A new high-tech facility is now open that will fabricate the new Western Harbour Tunnel and create around 700 manufacturing jobs in Western Sydney.
The new, purpose-built facility at Emu Plains will precast individual concrete segments and culverts. They will then be put in place by the two largest tunnel boring machines (TBMs) in the Southern Hemisphere as they excavate under Sydney Harbour.
The walls, roof and floor of the huge tunnel, which is the size of three Metro tunnels, will be fitted together from thousands of concrete pieces made by skilled local workers and fitted together like a giant precision-cut jigsaw.
More than 13,000 concrete segments and nearly 1,400 culverts will be custom built in the state-of-the-art facility in Emu Plains, before being transported to the tunnels via the M4 and WestConnex.
The Emu Plains site is an Australian first. It is expected to operate for up to three years for the project and has the potential to be used by other projects or businesses in future, making it a lasting legacy of the tunnel project.
The tunnel boring machines are expected to arrive in Sydney later this year, before being assembled deep underground below Birchgrove. They will tunnel 1.5km from Birchgrove to Waverton, under the Sydney Harbour seabed, connecting the northern and southern ends of the project.
The New South Wales Government is investing $4.2 billion over four years to deliver Sydney’s first road crossing of the harbour in almost 30 years.
The 6.5-kilometre tunnel will connect the Warringah Freeway in North Sydney to the WestConnex M4 and M8 at Rozelle Interchange, helping drivers bypass the CBD and making it easier, faster and safer to get around Sydney.
As the government continues to champion women’s economic opportunities, particularly in historically male dominated industries, of the 700 jobs created at this facility there will be a target of 50 per cent women. Over 7,000 construction jobs will be created through building the Western Harbour Tunnel.
Premier of NSW, Chris Minns, said that this is a city shaping project which is literally being manufactured piece by piece in Western Sydney.
“We know that Sydney is growing, and we are working hard to address the housing crisis and bring Sydney’s CBD back to life – the fact is we can’t do any of that if we don’t have the roads we need to get people safely and quickly from A to B,” Minns said.
“Today’s announcement is a big milestone in our work to deliver this major project. At the same time this will provide a massive boost for our states manufacturing capability, bringing more jobs and opportunity to Western Sydney.
NSW Minister for Roads and Regional Transport, Jenny Aitchison, said it’s exciting to see this facility open for business and ready to build Sydney’s second harbour tunnel with local talent and world’s best technology.
“We are proud of the work to encourage more women into construction through this new facility,” Aitchison said.
“The Western Harbour Tunnel is one of 23 Government pilot projects trialling increased targets for women in trade and introducing a new target of 7 per cent for non-traditional roles.”
NSW Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Acting Minister for Western Sydney, Courtney Houssos, said that delivering a project of this scale requires specialised manufacturing and state-of-the-art technology.
“We’re investing in smart, modern manufacturing right here in Emu Plains to lift our capabilities,” Houssos said.
“We’re backing Western Sydney workers by providing them the tools, opportunities and facilities to deliver this critical piece of infrastructure, right at their doorstep.”
Find more details on the project here.
