Pipe Jacking

Abergeldie efficiently constructs horizontal pipe jack tunnels which can provide conduits for underground services. We have successfully adapted modern Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) technology to complex ground conditions and can jack pipes to 3.0m external diameter in hard rock or soft material.

Typical of our work is an 87 m long pipe jack tunnel for Energy Australia in Burrows Road Alexandria, Sydney. The 2800mm diameter tunnel carries 6 x132kV cable circuits which form a part of the reconfigured Energy Australia Network from TransGrid’s Beaconsfield South substation. An Earth Pressure Balance Machine (EPBM) was used to overcome the difficult water-charged ground conditions.

Abergeldie has successfully provided Energy Australia with several similar pipe jacked, cable housing tunnels over the past four years: a tunnel at Artarmon, 111m long and 1650mm diameter excavated in sandstone; another at Pymble, 97m long and 1650mm diameter bored through shale; and most recently at Carlton, a 120m long and 2400mm diameter tunnel through sandstone.  All of these projects included construction of permanent access structures that were used initially as send and receive pits.  The projects also included fit out of the tunnels with the necessary cable support brackets so that the cables could be installed later by others.

Pipe Jacking projects: