Grand entrance at Castle Hill for TBM2 Florence
02.10.2015
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) 2 Florence today broke into the site of the future Castle Hill station after a 6.5 kilometre dig.
Work began at Bella Vista in late October last year. Florence set a cracking pace and this breakthrough is another great achievement in building Australia’s longest railway tunnels.
Over the coming weeks, Florence will undergo maintenance as she moves through the construction site at Castle Hill and then embark on the last leg of her journey – chasing TBM1 Elizabeth to Cherrybrook. Nearly 80 per cent of tunnelling is now complete with more than 23 of the 30 kilometre tunnelling task finished. Sydney Metro Northwest is the first time in Australian history that four TBMs were used on the one transport infrastructure project, delivering the twin 15 kilometre railway tunnels from Bella Vista to Epping.
While digging to Castle Hill station,TBM2 Florence:
- Travelled 6.5 kilometres since her journey began at Bella Vista;
- Excavated more than 606,000 tonnes
- Had 515 hardened steel cutters on her cutter head replaced from the forces of tunnelling.
TBM2 Florence was named after Florence Taylor, Australia’s first female architect, structural engineer and civil engineer. TBM2 has 2.5 kilometres left to dig before reaching her final destination of Cherrybrook.