The tunnel boring machines being used for the Westgate Tunnel Project require constant cooling as they bore their way through many kilometres of rock and soil.
Both boring machines, which have been lowered and assembled 22 metres below ground in Yarraville to commence tunnelling, will be cooled by Lakeside Cooling Towers.
The company will provide water cooling on a 24/7 basis.
The Westgate Tunnel project in Melbourne joins CityLink to the Westgate Freeway.
A massive shed was recently built in Yarraville to handle the 1.5 million cubic metres of rock and dirt excavated by the boring machines.
The rock and dirt they extract will be moved along a conveyor all the way into the shed. The conveyor will be 15 kilometres long by the time tunnelling is finished.
One machine will dig the 4 km outbound tunnel first, followed by a second boring machine which will dig the 2.8km inbound tunnel. The longer tunnel will take around 18 months to complete.
Lakeside Cooling Towers supplied its MA30 induced draft cooling towers for the project.
The 61-year-old Australian manufacturer also assisted in the design process and supplied the 5m raised platform, 100m³ storage tanks, circulation pumps and automatic dosing equipment.
The CPB and John Holland Contractors Joint Venture project is Lakeside’s second tunnel boring venture with John Holland and provides both companies with the comfort of experience and expertise in such projects.
Melbourne-based Lakeside Cooling Towers are all Australian designed, tested and manufactured cooling towers.
The company uses only Australian component manufacturers in line with its policy to keep jobs in Australia and product quality in accordance with AS3666.