Metro Tunnel workers stay vigilant

Construction is continuing on the Metro Tunnel Project, with many significant milestones being achieved. 

While we continue to build the twin tunnels and five new stations, strict protocols are in place to protect the health and safety of construction workers and the community during the coronavirus crisis. 

This includes modifying construction activities to follow social distancing requirements (pictured), where workers maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres from each other. 

Our sites also have enhanced industrial cleaning and additional hygiene measures to ensure we continue to deliver the project safely.

Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) CEO Evan Tattersall said, “Rail Projects Victoria and its contractors have comprehensive health and safety policies in place to protect the health and safety of all team members, including physical distancing and other measures where appropriate for specific construction tasks to be undertaken safely.”

At Flinders Quarter in the CBD, next to the Young & Jackson Hotel on Swanston St, a third road header was recently launched 20 metres underground at Town Hall Station as tunnelling ramps up across the three sites. 

The road headers – operating from Flinders Quarter, City Square and Federation Square – are excavating underground passenger connections and the station’s main central cavern deep under Swanston St, with acoustic enclosures and sheds in place over the work sites to minimise noise and dust.

Also at Flinders Quarter, another milestone was recently achieved with the completion of perimeter piling. Taking just under 12 months, a total of 182 piles were constructed underground to provide the necessary ground support before major excavation begins at this site as part of station entrance construction.  

When the Metro Tunnel is operational, Flinders Quarter will also have an underground pedestrian connection to Flinders Street Station, making it easy for people to transfer between City Loop and Metro Tunnel services. 

Behind the scenes at State Library Station 

State Library Station’s new central train platform is taking shape 30 metres below the northern end of Swanston St. 

Two-metre-high permanent concrete structures have been installed within the station’s central cavern to support the future train platform. 

Meanwhile, 50 10-tonne steel columns (pictured) have also been installed to support the cavern before excavation of the two rail tunnels later this year. 

Both State Library and Town Hall stations in the CBD are being built using state-of-the-art excavation machines, known as road headers. 

These machines are fitted with mounted cutting heads that will mine the stations’ trinocular caverns – a central cavern with overlapping rail tunnels either side •