CPB Contractors closes deal for Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel

CPB Contractors has achieved contractual close on Melbourne’s planned 5km West Gate Tunnel, originally called the Western Distributor. The road will link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville, a suburb of Melbourne, with the tolled CityLink road network at Docklands via a tunnel beneath Yarraville.
December 13, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The planned Westgate Tunnel: taking the pressure off the Westgate Bridge (photo courtesy CPB Contractors/Victoria Government)
CPB Contractors has achieved contractual close on Melbourne’s planned 5km West Gate Tunnel, originally called the Western Distributor.


The road will link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville, a suburb of Melbourne, with the tolled CityLink road network at Docklands via a tunnel beneath Yarraville.

CPB Contractors is the CIMIC group’s construction arm that employs around 23,000 people in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Asia, including India. The company consists of the former 2685 Leighton Contractors and 2642 Thiess.

CPB was selected by 891 Transurban and the government of Victoria state as the preferred contractor for the project in April. CPB operates in a 50:50 joint venture with 4755 John Holland.

CPB will be working with main contractor Transurban which has a public-private partnership with the Victoria government.

The design and construct contract will generate revenue to CPB Contractors of around US$1.9 billion, according to CPB.

Transurban will contribute US$3.02 billion to the project, in exchange for motorists paying tolls on CityLink until 2045, according to a report by Australia’s ABC News.

Major construction is expected to start early next year for the project to open in 2022.

The West Gate Tunnel, one of the state’s largest urban road projects, will be an alternative route to the West Gate Bridge.

Design and construction work include widening the West Gate Freeway from eight lanes to 12 between the M80 Ring Road and Williamstown Road, as well as construction of a 2.8km eastbound tunnel and 4km westbound tunnel under Yarraville. A bridge over the Maribyrnong River will be built and an elevated road along Footscray Road to the Port of Melbourne, CityLink and the city’s north.

Cycling and pedestrian paths are part of the contract.

The Victoria State Government said the final design approved for construction will cost just over US$5 million because the tunnels are twice as long as proposed in the original business case. There will also be additional noise abatement walls, larger open spaces and more cycling paths. Also, air-quality monitoring will be for 10 years.

“Construction of the new road tunnel will be partly funded with a ten-year extension of the CityLink Concession deed,” the government said. “Early works will start in January, with the first of two massive tunnel boring machines to be ordered in the next few weeks.”

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Major Australian project being planned
    December 1, 2017
    A large infrastructure project is now being examined closely in Australia, in Victoria State. Melbourne’s massive North East Link in Victoria State will provide a new connection between the Eastern Freeway and the Ring Road at Greensborough. Costing US$13.14 billion to construct, the 26km link is expected to carry up to 100,000 vehicles/day when fully commissioned. The project will be complex and includes building a 5km stretch of tunnel, as well as adding additional lanes to the Eastern Freeway. The
    Read More
  • Melbourne mulls elevated bicycle lanes in business district
    June 3, 2016
    Elevated bike lanes through Melbourne's CBD would improve city access for everyone, a major cycling advocacy group says. The US$72 million “cycle highways” scheme is one of 200 ideas put forward by Infrastructure Victoria, a Victoria state agency, to improve public transportation in the next 30 years. The agency estimates that more than 81,000 bike trips are recorded in Melbourne each weekday, according to a report by ABC News. "I do think we need to encourage this sort of bicycle network infrastructu
    Read More
  • Sandvik wins tunneling machine deal in Australia
    July 6, 2015
    Sandvik is supplying a major order of tunnelling machinery for use on a construction project in Australia. This deal is for a major tunnelling project in Sydney. The NSW Government, Transurban and the M7 Westlink Shareholders (the Project Sponsors) are in process to build, operate and maintain a tolled motorway linking the M1 Pacific Motorway at Wahroonga to the Hills M2 Motorway at West Pennant Hills. The new route will be called NorthConnex.
    Read More
  • Bridge demolition with breakers
    May 5, 2021
    Hydraulic breakers from Italian firm Indeco have been used successfully to carry out important work on the Princes Freeway in Australia’s Victoria State.
    Read More

Highlighted Content