Sydney Metro West tunnel project awards its first major contract

Acciona Construction Australia Pty Ltd and Ferrovial Construction (Australia) Pty Ltd Joint Venture were awarded an A$1.96 billion contract to begin tunneling on the Metro West project in Sydney, Australia.

The tunneling boring machines (TBM) that will be used for the project are expected to be on site before the end of 2022 and construction work will begin immediately to deliver 11 km (6.8 miles) of twin metro rail tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and The Bays.

Sydney Metro reported that the contract includes:

• Twin 11 km (6.8 miles) metro railway tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park;
• Excavation and civil works for five new stations at The Bays, Five Dock, Burwood North, North Strathfield and Sydney Olympic Park;
• Two double-shield, hard rock TBMs;
• A crossover cavern at Burwood North and one of the two precast concrete factories at Eastern Creek;
• More than 70,000 concrete segments to line the twin tunnels;
• Two access shafts at Burwood North and The Bays;
• A TBM launch site at The Bays Station and a TBM retrieval site at Sydney Olympic Park Station.

Completion of the tunneling contract is expected in 2025.

Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Sydney and the Sydney CBD, with customers able to get from Parramatta to the Sydney CBD in around 20 minutes on a fast, safe and reliable driverless metro train.

Sydney Metro West will create more than 10,000 direct new jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs, with many of these jobs generated by this major contract.

To build these tunnels a broad range of skills will be required including tunnellers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, concrete workers, truck drivers, labourers and security guards.

Acciona Construction Australia Pty Ltd and Ferrovial Construction (Australia) Pty Ltd Joint Venture) was awarded the first of three major tunnelling contracts after a competitive tender process involving three shortlisted companies.

The remaining two tenderers John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella Australia Joint Venture (JHCPBG JV) and Gamuda and Laing O’Rourke Australia Joint Venture (GALC JV) will now bid for the Western Tunnelling Package, with the successful tenderer awarded a contract to build 9 km (5.6 miles) of twin tunnels between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park. This second major contract is expected to be awarded by the end of this year.

Sydney Metro has also begun the process to appoint its third major tunneling contractor for the Eastern Tunneling. This contract for tunneling between The Bays and Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD is expected to be awarded by late 2022.

Due to the massive scale of the Sydney Metro project, the final tunneling contract value may vary due to ongoing fine-tuning and optimization involving the other major contracts, for which tenders have yet to be received.