Frankston Drainage Improvement Project
Melbourne Water and the Pipelines Alliance have started work on a $41 million project to help improve drainage in Frankston and provide increased protection from flooding.
Frankston is situated in a low lying area of Melbourne and is subject to serious flooding during severe wet weather.
The works commenced in September 2009 and involve constructing new underground pipes and improving existing pipelines and infrastructure. The main 1.5 km underground drainage pipe starts at the Monash University Peninsula Campus car park and ends at Kananook Creek.
Melbourne Water and the Pipelines Alliance recently hosted a community event as the new Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was officially named. Local Frankston Primary School student Ta Seymour chose the name ‘Sandy’ for the $5 million machine which was specifically designed for the underground conditions the construction team expects to encounter.
The Pipelines Alliance is a partnership between Melbourne Water, Fulton Hogan, Jaydo and GHD.
About the project
Melbourne Water has constructed 5 metre diameter shafts at strategic locations in order to ‘drop’ and retrieve ‘Sandy’ the tunnel boring machine.
‘Sandy’ will tunnel a 3 metre diameter hole and the pipe sections will be ‘jacked’ in behind as it goes. Specially designed jacks push the pipe lengths into place for each section.
There are four main work sites established along the new pipeline route at Monash University, Hastings Road Medical Centre, Beauty Park and Kananook Creek.
Beauty Park is the main site office for the project. Our work site has been laid out to minimise disruptions along walking paths and park exercise stations. Beauty Park will be reinstated at the end of the project.
‘Sandy’ the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)
- Designed to cut through sandy clay underground around Frankston
- Uses the latest German TBM technology
- TBM cost - $5 million
- Project to create up to 50 jobs during construction
- 12 metre deep shafts constructed to ‘drop’ and retrieve ‘Sandy’
- Speed - 10 metres per shift depending on ground conditions
- Workers - 8 tunnellers per shift to operate ‘Sandy’
- Tunnel will be 3 metres wide
- Tunnel length - 1.5 kilometres
- Three stages of work
- Starts work at Monash University and finishes at Hastings Road Medical Centre (460 metres)
- Next, travels from Beauty Park to Medical Centre (440 metres)
- Finally, tunnelling from Beauty Park to Kananook Creek (600 metres)
- The TBM is a Slurry TBM with Earth Pressure Balance capabilities. The dirt and sand is crushed down and mixed with water and piped to the surface. Then we separate the dirt and water so we can use the water again.
See also
Contact us
- Telephone: 1800 108 636
- Contact us online