Perth Alkimos Sewage Tunnel
Australia, Perth
2008 – 2009

In the northwest of the metropolis Perth, along Australia’s west coast, a settlement area for approximately 150,000 inhabitants is being gradually developed. Its center, the satellite town of Alkimos, had to be provided with infrastructure. In Alkimos one of the most efficient urban water systems is planned to be set up. In a first step, a new treatment plant has been built which required an expansion of the main collector network.

To reduce disruptions to traffic and construction works above ground to a minimum, it was decided to drive the tunnels using innovative shield machines. Due to the expected extremely heterogeneous geological conditions, an EPB Shield with dual mode technology was being used since February 2008. This TBM could, if required, be simply converted from EPB to Slurry mode – without major interruptions to the tunnelling process. The micromachine safely and precisely bored its way through unstable aquiferous geological conditions. Using the pipe jacking method, 6,217 meters of tunnel were accurately driven with best daily performance rates of up to 75 meters.

Data Sheet

Country, Location

Australia, Perth

Year

2008 – 2009

Application

Sewage

Geology

Soft ground
Heterogeneous ground
Limestone, sand, silt

Tunnelling length

6,271 m

Machine Data

1x Multi-mode TBM:
Diameter: 2,475 mm
Lining method: Pipe jacking
Cutterhead power: 250 kW
Torque: 816 kNm

Your contact person Contact us

Steffen Dubé President and General Manager Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems USA Inc.
Gerhard Goisser Commercial Manager Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems USA, Inc.