The first of two giant boring machines has been switched on to tunnel Victoria’s most expensive road project following a massive budget blowout.
The machine has started digging a 6.5km tunnel between Watsonia and Bulleen as part of the $26.1 billion North East Link.
It’s the first of two, named after women’s rights activist Zelda D’Aprano and neonatal pediatrician Gillian Opie, that will dig up to 15 metres per day and up to 45 metres underground.
Major Roads Projects Victoria chief executive Duncan Elliot said there would be little if any vibration felt by those on the surface.
“But just to protect any assets that are in areas where we are more shallow, we do property inspections before the work starts,” he told reporters on Monday.
Dirt and rocks from the tunnelling will be used to rehabilitate sites such as a former quarry at Point Wilson and the former Orica site in Deer Park.
Mr Elliot said the major road project was tracking on time and budget.
Cost estimates for the link have grown from $10 billion in 2016, to $15.8 billion in the 2017 business case, to $26.1 billion in December 2023.
The Albanese government came to the rescue of the mega project with an extra $3.25 billion in the May federal budget, lifting its total contribution to $5 billion.
Victoria will have to fund the rest.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the project would support 12,000 construction jobs, take 15,000 trucks off local roads and save drivers 35 minutes when travelling from the east to the outer north.
“This is a project that has been talked about for decades and decades,” she said.
“It’s been the missing link in Melbourne’s road network.”
The road is expected to open in 2028.