Plans are well underway in Western Sydney as one of the country's largest infrastructure projects continues to ramp up.
One part of this historic project is the construction of the new M5 motorway, which will help ease congestion in the region. However, as much of the land dedicated to the motorway is occupied, plans were designed with twin tunnels – ensuring there would be minimal disruption to local residents.
With this in mind, the NSW state government has announced where the tunnels will begin from and the location that civil engineering teams will use as a main access point for underground tunnelling construction activities.
Currently used by the Kogarah Golf Club in Arncliffe, authorities will use the land owned by the Rockdale City Council and Roads and Maritime Services.
There were many potential opportunities for this tunnel point, but NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Duncan Gay believes they have chosen the ideal location.
"The location removes the need for residential acquisitions and enables early work to be done now for a future WestConnex southern extension, which would bring communities in southern Sydney even closer to the CBD," he said in a statement.
"Our priority in delivering WestConnex is to minimise land acquisitions, which is why two-thirds is being built 100 feet underground as well as on government-owned land wherever possible."
The new M5 tunnels
Running from Kingsgrove to St Peters, the twin M5 tunnels form a critical part of getting Western Sydney moving in the right direction. As well as doubling the lane capacity, travel times in this busy area should reduce dramatically in the years ahead.
The federal government states that 100,000 motorists use the current M5 East – which is well known to be congested at several times of the day. However, this new motorway should serve to take some traffic away from this route and free traffic travelling to both the port and airport.
Federal Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Jamie Briggs noted the value of the M5 tunnel network in the grand scheme of WestConnex.
"WestConnex is one of Australia's largest transport infrastructure projects and will generate more than $20 billion worth of benefits to the Australian economy, while creating almost 10,000 jobs during the construction phase alone," he summarised.
Tunnelling materials and support
Bluey Technologies have been involved in a number of similar projects to the twin M5 tunnels and are committed to supporting civil engineering businesses with the materials and expertise they need. For more information on what Bluey can offer, contact our expert team today.