Sydney Metro has relaunched tunnel boring machines (TBMs) Beatrice and Daphne from the Five Dock Metro Station as Metro West moves into its largest year of tunnelling yet.
The TBMs are on the way to Burwood North approximately 2km away, after spending ten weeks traversing the 200m-long station cavern at Five Dock.
During the traverse, the mega machines underwent maintenance, including the replacement of gear boxes and cutter discs, to ensure safe operations during the next leg in the journey.
The 1,300t machines are tunnelling an average 200m a week to build a 11km section of the new metro tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park.
A significant program of work will see the twin tunnels for the 24km Metro West line between Westmead and Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD progress over 12 months.
TBMs Beatrice and Daphne are expected to arrive at Sydney Olympic Park by the end of 2024, while autonomous TBMs Betty and Dorothy will make significant progress to build the tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and Westmead.
A further two TBMs to construct the metro tunnels below Darling Harbour towards the CBD will arrive at The Bays in the coming months, ahead of commencing tunnelling mid-2024.
Featured image: A TBM at the Five Dock cavern. Image credit: Sydney Metro.