Meet Louise and Jane

An old construction tradition means machines are typically named after females, thought to bring good luck to a project.

Two Roadheaders, which we overhauled and commissioned for Metro Tunnel on behalf of Rail Projects Victoria, have been working hard on the excavation of caverns for both the new State Library and Town Hall stations in Melbourne’s CBD.

The Roadheaders were proudly named Louise and Jane, after the Method Engineer and Site Engineer; both instrumental in the design and execution of the civil construction project.

Their major overhaul included the development of an integrated auxiliary diesel power pack, designed specifically for this unique project.

Like their hardworking and ground-breaking counterparts, these powerful machines are able to cut through rock 3x harder than concrete, allowing 1,500 tonne of rock to be excavated each day. They are currently carving out an impressive trinocular design between the two stations, including spacious and highly accessible areas for platforms and surrounding passenger walkways.

More information regarding the Metro Tunnel can be found here at their website.

Many thanks to the fantastic photographs by Christian Pearson Misheye, video and graphics courtesy of the Metro Tunnel Project.