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Tunnel Excavation Contractors Sydney
Mined Tunnel and Shaft Excavation Contractors in Sydney
Tunnel and shaft excavation in Sydney: Hand mined and machine mined tunnels, shafts and cross passages
- Methodology written to the engineer's vibration tolerance
- Remote control breaking, operator outside the tunnel
- Shotcrete, steel sets and canopy tubes for support
- Spoil out by conveyor, barrow, bulker bag or barge
Hand mined and machine mined tunnels, shafts, cross passages and adits in Sydney, excavated through sandstone and hard rock by our own crews with remote control Brokk machines, supported to the engineer's design, spoil out through sites no truck can reach.
Case study: a lift shaft cut through sandstone under an occupied house in Henley, priced as a tunnel and built as a trench.
Or call now: 02 8015 6345
What mined tunnel excavation involves on a real site in Sydney
Tunnel excavation for us is a risk job before it is a production job. The structure above stays level and the rail or plant next door keeps running. Your structural engineer sets the tolerance. We write the methodology to it and sequence the dig so nothing is left unsupported longer than it can bear.
Methodology and monitoring first
Propping agreed with the engineer before the works. Dilapidation survey, then vibration and level monitoring on the structure and both neighbours.
Rock down the ladder of methods
Rock sawing, hydraulic splitting, expansive grout, remote control breaking and hand mining. The gentlest method that still makes progress.
Remote control at the face
Brokk machines work the face with the operator outside the tunnel. See Brokk hire with operators.
Temporary support
Shotcrete to RMS QA B82, steel sets installed progressively, grout bags and canopy tubes.
Spoil out and air
Conveyor, barrow, electric dumper, bulker bag or barge. Mist suppression, exhaust fans and air monitoring.
Scope we take on
Hand mined and mechanically mined tunnel excavation. Shaft excavation and sinking. Cross passages, adits, niches and enlargements. Low vibration rock breaking next to live structures. Spoil out on tight sites. Propping and temporary support with steel sets and shotcrete. Portal, dive site, station box and shaft excavation in live rail and metro environments. We also write methodologies for other people's projects, see demolition methodology and consulting.
What we do not do
We do not run tunnel boring machines, cut or piece out TBMs, wire saw, cut heavy steel or do hydrodemolition. Excavator mounted rock sawing as part of the dig is in scope.
Plant and crews
Our own remote control Brokk machines with soft touch tracks and hydraulic breakers, a Husqvarna demolition robot, a Kubota 2.5 tonne excavator that fits inside a mined drive, rock saws, electric dumpers, and a fleet from 0.8 tonne to 35 tonne excavators behind them. Crews are our own, with confined space, heights and tunnel inductions current, and SWMS, rescue plans and lift plans written for Tier 1 review. See civil works and detailed excavation Sydney and NSW for the open cut fleet.
Licences and systems
Restricted demolition licence in New South Wales, demolition licence in Queensland, Class A friable asbestos removal licence, EPA waste transport licence, and management systems certified to ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. Numbers are on the licences and insurance page.
Who we work for
Tier 1 and Tier 2 civil contractors and tunnelling joint ventures needing mined excavation at portals, dive sites and shafts. Water and utility authorities sinking shafts and driving adits. Councils and their consulting engineers building cycleway tunnels next to live rail. Structural engineers who need a methodology delivered to their tolerance.
Worth knowing: the engineer's vibration tolerance and the spoil route drive the price more than the cubic metres. Send the geotech, the tolerance and the access constraints with the tender and we price the method that fits.
Where we work in Sydney
Our head office and plant yard are in Marrickville. An estimator walks the site before pricing, and the Brokks, small excavators and support plant come from our own yard. Tunnel and shaft work we take on in Sydney covers the harbourside sandstone belt from Mosman and Cremorne through Hunters Hill to Vaucluse and Rose Bay, the inner west corridors at Summer Hill and Lewisham, Sydney Metro portals, dive sites and shafts at Chatswood, Rosehill, Burwood, Five Dock and The Bays, the WestConnex declines at Haberfield and St Peters, and sandstone sites at Randwick. Crews also travel Australia wide on staged programmes.
Tunnel and rock work we have done in New South Wales
The two mined tunnel jobs on the books are the Mosman sandstone tunnels, a 51 m passage to the waterline and an 18 m deep lift shaft, spoil out by barge, and the Summer Hill and Lewisham cycleway tunnels mined beside the light rail under shotcrete, steel sets and canopy tubes. Tunnel side work includes the Sydney Metro spoil shed demolition at the Chatswood North dive site and the acoustic shed removal above a live Sydney Metro station box at Burwood. The whole service is on the tunnelling and low vibration excavation hub.
Questions we get from Sydney clients
Do you run a TBM or cut tunnels?
No. We mine tunnels and shafts by hand and with remote control Brokk machines and small excavators, and we install the temporary support. TBM work is not our lane.
How do you hold vibration down next to a live structure or rail in Sydney?
Baseline readings first, then the gentlest method that still makes progress. On the cycleway tunnels vibration was held under a peak particle velocity of 10 mm/sec next to the light rail.
How does spoil get out when a truck cannot reach the face?
Conveyor, barrow or electric dumper to a skip, or bulker bags where there is no road. At Mosman the bags went out by barge.
What temporary support do you install?
Whatever the engineer designs. On the cycleway tunnels it was shotcrete to RMS QA B82, steel sets section by section, grout bags, and canopy tubes through the masonry before the wall came down.
Other places we excavate tunnels
We also run tunnel excavation in Wollongong, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. The full service is on the tunnelling and low vibration excavation hub, with every specialist line under all specialist services.
Got a tunnel or shaft in Sydney to excavate?
Send the geotech and the engineer's tolerance through the form above, or call. An estimator calls back, not a call centre.
Call 02 8015 6345
Perfect Contracting acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.