Another mega tunnel boring machine (TBM) has begun its tunnelling work under Sydney as part of the city’s Sydney Metro project.
The TBM, called Mum Shirl, is the second of five TBMs that will work on the rail project. It was launched at Marrickwille this week and will work alongside TBM Nancy launched two weeks ago.
“We now have two TBMs operating, bringing us one step closer to delivering this game changing public transport system for Sydney,” NSW transport minister Andrew Constance said.
“These machines are underground factories, mechanical worms designed to dig and line the tunnels as they go so that Sydney Metro can be delivered as quickly as possible.”
TBM Mum Shirl and Nancy are currently working on the 8.1 kilometres of twin metro tunnels from Marrickville to the new Sydney Metro station sites at Waterloo, Central, Pitt Street, Martin Place and on to Barangaroo, where they will be removed from deep underground.
Two more TBMs will dig 6.2 kilometres from Chatswood to the edge of Sydney Harbour. A fifth machine has been specially designed to deliver the twin tunnels under Sydney Harbour.
The five TBMS will eventually dig 31 kilometres of tunnels between Marrickville and Chatswood.
The TBMs are approximately 150 metres long specially designed for Sydney’s hard sandstone geology. TBM Mum Shirl is specially designed to cut through sandstone and shale and will tunnel an average of 120 metres a week.
The TBM is named after Colleen Shirley Perry, an Aboriginal (Wiradjuri) woman. She was involved in establishing the Aboriginal Legal Service, the Aboriginal Medical Service, the Aboriginal Black Theatre, the Aboriginal Children’s service, the Aboriginal Housing Company and the Detoxification Centre.
Perry was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 and received the Order of Australia in 1985. She died in 1998.
Sydney Metro Northwest will open in the second quarter of next year, featuring 13 metro stations, 4,000 commuter car parking spaces and 36 kilometres of new rail.
By 2024, the Metro system will extend to the Sydney CBD and beyond to Bankstown, and will feature a total of 31 metro stations and a 66-kilometre railway.