$1.15 billion North West Rail Link contract awarded Tuesday, 25 June 2013

A $1.15 billion contract for tunnelling and excavating part of Sydney’s North West Rail Link has been awarded to a joint venture by the New South Wales government. The joint venture is comprised of Thiess, (50%) John Holland (25%) and Dragados (25%), and the tunnels constructed will be the longest rail tunnels built in Australia.

The tunnel and station civil works contract includes the construction of twin 15km tunnels which will run between Bella Vista and Epping, civil works for five of the eight proposed stations, and two service facilities. Four custom-made tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be used to construct the 6m diameter tunnels with the first of the TBMs to be in the ground by the end of next year.

Thiess managing director Bruce Munro said: “Thiess and John Holland have more tunnelling experience in Sydney sandstone than any other contractor and when combined with the international expertise of Dragados, we will deliver a fantastic transport outcome for the people of northwest Sydney”.

The joint venture expects to place orders for TBMs within the next few weeks. Work to prepare the three major tunnelling sites at Bella Vista, Showground and Cherrybrook is set to begin shortly, with the contract scheduled for completion in first quarter 2017.

The North West Rail Link has been budgeted at $8.3 billion by the state government and is scheduled to open by the end of 2019. It includes 36km of rail track and eight new railway stations. Contracts for surface construction and for the PPP operation of the railway are expected to be awarded by the end of 2013 and 2014 respectively.

More information from Leighton (the parent company of Thiess and John Holland) here, and from the state government here.

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