Factory to supply Western Harbour Tunnel Project opens at Emu Plains

A precast concrete factory that will help in construction of the Western Harbour Tunnel project has opened at Western Sydney's Emu Plains, ahead of the arrival of tunnel boring machines for the Birchgrove to Waverton harbour crossing.

According to a statement from NSW premier Chris Minns on Monday, “around 700 quality manufacturing jobs” will be created at the Emu Plains site, which will build over 13,000 concrete segments and nearly 1,400 culverts for the tunnel.

The factory is expected to operate “for up to three years” to supply Stage 2 of the project, with “potential to be used by other projects or businesses in future”.

“Today’s announcement is a big milestone in our work to deliver this major project. At the same time this will provide a massive boost for our [state’s] manufacturing capability, bringing more jobs and opportunity to Western Sydney,” said Minns on Monday.

State minister for domestic manufacturing Courtney Houssos added: “Delivering a project of this scale requires specialised manufacturing and state-of-the-art technology… We’re backing Western Sydney workers by providing them the tools, opportunities and facilities to deliver this critical piece of infrastructure, right at their doorstep.”

The tunnel components will be transported by road via the M4 and WestConnex to the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs), which are scheduled to arrive in Sydney “later this year”, with the machines assembled “deep underground below Birchgrove”. The machines will then “put in place” the precast components. 

The two TBMs will bore 1.5 kilometres between Birchgrove and Waverton for the underwater section of the project as part of Stage 2, which is being led by ACCIONA.

Precast components will form the walls, roof and floor of the tunnel, and pieced together “like a giant precision-cut jigsaw” according to the NSW government.

Nine reported last month that the two boring machines bound for Glebe Island from China are “102 metres long, almost 16 metres wide and weigh nearly four and half tonnes” each.

The tunnel has a total length of 6.5 kilometres and is budgeted at $4.2 billion. It will connect the Warringah Freeway in North Sydney to the WestConnex M4 and M8 at the Rozelle Interchange, taking pressure off “the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor corridors” and lifting the city’s traffic capacity.

It is scheduled to open in 2028.

Picture: Payegarang tunnel boring machine (credit NSW government)