Rapid progress has been made by PacificLink Alliance on the Tungun bypass, in New South Wales, after the JV holed through on a 400m long road tunnel just 10 months after excavation began.
Tunnelling on the US$386M bypass, which straddles the boundary of NSW and Queensland, is six months ahead of schedule. The twin bore tunnel itself runs under the southern extension of the runway at Gold Coast airport.
Comprising 13m wide bores, the early operations of the tunnel will feature two-lane roads but they have been sized for the project to have a dual three-lane configuration as traffic grows.
PacificLink Alliance started excavating the tunnel in May last year and holed through on 9 February. The JV includes Abigroup Contractors, Snowy Mountain Engineering Consultants (SMEC Australia) and Queensland’s state roads department.
If progress against schedule is maintained by the contractor then the bypass project will open early in mid-2008.
