The Victorian Government will make history by recruiting the first ever all-female tunnel boring machine (TBM) team during construction of the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL).
The transport and urban planning project will set the scene for the world-first team which will be led by the first female TBM pilot in the world, Isolde Piet, SRL East Tunnels South Construction Manager.
It has been 26 years since Piet found her way into the construction industry, beginning her career as a civil engineer in the Netherlands.
Almost three decades later, after working in a multitude of roles across multiple million-dollar projects in several different countries, she said she’s looking forward to helping this group of women begin their own stories. “I hope that we leave a legacy at the end of this project, where they can transition into other projects that will have a lasting legacy on their careers,” Piet said.
There is capacity for about 25 highly skilled roles on the team, including the TBM operator, gantry and segment crane operators, grouters and support roles. It will be one of eight crews operating four TBMs digging the SRL East twin tunnels between Melbourne suburbs Cheltenham and Glen Waverley.
SRL is a 90-kilometre orbital rail line that will help transform the way Melbourne grows, improving travel efficiency for more than 80 per cent of Melburnians by taking more than 600,000 cars off the roads every day.
With the TBMs launching in 2026, Piet said there is plenty of time to run a thorough recruitment process and find the best of the best for the demanding roles.
“It will be a very physical job, so we need to look for the right people for the right roles, because above anything else we want them to succeed,” Piet said.
“We want to give them the opportunity to present themselves, and the best way to get in to the team is to show your drive for the industry.”
Her advice to other women looking to break into the industry is to, first and foremost, stay true to personal passions, which will be clear to recruiters.
“When applying for any job, it needs to be something that you want to be doing on a day-to-day basis.
“The fact that it’s an industry that doesn’t have a lot of women in it should not be a barrier for women. I believe that females are just as capable as males in that space, they should just go for it and don’t think too much on the ‘what if’ scenarios.”
Piet said regardless of gender, everybody in the TBM crew will have to prove themselves equally due to the demanding nature of roles.
“Contenders are always going to have to prove themselves and demonstrate they can do the role, I wouldn’t say it is different for males and females,” she said.
“However, I would say there is some bias within the industry with the existing crew, where you do feel like you have something to prove. Because ultimately, they do see you as different.
“But that is something that will change over time.”
The all-female TBM team is a necessary step forward in diversifying the construction industry, which Piet said would help to accelerate change.
“When I started 26 years ago, the balance was the same as it is today, which proves that the process is moving very slowly,” she said.
“Developing this concept is fast-tracking the diversification process because it will create a platform for females to enter the industry.
‘If you want to hire for experience, there is not much out there. By giving women a platform to succeed, we’re also diversifying and strengthening the employment pool.”
The team will focus on on-the-job training and equipping women with transferrable skills that they can use throughout the industry.
Piet said this would create a group of females with differing levels of experience and seniority who will be able to walk away at the end of the project to continue in other projects.
“If we get this group out there, we hope that moving forward the process of getting a better balance will move faster,” she said.
“This experience should take away the barrier for others to enter the industry and show that it is actually better for everyone to have a mixed gender workforce.”
The road to TBM Pilot
This will be Piet’s first time with an all-female TBM crew; however, it will not be her first time working with TBMs.
Piet’s prior job titles have included Junior Engineer, Senior Engineer, Project Manager, Construction Manager and TBM Pilot. She recently contributed to early works for the North East Link in Melbourne, where she worked with micro TBMs for pipe jacking and trenching. Overseas, Piet has a wide range of civil engineering experience including in the Netherlands and Turkey.
It was back in Holland, during high school, that Piet discovered she was interested in pursuing a civil engineering career.
“The whole concept of building big things that are going to be there for the next 50 or 100 years or more and having the ability to improve your living environment was appealing to me,” she said.
Years later during a study trip to Japan, Piet visited an underground site for the first time, reinforcing her passion for construction.
“Before that, I didn’t really have a concept of what tunnelling would look like,” she said.
“Having different disciplines and groups of people with differing backgrounds working together to deliver one common goal to build one thing is what attracted me.
“So ever since then, I’ve been following jobs where I can do some of those works.”
In Holland, Piet worked on a range of sites demonstrating conventional cut and cover techniques, TBM tunnelling and precast segments for tunnelling. Landing her first gig as a TBM pilot on the high-speed rail tunnel in Holland was a combination of persistence, courage and knowledge.
“I was already working on the project as a site engineer where I worked on the launch shaft,” she said.
“I then transitioned to an office-based role for the tunnelling team, where I gained experience by learning on the ground for close to a year.
“This gives a person an understanding of how the machines work, as well as the intrinsic knowledge about all the concepts to build a tunnel.”
It was at this stage where Piet had two options for her next move – she could either be a shift boss or TBM pilot.
“I saw other engineers moving around and going on the ground and I was still stuck in the office,” she said.
“It took a bit of talking and convincing –I pushed really hard at that point to show that I really wanted to do it.”
Although the managers displayed some hesitance with her being the only female on the ground, reassurance from Piet landed her the role to be trained as a pilot.
“We discussed potential barriers and how we would address them, once that was sorted, someone trained me for a few weeks and then I was thrown into the deep end by myself,” she said.
Although this transitional period displayed its challenges and was a steep learning curve, Piet said it was the best experience. “I quickly learnt the importance of being on a team who works together,” she said. “You are going to hit roadblocks, you’re going to get into some issues, you have to sort them out together.”
Piet admitted the first couple of weeks were “a bit scary” and she was definitely feeling the pressure.
“I felt like I was under a magnifying glass, and everyone was expecting me to stuff up.
“I felt like I had to work three times as hard to get the same amount of recognition at that point.
“But, further down the line everybody accepted that I was there and that I was doing a good job at it, and they were happy.”
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