feb 2021 News

Digging Deep On North East Link This Autumn

The state’s largest ever road project, North East Link, will make significant progress as part of a packed calendar of Autumn transport infrastructure works with the first of three mini-tunnel boring machines (TBMs) arriving on site.

The 40-tonne mini-TBM, which was transported from Queensland to Melbourne, will tunnel up to six-storeys  underground to help move the 1.8-kilometre Yarra East Main Sewer in Bulleen out of the way to allow for North East Link.

As works take place, there will be a range of lane and road closures on the Eastern Freeway, Greensborough Road, Bulleen Road and other roads in and around Bulleen throughout autumn. Two water mains in Bulleen and Balwyn North will be moved to make way for big upgrades to the Eastern Freeway as part of the project.

North East Link will connect the M80 to an upgraded Eastern Freeway, slashing travel times by up to 35 minutes, taking trucks off local roads and creating 10,000 jobs.

In a first for Victoria, each mini-TBM will have remote access functions to allow overseas-based technicians to provide technical support for the TBMs during works, while Australia’s borders remain closed.

On top of this significant milestone for North East Link, a massive amount of work will intensify during autumn on transport projects across Victoria including the Metro Tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel, the Cranbourne Line Upgrade and more than 20 different level crossing removals.