Salini Impregilo Reaches Milestone in Perth

By TBM Staff April 23, 2020

Salini Impregilo has achieved a major milestone on the Forrestfield-Airport Link in Perth with the breakthrough of a tunnel-boring machine (TBM) that marks the end of the excavation work on the passenger line. Salini Impregilo and its joint-venture partner NRW had the TBM, named Sandy, arrive at the Bayswater Junction tunnel portal and dive structure in full respect of the additional safety measures to protect more than 700 workers from the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“The completion of tunneling marks a major milestone,” Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said. “While Western Australia has been grappling with COVID-19, TBM Sandy and the project team have been continuing to work on this incredible project for Perth.”

“Thank you to the tunneling team and other workers who delivered TBM Sandy to her destination and helped achieved this major milestone,” said Transport Minister Rita Saffioti.

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The line is set to come into service in the second half of 2021, allowing people to travel between the eastern suburbs and the city center in 20 minutes each way rather than 45 minutes by car. It will improve sustainable mobility and give a boost to the economy, allowing Australia’s fourth largest city to meet the needs of its growing population, which is forecast to rise from two million to 3.2 million by 2030.

Australia is an important market for Salini Impregilo, whose expertise in sectors like water and transport has seen it win various projects in the country. The Group is building Snowy 2.0, the biggest hydropower station in the country. In Sydney, it contributed to the construction of the Sydney Metro Northwest, the biggest in public transport since the construction of the Harbor Bridge about a century ago. Salini Impregilo is on the shortlist for Sydney Gateway, a project to improve road connections from Sydney Airport and Port Botany to the new Sydney motorway network at St Peters Interchange.

Click here for a video on the project.