The first section of the Metro Tunnel is now complete – with Joan and Meg the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) breaking through to complete the journey from Arden Station to the tunnel’s western entrance in Kensington.

After tunneling under rail lines, CityLink, Moonee Ponds Creek, North Yarra Main Sewer and the West Melbourne Terminal Station, Joan and Meg has now broken through a 13-metre-deep shaft at Childers Street, Kensington.

The TBMs have travelled 1.2 kilometres and installed 4,200 curved concrete segments to create 700 rings lining the walls of the twin tunnels. The segments, each weighing 4.5 tonnes, are among 56,000 being manufactured by 70 workers at a purpose-built concrete manufacturing plant in Deer Park.

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