Forrestfield rail link reached a major milestone with both tunnel boring machines Grace and Sandy completing 70 per cent of tunneling.
The two TBMs have together tunnelled 10.4 km, of which TBM Grace more than 5.6 km and installed more than 3300 rings and TBM Sandy has tunnelled more than 4.8 km and installed more than 2800 rings.
With tunnelling now finalised between Forrestfield and Redcliffe stations, a new chapter has opened for the project. Tunnel fit-out has recently commenced with the construction of the first section of the infill base slab. With an extra-long drainage pipe and close to 500 cubic metres of concrete laid, almost a kilometre of the slab has now been built.
In the same time, the construction of the Forrestfield station is more than 50 per cent complete, with the main building, roof and platform construction well advanced.
The roof structure steel weighs about 30 tonnes, with more than 100 structural steel beams and 80 structural steel columns manufactured by Pacific Industrial Company in Kwinana. The roof panels have a special matte finish to reduce glare for overhead pilots and the roof sheeting is 100 per cent Australian manufactured and supplied by BlueScope Steel. The 36 concrete walls which make up the station’s 150 metre platform have now been cast and the installation of the lower roof completed.
The two 16-tonne escalators and adjacent lift frames have been installed and will help move an expected 4,900 passengers per day when the Forrestfield-Airport Link opens in the second half of 2021.
“Forrestfield train station is now at 50 per cent completion and is on track to be ready for the first trains to run on the line in late 2021. This station is proof that Western Australians can manufacture quality products, build world-class infrastructure and innovate with the best of them,” Mark McGowan, the Premier of Western Australia, said.
The AUD 1.86 billion (USD 1.27 billion) project includes the construction of a 8.5 km of new rail link served by 3 stations between Perth and its airport. In 2016 Salini Impregilo-NRW Joint Venture (SI-NRW) were awarded the AUD 1.17 billion (USD 802.4 million) contract for design, construction and a ten-year maintenance period once the project is complete in 2021.
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