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William Street tunnel
A round, concrete tunnel with a single railway track
View facing north from Elizabeth Quay station
Overview
LineMandurah and Yanchep
LocationPerth, Western Australia
SystemTransperth
No. of stations2
Operation
Work begunFebruary 2004
Opened15 October 2007 (2007-10-15)
OwnerPublic Transport Authority
OperatorPublic Transport Authority
Technical
Length1,848 m (6,063 ft)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge
Electrified25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead catenary
Operating speed50 km/h (31 mph)
Route map
Map

The William Street tunnel is a railway tunnel under the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. Built between 2004 and 2007 as part of the construction of the Mandurah line, the tunnel connects the Mandurah line to the Yanchep line. The tunnel consists of a 690-metre-long (2,260 ft) twin bored section and a 1,158-metre-long (3,799 ft) cut-and-cover section. The tunnel has two stations: Perth Underground and Elizabeth Quay.

The construction of the Mandurah line was divided into eight contract packages. The William Street tunnel was part of Package F, also known as the City Project. The contract for Package F was awarded to Leighton–Kumagai Gumi in February 2004 for $324.5 million. Preliminary works began the same month. Tunnelling began in October 2005, starting from Elizabeth Quay station and heading north. Boring for the first tunnel was completed in June 2006, after which, the tunnel boring machine was transported back to Elizabeth Quay to dig the second tunnel. The second tunnel was significantly faster to bore, being completed in October 2006.

Construction was significantly disrupted by industrial action, which culminated in the prosecution of 107 workers for illegally striking in February and March 2006 following the issuance of a strike ban by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The strikes, along with complications involving heritage protection at Perth Underground station and engineering challenges on the foreshore, resulted in the tunnel's opening being delayed beyond December 2006. The first train entered the tunnel in August 2007, and the tunnel opened to passengers on 15 October 2007, ahead of the rest of the Mandurah line's opening on 23 December 2007.

Description

[edit]
Underground station concourse, with lifts and escalators down to platform level and up to ground level
Perth Underground station
Underground train station platform
Elizabeth Quay station

The William Street tunnel consists of approximately 690 metres (2,260 ft) of twin bored tunnel and 1,158 metres (3,799 ft) of cut-and-cover tunnel, including two stations:[1] Perth Underground, which was known during construction as William Street station, and Elizabeth Quay station, which was known before 2016 as Esplanade station.[2][3] Trains in the William Street tunnel are part of both the Mandurah and Yanchep lines between Perth Underground and Elizabeth Quay stations. North of Perth Underground is the Yanchep line and south of Elizabeth Quay station is the Mandurah line.[4]

The southern cut-and-cover portion, a distance of approximately 648 metres (2,126 ft), commences east of the Mitchell Freeway along the Swan River foreshore, and ends at the intersection of Mounts Bay Road and William Street. This section includes Elizabeth Quay station. North from the station, the tunnel follows under William Street as two bored tunnels, one for each track. The tunnel veers off William Street to reach Perth Underground station, which was dug cut-and-cover. The bored tunnels then bend west to enter the rail corridor west of Perth station, which is the former Perth marshalling yard. The tunnel then has a 200-metre (660 ft) ramp structure taking the tunnel up to the surface to connect with the rest of the rail network.[1] This was originally not part of the tunnel, but the ramp was covered as part of the Perth City Link in the 2010s.

Planning

[edit]

On 16 July 2001, the Cabinet of Western Australia decided that the Mandurah line's route would be changed from the Kenwick route to a direct route south from the Perth central business district.[5][6] The route through the CBD was to have a tunnel portal along William Street between St Georges Terrace and Mounts Bay Road, with the railway in a cut-and-cover tunnel north from there and elevated south from there.[7] The direct route was strongly criticised by the lord mayor of Perth, Peter Nattrass, who said the railway line along the Swan River foreshore would be an "eyesore" like the Cahill Expressway in Sydney.[6][8] Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Alannah MacTiernan tried to allay his fears by saying that the section along the foreshore would instead be tunnelled and not at or above ground level.[9]

In response to the controversy of the Mandurah line's route through the Perth CBD, the Perth City Rail Advisory Committee was formed in October 2001 to assess other options. The committee consisted of eight members, including engineers, planners, and representatives from the Property Council and the Perth City Council, and was tasked with submitting its report in February 2002.[10][11] The report was delayed as the committee found it hard to reach a consensus;[12][13] it was released on 14 March 2002. It gave three main options: an eastern, central, or western route; with several minor variants of each.[14][15][16]

  • The western route runs along the Mitchell Freeway median strip and turns east to terminate at Perth station. There is one new station at Elder Street, between Murray Street and Hay Street, near Parliament House.
  • The central route runs veers east from the freeway and enters a tunnel to run under William Street. There are two new stations at Esplanade Reserve and between Wellington Street and Murray Street. This option connects with the Joondalup line
  • The eastern route goes further east. It was almost double the cost of the other two routes.[16]

The eastern route was the committee's preferred route, followed by the western route.[15][16] The government ruled out the eastern route as it cost more than twice the other two routes. The remaining two routes were opened up to public consultation over the following month.[17][18] The western route was the Perth City Council's preferred route, due to its limited impact on businesses.[15] However, that route would cause significant disruption to the Mitchell Freeway during construction[19] and integrate poorly with the surrounding area.[20] In April 2002, it was announced that the Perth City Rail Advisory Committee would be re-established to conduct a more detailed analysis on the two remaining routes,[21][22] with the central route to be considered as a bored tunnel rather than cut-and-cover.[23] An opinion poll by The West Australian newspaper found that 39 percent of respondents supported the central route and 35 percent of respondents supported the western route.[24] The Perth City Rail Advisory Committee handed down its second report in May 2002, recommending the construction of the central route.[25][26] The Cabinet officially endorsed this route in June.[27]

The master plan for the new Mandurah line route was released in August 2002.[28][29]

Geotechnical testing by Golder Associates occurred between January and March 2003.[30][31][32]

Procurement

[edit]

The City Project was designed and constructed as part of Package F of the Southern Suburbs Railway project.[33] Expressions of interest for Package F were called for in March 2003[34] and closed in April 2003. Five consortia submitted expressions of interest:[35]

A design change was announced in July 2003: the William Street bridge on the foreshore was now to be demolished. The $1.3 million cost was to be offset by changes to the project's design, including leaving a 135-metre (443 ft) section of the tunnel uncovered within the freeway interchange and using natural light and ventilation for Esplanade station. Concerns were raised regarding an increase in traffic congestion due to the removal of the bridge, but Lord Mayor Nattrass supported the removal of the bridge because it allowed for a future redevelopment of the foreshore.[36][37][38] After lobbying from the Perth City Council,[39] consideration was given to sinking the Fremantle line within Northbridge as part of the William Street tunnel's construction. The state government attempted to reach an agreement for the City of Perth to fund the sinking in exchange for the city receiving the right to develop the land on top of the railway,[40] but with an estimated cost of $200 million, it was deemed too expensive.[41][42] This section of railway was later sunk for $360 million as part of the Perth City Link project in 2012 and 2013,[43][44] the new tunnel passing just 1.2 metres (4 ft) above the William Street tunnel.[45] In conjunction with this, the roof of the William Street tunnel was extended from Lake Street to Milligan Street.[46][47]

CityConnect and the Leighton–Kumagai Gumi Team were shortlisted in May 2003,[48][49] and in November 2003, the Leighton–Kumagai Gumi Team was selected as the preferred proponent.[50][51] The managing director of Clough, CityConnect's lead contractor, had expressed that he did not want to agree to the government's requirement that the contractor take all the risk for cost escalation due to unknowns such as soil conditions and heritage buildings.[52][53] The following month, the contract was approved by Cabinet, with a $100 million cost increase announced as well, taking the cost of New MetroRail to $1.059 billion. The cost increase prompted shadow transport minister Katie Hodson-Thomas to call for the project to be "reconsidered" and National Party lead Max Trenorden to call for MacTiernan to be stood aside pending a parliamentary review into the project.[54][55] In February 2004, the contract was signed for $324.5 million.[56][57][58]

Due to pressure from the Liberal and Greens parties, MacTiernan promised in January 2004 to table the contract in Parliament, although Leighton opposed this.[59][60][61] The contract was controversial due to the previous cost blowout and the risks of tunnelling. MacTiernan promised that almost all the risk would be on the contractor as it was a fixed-price contract,[62] with the state liable for underground building anchors and the relocation of power and water utilities.[63] The contract was tabled on 2 March 2004. MacTiernan claimed it was "the first time that the contract for such a construction project have been publicly released".[64] The contract stated that delays beyond October 2006 would incur a penalty of $54,000 per day for the contractor.[65] Throughout construction, MacTiernan emphasised that it was a fixed-price contract in response to speculation about cost blowouts.[66] In August 2005, the state's auditor general released a report which said the City Project's contract management had been good.[67][68][69]

Construction

[edit]
Construction site with two crawler cranes and sheet piles sticking out of the ground. Excavation of the station box has not begun yet. The city is in the background.
Esplanade station in August 2004. Sheet piles are being installed.
Construction site with an excavator sitting there. Excavation of the station box has begun.
Esplanade station in February 2005. Excavation of the station box has begun.

A ceremony was held on 26 February 2004 for the start of preliminary drilling and surveying, which was the first physical work done for the Southern Suburbs Railway.[70][71][72] Lane and road closures began in March 2004, starting with William Street, Wellington Street and the Horseshoe Bridge on 15 March, and followed by Barrack Street, Riverside Drive and The Esplanade the following month.[73][74][75] Demolition of buildings to make way for the William Street station began in April 2004.[76][77] The William Street bridge was demolished in August 2004. It was intended that the freeway interchange road layout would be redesigned to be more pedestrian friendly.[78] By October 2004, construction was several weeks behind schedule due to delays caused by demolition and retaining the heritage-listed Wellington Building at the William Street station site, and equipment problems at the Esplanade station site.[79]

By October 2005, the Joondalup line tracks had been slewed 6 metres (20 ft) to the south. Following this, the northern cut-and-cover tunnel within the rail corridor was completed, allowing for the Fremantle line to be slewed north above it, making room for the Roe Street drive structure to be built between the two lines.[80] During excavation along the foreshore section of the tunnel, six wooden jetty piers were uncovered, dating back to before the Mounts Bay was reclaimed.[81] It was planned for there to be an art installation at the tunnel's southern entrance, made of twenty reused sheet piles sticking out 24 metres (79 ft) high, painted on one side and left bare on the other.[82] This art installation was cancelled in September 2007.[83]

Tunnelling

[edit]

The tunnels were dug by a single tunnel boring machine (TBM) named the Sandgroper, after the insect.[84] Manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Kobe, Japan, the TBM cost $10 million, was 60 metres (200 ft) long and weighed 300 tonnes (330 tons).[85][86][87] The TBM arrived in Perth in April 2005.[84] and was lifted into the Esplanade station box on 14 August 2005.[88]

The start of tunnelling was delayed by several weeks due to mechanical problems with the TBM, including problems with jacking rings used to position the TBM and the conveyor belt.[89][90] Tunnelling from Esplanade station began on 25 October 2005.[88][90] Grout was injected into the ground underneath buildings above the tunnel's path to reduce ground movement.[89][90] The TBM was planned to bore 4 metres (13 ft) per day at first, rising to 10 metres (33 ft) per day later, but after a week, the TBM had bored just 3.5 metres (11 ft). Progress was slow due to problems with o-rings, which needed to be replaced.[91] There were further delays the following week due to industrial action.[92] It was intended that the first tunnel between the Esplanade and William Street stations, a distance of 470 metres (1,540 ft), would be completed before Christmas,[89] but by the start of Christmas break, the TBM had bored a distance of 240 metres (790 ft).[93] Tunnelling resumed early from the Christmas break to make up for lost time.[94]

The TBM reached William Street station on 7 February 2006,[88][95] and on 3 June 2006, the TBM reached the Roe Street dive structure, twelve days ahead of schedule.[88][96][97] The TBM reached William Street station for the second time on 31 August 2006[98] and reached the Roe Street dive structure on 24 October 2006.[88][99][100] The maximum speed reached was 19 metres (62 ft) over a 24-hour period.[87] As no buyer was found for the TBM, it was dismantled and sold for parts.[101][102]

Opening

[edit]
Six parallel tracks viewed from a bridge. The middle two tracks are in a concrete dive structure heading towards a tunnel
Perth rail yard facing east towards Perth station and the tunnel. On the left is the Fremantle line, the middle is the tracks leading to the tunnel, and the right is the Joondalup line.
Six parallel tracks viewed from a bridge. The middle two tracks terminate and the outer two tracks on either side continue on.
Perth rail yard facing west. The photograph was taken on 6 October 2007, two days before the Fremantle and Joondalup lines were shut down for the middle two tracks to be connected.

In April 2005, MacTiernan revealed that the New MetroRail project completion date had been delayed from December 2006 to April 2007 due to the City Project not being projected to finish construction until December 2006. The delays were attributed on the heritage protection works at Perth Underground station, engineering challenges on the foreshore, and industrial disputes.[103][104] The possibility for further delays caused by the City Project was first raised by the Public Transport Authority in December 2005.[105] In April 2006, she announced that the City Project's likely completion date had been delayed to April 2007, which meant the Mandurah line would not open until July 2007.[106] In April 2007, MacTiernan revealed another delay, this time with the likely opening date being October 2007.[107]

The first train ran through the William Street tunnel in August 2007.[88][108][109] The City Project reached practical completion in September 2007 and was handed over to the PTA on 10 September.[110][111] From 7 to 14 October, the Fremantle line was fully closed and the Joondalup line was closed south of Leederville station so that the William Street tunnel's tracks, signalling, electrical, and communications systems could be connected to the rest of the network.[88][112][113] The William Street tunnel and its two stations opened to the public on 15 October 2007.[114][115][116] The rest of the Mandurah line opened on 23 December 2007.[117][118][119]

Industrial action

[edit]

About three hundred workers went on strike from 11 November 2004, complaining about long working hours.[120] The Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission ordered that they returned to work two days later,[121] but the workers voted in favour of defying the order.[122][123][124] MacTiernan took a hands-off approach regarding the strike, saying it was a matter between the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) and Leighton–Kumagai Gumi.[125][126] The strikers returned to work after two weeks, with a deal being reached on 26 November for better pay for nightshift workers.[127] Workers went on strike for two days in January 2005 due to smoke haze,[128][129] which was deemed valid by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.[130] Two hundred and fifty workers went on strike for two days in April 2005 after two union officials were allegedly assaulted by a subcontractor working for Leighton on another package.[131][132] MacTiernan revealed in May 2005 that the City Project was subject to twenty-eight days lost due to strikes, the most days out of any of the Southern Suburbs Railway project's packages.[133]

Four hundred workers went on strike for a day in July 2005 due to an incident where a digger hit a cable on Wellington Street.[134] More than two hundred workers went on sick leave for several days in August 2005, which was described as a case of "blue flu".[135][136][137] In October 2005, a two-day strike occurred, with workers claiming they were being made to do excessive overtime.[138] In November 2005, over four hundred workers went on strike for several days, pausing tunnel boring. The workers failed to follow a return-to-work order given by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.[139] Later that month, the workers at the Esplanade station site went on strike for one day due to safety concerns.[140] Leighton–Kumagai told the commission in its application for a strike ban that unscheduled stoppages to tunnelling would change the pressure at the TBM's cutter head, which could potentially cause pipes to burst, buildings to crack and potholes to appear in roads.[141] The contractor also told the commission that it had lost forty-six days of work to industrial action since July 2004.[142] The Australian Industrial Relations Commission issued a strike ban for the remainder of the project in December 2005,[143][144] which the CFMEU said it planned to disobey.[145]

In February 2006, Leighton filed a writ in the Supreme Court of Western Australia against the CFMEU and its assistant secretary Joe McDonald, for having allegedly "unlawfully interfered in its business and in its relationship with its employees and subcontractors".[146] Leighton and the CFMEU reached a pre-trial settlement in November 2006, with the CFMEU paying Leighton $150,000 plus legal costs and the CFMEU admitting to breaching the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act twenty-nine times.[147][148] Leighton and the CFMEU reached another out-of-court settlement in July 2009, worth millions of dollars.[149]

Over 400 workers went on strike starting 24 February 2006 due to a shop steward being dismissed for telling other workers to go home without permission from management, violating the strike ban.[150] On 28 February, they voted to remain on strike until the unfair dismissal claim was heard in the Industrial Relations Commission.[151][152] MacTiernan criticised the strike, but said that there was nothing she could do as the state government was just the client and that it was the contractor's responsibility to find a solution.[151][153] Leighton said that the state government could deregister the union, pass legislation protecting the project, or launch its own legal action against the union,[154][155] while the state opposition said that the striking workers should be dismissed.[156] The Industrial Relations Commission refused to expedite the unfair dismissal hearing while the strike was ongoing.[157][154] The strikers voted on 8 March to return to work.[158][159] In July 2006, the Australian Building and Construction Commission issued writs against 107 workers for defying the strike ban in February 2006.[160][161] This was the first time that the Industrial Relations Commission sued the individual workers rather than the union, which was done as the strike was against the advice of the union.[162] The prosecution of those workers was described as "unprecedented" by the Australian Institute of Employment Rights, and relied on the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 passed by the Howard government, which was criticised for removing the right to strike.[163] Eighty-seven workers admitted the strike was illegal in October 2007.[164] Leighton claimed the strike had cost them more than $1,280,000 and had created safety issues for tunnelling.[162] In December 2007, the Federal Court fined the workers up to $9,000 for striking and $1,000 for ignoring a return to work order from the Industrial Relations Commission.[165]

Contract disputes

[edit]

Throughout 2004 and 2005, the Leighton–Kumagai joint venture claimed that the Public Transport Authority owed them $50 million due to cost overruns. In early 2006, the joint venture claimed an additional $141 million for cost overruns[166][167][168] resulting from unforeseen ground conditions, labour strikes, delays in demolition, and the difficulty in preserving heritage buildings. MacTiernan said that the claims were unfounded and that the state government would not pay for the cost overruns.[168][169] Leighton had initially expected to make an $8 million profit on the project, which was reduced to a $10–15 million loss.[170] Leighton CEO Wal King met with Premier Alan Carpenter in an attempt to reach an agreement.[171] The claims had risen a further $13 million by March 2006, reaching a total of $204 million. MacTiernan said that only a small portion of that total would be paid out.[172]

Leighton filed a writ in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in April 2006 seeking to be relieved from its contractual obligations due to the PTA's failure to establish insurance for the whole cost of the contract, or alternatively have the practical completion deadline extended until the PTA provides the insurance. By this point, tunnelling had stopped because the joint venture did not want to start the most challenging phase with the proper insurance to cover potential risks such as cave-ins.[173][174] Tunnelling resumed on 8 May after an agreement was reached for the government to cover insurance claims until the Supreme Court determines the appropriate level of insurance.[175]

The cost overrun claims were divided into several separate Supreme Court writs. The first writ, filed in June, related to the contract's rise and fall provisions, which specified that an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) index would be used to calculate the escalating cost of labour and materials. The ABS discontinued the index soon after the contract was signed, so the dispute related to which alternative method should be used.[176] Another writ was filed in June 2006, seeking damages to cover the cost of disposing of contaminated soil and an extension to the practical completion deadline.[177] By September 2007, there was another writ for the costs of dewatering.[178]

The trial for the rise and fall provisions dispute started in September 2007.[179][180] In September 2008, the court ruled in favour of Leighton, awarding them about $6 million in damages.[181][182] All legal action ended with a $43.675 million settlement in May 2009, bringing the total cost of the City Project to $439.3 million, excluding legal fees.[183][184]

References

[edit]
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Reports

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Books

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  • Higham, Geoffrey (2007). Marble Bar to Mandurah: A History of Passenger Rail Services in Western Australia. Rail Heritage WA. ISBN 978-0-9599690-9-2.
  • Longhurst, Derek (2008). 48 months, 48 minutes: Building the Perth to Mandurah Railway. Rawlhouse Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9587406-8-5.

Further reading

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Conferences

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  • Yamazaki, Hiroshi; Sigl, Oskar; Aikawa, Fumihiro; Bhargava, Raghvendra (20 June 2009). "EPB Tunnelling through Cohesionless Saturated Ground under Very Shallow Cover – Perth New Metrorail City Project". In Almeraris, Gary; Mariucci, Bill (eds.). 2009 Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference Proceedings. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. pp. 1124–1136. ISBN 978-0-87335-327-4.
  • Proceedings of the Seminar on New MetroRail City Project Tunnelling and Underground Structures. Engineers Australia. January 2007. ISBN 978-1-925627-28-2.
  • Hudson-Smith, E.; Grinceri, M. (4–7 May 2008). "Perth City Rail Tunnel Project – Overview, Geotechnical Conditions and Building Protection". 13th Australian Tunnelling Conference Proceedings 2008. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. pp. 39–50. ISBN 978-1-61344-226-5.

Journal articles

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Reports

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