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Tunnel Excavation Contractors Wollongong
Mined Tunnel and Shaft Excavation Contractors in Wollongong
Tunnel and shaft excavation in Wollongong: 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 Wollongong, 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.
Or call now: 02 8015 6345
What mined tunnel excavation involves on a real site in Wollongong
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 Wollongong
We have not mined a tunnel in the Illawarra yet. Crew, Brokks and plant mobilise from our Marrickville yard and stay for the programme, and an estimator walks the site before pricing. Tunnel and shaft work we take on in Wollongong covers the Illawarra escarpment and the road and rail passes down it, the South Coast rail line and its cuttings, the Princes Motorway, Port Kembla and the steelworks, water and sewer shafts and adits across the Illawarra, Shellharbour and Kiama, and Nowra and the Shoalhaven. 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 sandstone cutting and bulk rock excavation at St Joseph's College and the staged rock dig-out from RL28.75 to RL12.52 at Rose Bay. The whole service is on the tunnelling and low vibration excavation hub.
Questions we get from Wollongong 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 Wollongong?
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 Sydney, 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 Wollongong 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.