MILAN (ITALPRESS) – New sustainable mobility project for Webuild in Australia: the Group, leader of the “Terra Verde” joint venture, has signed the contract with a total value of 1.7 billion Australian dollars (approximately 1 billion euros, ed) for the design and construction of the “Tunnels North” lot of the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East, a project intended to transform Melbourne’s public transport, in support of the city’s expected strong growth in the coming years. The Suburban Rail Loop, of which the “East” section is part, will improve transport efficiency for over 80% of citizens, helping to eliminate over 600 thousand car trips every day. Webuild, with a 33.5% share, leads the joint venture that will build the lot in an international consortium with GS E&C of the South Korean GS Group and with Bouygues Construction Australia of the French Bouygues. The same joint venture had already been named preferred bidder last July. Commissioned by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority, the contract involves the excavation of two parallel tunnels, each approximately 10 kilometers long, between the future Box Hill and Glen Waverley stations, and the construction of 39 secondary connecting tunnels and structures functional to the construction of two future stations. The project also involves the excavation of two access wells and an emergency and ventilation well. For the excavation of the tunnels, the use of TBMs (Tunnel Boring Machines) is envisaged, large mechanical moles that will allow the mechanized excavation of the tunnels. The Suburban Rail Loop is a 90-kilometer orbital rail line that will help support the city’s ongoing transformation, ensuring more transportation and the possibility of expanding residential areas. The first phase of this project, the Suburban Rail Loop East, is currently under construction, with tunnel excavation expected to start in 2026 and to be put into operation in 2035. The Group’s presence in the city of Melbourne has historical roots, with the construction of most of the tunnels and stations of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop (MURL) in the 1980s, opened to the public in 1985. Also in Melbourne, the Group is working on the excavation of the tunnels of the North East Link, an important section of the the city’s motorway network. With the new project part of the SRL, the Webuild Group once again puts its world leadership in underground excavation into play in the city, with a fleet of 63 TBMs among those in assembly, ordered and to be ordered for the planned projects, of which 16 are already operational on various construction sites around the world, from Australia to the United States, together with hundreds of tunneling specialists of dozens of nationalities. The Group is today in the Top 5 of international contractors in Australia according to the ENR ranking, on a growth path thanks to the implementation of strategic projects to support the country’s energy transition programs. With its Australian subsidiary Clough, Webuild is working on projects across Australia and is also expanding into new sectors. In Sydney, Webuild is participating in the development of the railway line that will reach Western Sydney International Airport, the largest PPP (Public-Private Partnership) project in New South Wales, a state in which Webuild and Clough are also building Snowy 2.0, the largest large project for the production of renewable energy under construction in the country. In Western Australia, the Group is building one of the world’s largest urea fertilizer plants and a project to upgrade the sludge treatment process at the state’s largest wastewater treatment plant. photo: Webuild press office (ITALPRESS). tvi/com 10-Nov-24 13:18
