Spark North East Link Tunnels D&C

Fantastic turn out at the North East Tracks Hands-on Trades Careers Expo Day at Winton Raceway in Benalla.  More than 1,000 students from the region attended, with Spark and LS Precast giving them a close up look at the segments being made for the North East Link tunnels.

Hyperbaric chamber Noun A pressurised room that delivers pure oxygen to help treat decompression sickness – a symptom of people working deep below sea level. Each tunnel boring machine helping dig the North East Link tunnels is equipped with one of these chambers to help keep workers safe. Geoff explains the training involved to work these lifesaving rooms.

It’s not just our 4000-tonne TBMs that get names. This 118-tonne roadheader working on the 270-metre-long vent tunnel was given a name too – Melissa - a tribute to construction manager Peng’s daughter. 😊 Roadheader ‘Melissa’ has finished her work on the northern end of the project and will be used again in the south in the months to come.

A simple "Are you okay?" can make all the difference.     By encouraging meaningful conversations, R U OK? helps us recognise when someone might be struggling with life and connect them to the support they need.    It's about investing time in our relationships and knowing how to have those important conversations with friends, family, and colleagues.    Let's make every day an R U OK? Day. Together, we can build a culture of care, understanding, and support.  

Meet Amanda and Mallisa, two of our steel fixers working in Bulleen.  Steel fixing is historically a male-dominated field, so it’s fantastic to see two women bringing a fresh perspective and new skills to the team on the North East Link.  

‘Sustainability initiatives are interesting. The biggest impact ones, you usually can’t see’. Jessamine, Senior Sustainability Advisor working on the North East Link tunnels, explains how sometimes small innovations translate to sizeable reductions in carbon emissions.

Some of our site engineers visited the students at Happy Valley Early Learning Centre last month to teach them all about the machinery working on our project.   The students had a great time pinning the driver to the crane and were even presented with their very own construction certificate! 

In addition to two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) digging the North East Link, we are also using five roadheaders to tunnel between our Trinity and Manningham work sites. Roadheaders are massive excavating machines fitted with a mounted cutting head, that will chip away at the rock layer deep underground.  The roadheader machines are more than 22 metres in length and weigh around 120 tonnes each. Each roadheader has been named after some of the important females within our Spark family.  Lilly – daughter of Rob, General Superintendent SEM Tunnels and Shafts (Lilly was unavailable as she is overseas playing basketball) Dana – wife of Tim, SEM Plant Superintendent Olivia – daughter of Dan, Mechanical Supervisor SEM Melissa – daughter of Peng, Construction Manager at Vent Tunnel Ayla – daughter of Beau, SEM Tunnel Manager

Box excavation for our Greensborough Road on and off ramps is progressing well.   Once excavated, the box will be more than 30m deep allowing the TBMs to pass through on their way to Bulleen.   Following tunnelling, the site will be home to the upgraded Borlase Reserve with dedicated bike and pedestrian pathways connecting to the Rivergum Walk trail via the Lower Plenty Road pedestrian bridge.

We have several exciting roles now available for key leaders in the industry to join our Mechanical Electrical and Instrumentation (MEI) team. We're not just building infrastructure. We’re building a culture of collaboration and continuous learning. Interested in joining our team? Visit https://lnkd.in/g_JACFYu to explore the exciting career opportunities and be a part of something extraordinary.