In 2014, CBE Group provided a double carousel to the Thiess-John Holland-Dragados JV for the concrete segments precasting of the North West Rail Link (NWRL) double tunnel in Sydney. In June 2015, the project was renamed “Sydney Metro Northwest”. The tunnel is the first phase of the Sydney metro, which will be the first Australian metro.
4 TBMs for the biggest australian public work project
Sydney metro consists of a 15 km long double tunnel, the longest railway tunnel of the country. The latter was completed in 2016 and links the districts of Bella Vista to the district of Epping. The second phase, called “Sydney Metro City & Southwest” should begin in 2017 and should be completed by 2024.
The Sydney Metro project is a priority for the Australian government and will cost approximatively 5,7 billion euros. The project is currently the biggest public work including 8 new train stations, 31 metro stations, 65 km long of rail and 4.000 parking spots.
Four tunnel boring machines (TBM) were used for the double tunnel and placed the CBE Group’s segments. Each ring has an external diameter of 6690 mm, an internal diameter of 6170 mm, a width of 1700 mm and a thickness of 260 mm. Each ring is composed of 4 counter-key segments and 2 key segments. A total of 108 moulds have rotated on the double carousel, with a shared concrete alimentation.
More than 100 000 segments produced in CBE Group's plant
The factory produced segments until October 2015 in order to achieve the 100 000 pieces necessary for the completion of the double tunnel. It reached a production record with 1700 segments produced per week, an average production of more than 300 segments per day and a maximum of 380 segments produced in one day.
The launch of the first metro is expected for the first semester of 2019. Even if the tunnel part is done, it represents only a third of the first phase. The whole project is expected to be completed in 2024.
Discover here how a carousel works
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