Tunnel boring machine retrieval starts for Sydney Metro West

Tunnel boring machine retrieval is now underway on Sydney Metro West after two machines completed their work on part of the project’s tunnels, as outlined by Sydney Metro. Betty and Dorothy — two 1200-tonne tunnel boring machines — are being dismantled underground and will be lifted out in stages.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Sydney Metro West tunnel boring machines finish at Westmead

The machines excavated the Sydney Olympic Park to Parramatta tunnels and wrapped up their drives with breakthroughs at Westmead in September and October. The project’s tunnelling progress and TBM activity around Parramatta has also been covered by Railway Supply.

Don’t miss…Sound Transit and Metrolinx light-rail openings announced

Their nine-kilometre run was also a first for Australia, completed using autonomous tunnel boring machines equipped with artificial intelligence software that can steer, operate and monitor the equipment without manual control.

How the tunnel boring machine retrieval will work?

To remove the TBMs, crews are carrying out tunnel boring machine dismantling and lifting below ground. Rail Express reports that each unit is taken apart underground and brought to the surface piece by piece using a 750-tonne mobile crane. Major components — including the 100-tonne cutterheads and 110-tonne main drives — are hoisted out by the mobile crane, while smaller sections are transported over multiple loads using a gantry crane.

Those sections are then moved through the crossover cavern to the station box and lifted to the surface in stages. Overall, the TBM retrieval process for Sydney Metro West is expected to take about seven weeks.

Refurbishment and recycling of key components

Once the machines are out, key components such as the main drives will be refurbished and reused on future tunnel boring projects. The remaining parts will be recycled, completing the recovery phase after the autonomous tunnelling work.

News on railway transport, industry, and railway technologies from Railway Supply that you might have missed: