AUSTRALIA: Sydney Metro has selected a joint venture of Gamuda Australia and Laing O’Rourke for the second of the three main construction contracts for the 24 km Sydney Metro West line linking the city centre with Paramatta and Westmead.
The A$2·16bn Western Tunnelling Package was tendered as part of a two-stage process which saw the Central Tunnelling Package awarded to Acciona/Ferrovial in July 2021. The other two shortlisted bidders, Gamuda/Laing O’Rourke and John Holland/CPB/Ghella, then went on to compete for the second contract.
The WTP covers the boring of 9 km of twin tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and Westmead, plus excavation of the station boxes at Parramatta and Westmead. It also includes the earthworks and drainage for the Clyde Services & Maintenance Facility and its approach tracks.
The tunnels are to be excavated from a worksite at Rosehill, which will later house a crossover, ventilation shaft and emergency evacuation access point. The tunnel boring machines will initially bore east towards Sydney Olympic Park and then westwards from Rosehill to Westmead. More than 60 000 concrete segments for the tunnel lining will be manufactured at a site at Eastern Creek. Early works are expected to start in the next few weeks, with tunnelling scheduled to begin in late 2023.
‘This is a very exciting transport project for Gamuda to deliver’, said Ewan Yee, Executive Director of Gamuda Australia. ‘We look forward to working collaboratively with the NSW Government and Sydney Metro to ensure the benefits of this project are released through job creation, local and sustainable procurement as well as community partnerships for Western Sydney.
Gamuda Australia’s WTP Project Director Simon Hussey added that there was ‘a huge opportunity for us to leave a positive legacy through this project. This includes establishing a Tunnel Infrastructure Academy, to create sustainable jobs by training a more diverse and inclusive tunnelling and infrastructure workforce.’
