Hundreds of Yarraville residents living directly above the planned route of the West Gate Tunnel have been promised compensation for any damage caused by tunnel boring.
The state government last week announced two giant tunnel boring machines were on their way to Melbourne to start construction on the $6.7 billion toll road project.
Initial construction work will begin at the northern tunnel portal in Footscray in coming weeks, while year-long building and testing is carried out on the $50 million boring machines, each weighing 4000 tonnes and measuring 15.6 metres tall and 90 metres long.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the condition of about 350 houses sitting above the tunnel’s proposed route would be assessed both before construction took place and after the project was complete.
“If there is damage, we’ll repair it,” he said. “If there is compensation which needs to be paid, we’ll pay the compensation.
“This is an obligation the state government has which it will meet.”
Boring will begin early next year and continue for nearly two years, completing about nine metres a day of the twin tunnels that will emerge at the southern portal at the West Gate Freeway. The four-kilometre outbound tunnel will take about 18 months and start before the 2.8-kilometre inbound tunnel.
Western Distributor Authority chief executive Peter Sammut said residents had already been informed about the tunnelling.
“For most people this will not be noticeable to them,” he said.
The tunnels will run at least 18 metres beneath the ground and be 27.2 metres below ground at their deepest point. More than 1.5 million cubic metres of rock and soil will need to be removed and trucked away.
The project is due to be completed in 2022.
– with The Age
