Battle Beneath the City - Mega Metro - S01 EP2 - Engineering Documentary

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in Sydney Australia an industrial Army  is called into action no one has ever   embarked on the scale of what we're doing here  deep out of sight beneath the Harbor City a   battle unfolds there's constant problem  solving every day there's new problems   there's new issues battalions of Engineers  pick giant machines against Rock and mud   to drive a new Metro system through the Beating  Heart of the City we have to get there there's no   other way the stakes are high and the clock  is ticking gotta take every bit of luck you   can get don't you in this game this is for Far  and Away the biggest public transport project   in Australia's history if I'm honest I probably  didn't quite know what I was getting myself into a problem thank you across Sydney a small army of  workers are reshaping an entire city building   a revolutionary Metro system for the 21st century  and beyond when it's complete this new driverless   Railway will have dozens of new stations more than  150 kilometers of track and create a giant loop   around Sydney but with mega Ambitions come Mega  challenges major buildings to demolish in the CBD   giant holes to carve deep underground  and more than 60 kilometers of tunnels   to dig beneath the City eight monster tunnel  boring machines are conscripted north of the   harbor four tbms deep eastwoods and two digs  southwards and south of the harbor two more   tunnel their way northwards towards the CBD  everything in their way is reduced to Rubble foreign [Music] at the barangaroo station  site design manager Ali Shard and the team   are dealing with a startling Discovery  we found the oldest australian-made boat see where that hole's been dug over there next  to the hull that's where we got the Keel Marine   archaeologist Cosmos coronius has uncovered where  the boat was built it's made out of Sydney Blue   Gum springy bark and spotted gum so local Timbers  and that's what helped us conclusively say that   it's an Australian built this it's a wonderful  find for archeology but the unearthing of this 180   year old boat risks hindering progress every day  the archaeologists work is a day lost Excavating   the 25 meter deep station box but after three  long months all the pieces have been tagged and   removed and will now be scientifically examined  and analyzed so the archaeologists have finished   taking the boat away and we can now really  get stuck into the excavation of the station excavation was delayed in the area around the  boat and the race is on to make up lost time   the massive steel beam  suspending the road are extended   concrete is poured over one section [Music]   a roof is added so the team can work around  the clock while keeping the dust and noise in beneath the roof to make up for the Lost Time  excavation is back at full pace with the harbor   right next to the site they don't want major water  inflow and so far so good the material down there   is quite dry we're not getting major water inflows  which is something you'd expect next to the harbor   Steve kotovich is the  construction manager at barangaroo   Under Pressure to get back on track  time is Steve's enemy time and water it will be tough going if we were to get a lot  of water inflow the trucks taking that material   out of the hole you know a lot of material be  falling out the back all in all it will just   create a tougher environment down here necessity  is the mother of invention and building this   massive ramp from excavated rock or spoil as  it's known was a master stroke we're utilizing   this ramp as long as we can we're sort of on the  absolute limit now as to how much more we can go   by having the ramp it's helped us out a lot in  that we can get the dirt out you know as quick   as we can which is really what we're here for  to get this excavation done as quick as possible   the ramp raises their game and writes the schedule   but it's a temporary fix over the next couple of  weeks the ramp will be phased out and we'll be   lifting the dirt out using the clamshell excavator  that you see over there no ramp means no direct   access for trucks deep below and the pace drops  cranes are now called in to get dirt out to trucks   on the surface still 2 000 tons of dirt a day  are moved out threatening to add to congestion   on Sydney streets the barangaroo team must find  another way to ship out its mountain of spoil so what's unique with the brangaroo  site is that the material that we're   disposing from here is leaving our site by a barge at the other sites we're taking spoil Away  by truck you know it adds traffic to the city   here we've got a brilliant transport path  using the harbor behind me is the conveyor   system this conveyor is used to load the  crushed material inside the spool shed onto   the barge that's parked on the waterfront one  barge can carry about 60 truckloads of spoil   it's all stowed away to keep the neighbors happy  we are in one of the Prime Vantage points of   Sydney there's a lot of high-rise around us the  minute we get a speckle of dust or a slight plume   the phone calls run hot doing everything we  can to keep everybody happy and that includes   recycling this barangaroo spoil is shipped up  the harbor for use on other construction sites as the station box gets deeper walls of  exposed rock Tower over the underground site like a giant gemstone the rock face is honed to  reveal the natural beauty of the Sydney sandstone it looks as solid as rock but Sandstone  is porous so water Finds Its way through   it begins to pool at the bottom of the box   it's a challenging environment it can get where  it can get muddy and until we've waterproofed   the whole station and lined it so the water  can't get in we've got to keep pumping it   away there's a lot of water coming in so we just  got to make sure that the pumps are working fine   as pumps work full Pace to keep the Box dry  this operation could get stuck in the mud   and as more machines are drafted in  things get a bit too cozy for comfort   the logistics is going to get really  really tricky making sure that there's   enough space for everybody to work in and  everybody's not climbing over each other just meters offshore from barangaroo  right near the Harbor Bridge   the geotechnical team are preparing for a  risky mission to discover What Lies Beneath Engineers need to know what type of rock they'll  be tunneling through deep below the harbor floor   beneath the sand silt and sludge ideally there's only Sandstone like the  surrounding City perfect for tunneling   Engineers will try to drill sample cores  up to 80 meters below the water surface   they must know exactly what kind of material  will be both above and below the tunnels as the sun sets two drilling rigs head out armed with the  geologist's coordinates this is a working   Harbor and busy transport hub so in the interest  of safety the team must burn the Midnight Oil we're drilling on a waterway that  is the most traffic waterway in   Australia world-renowned geologist Dr  David Ock is overseeing the drilling   it can only begin in the dead of night  well after the rush hour has passed   this is probably the first time this sort of  work's been undertaken on a harbor without   interruption from major vessels fuel tankers and  cruise liners the platforms need to drill more   than 50 boreholes and probes all the way from the  southern Shore to the north it's a six-week job   as each core sample comes in it is carefully  analyzed and a map of the harbor floor takes shape   this is actually cohesive in science the sun is  just from uh it's just a kind of veneer excuse me   there are some remarkable findings stop becoming  Sandy here yeah in one section the harbor floor   is 21 meters deeper than previously thought  oh that's yes that sounds far more concerning   towards the middle of the harbor there's no  Rock oh look at this wow there is instead   soft mushy sediment that's interesting look at  look it seems like um it could be you could do   actually I agree look at it pretty exciting I'm  covering the harbor amazingly the core samples   contain fragments of charcoal and Timber wow  from 50 meters below the surface yeah so this   material here is just charcoal Timber probably  a Bushfire material that's just floated down the   ancient Sydney Harbor and deposited in the sand  probably the first time these have been brought   out in the open for nearly 20 000 years during  the last ice age the harbor was not a harbor it was instead a valley covered in forests with a small river running down the  middle of the valley towards the sea   which was then 25 kilometers further east   as sea levels Rose the ocean Advanced West  the valley was flooded and the forests drowned the geotechnical results provide a wonderful  insight into Sydney's remarkable past   but they make alarming reading for engineers  instead of boring through stable solid sandstone   tunnelers will face clay sediments   the remains of the ancient riverbed  right in the middle of the harbor it's a daunting Prospect especially with a massive  weight of the harbor pressing down from above most of Sydney is for sandstone a bit of a  tunnelist dream it's like carving out a bit   of a hole in Swiss cheese really easy really  stable sort of material but if you dive down   under the water here what you'll find is slush  and sediment and if I'm a tunnel that's not my   dream anymore that's actually like trying  to Tunnel through yoga so imagine trying   to cut a hole in yogurt and hope that that  hole will stay there without doing anything   that's what our tunnels have got to do  when they try and get under this Harbor   this little section from one four Shore to the  other is an area that we're particularly concerned   about getting right from an engineering point  of view first and foremost we want to keep our   construction workers safe while they're building  it and in the long run we want to make sure that   that tunnel is secure not just for the next few  years but for the decades and centuries ahead in Guangzhou China the last TBM to roll off  the production line is a very special rig   called a slurry machine its only job is to  get through the soft ground beneath the harbor   her name is Kathleen   named after Kathleen Butler the technical advisor  to Sydney Harbor Bridge engineer John Bradfield and while Kathleen Butler went over the harbor a  century ago her namesake is going deep under it her International crew has come to  the factory checking her systems thank you there's mckaylee Petrus from  italyzed I feel very excited because I   was waiting this moment since long time it was  a year of preparation and now finally we have   the machine ready to go so I can really wait a  moment to to see the Qatar attorney the first day   leading Kathleen's team will  be Andreas mint from Germany   he knows the conditions that await him beneath  Sydney Harbor are perilous in the extreme   remember from your childhood days building a  tunnel on a sand bit or out in the dirt it's very   soft material so if you try to build a tunnel in  this type of material it just collapses naturally   to stop the soft sediment or yogurt  collapsing into the machine the front   of this TBM is highly pressurized pumped full  of liquid Bentonite and high pressure air   to repel the pressure of the sediments and  mud and stop it from flooding into the machine   so we basically create an equilibrium between  the existing pressure in the in the ground and   the TBM which is Excavating the tunnel making  sure we don't get any collapse of the tunnel   bites we move forward using high pressure  Machinery underground is fraught with Danger   just behind the tbm's nose section are two  hyperbaric chambers when we do work in the   front when we have to do maintenance on the  cutter head people need to go into this chamber   these small airtight rooms provide access to  the nose section and also serve as compression   and decompression Chambers for the crew working  in compressed air is like diving you might know   when you go diving when you come up it takes some  time to slowly come up it's very much the same   here when we do compressed air work without the  chambers the crew would suffer the bends [Music] Kathleen's crew must be able to handle working  at the high pressure business end of the machine   we will train them on how to work in here how to  react if there is an emergency and to ensure that   they can work safely and carry out those works  the alarmers need to get in to check the Cotter   head you have the scrapers here as well you  have a lot of wear Parts on it and you always   need to go into the front to check is really  important on any machine that's in the front line   it's a potentially hazardous operation  far beneath the seabed where nothing is   more important than the safety of the crew  the challenge of this job is first of all   to keep a safe environment for everybody  because we are Excavating under the harbor   when we are tunneling under Sydney  Harbor they are no Second Chances [Music] Rod Staples the city's transport Chief  and architect of the Sydney Metro project   is wary of the risks and dangers that  lie ahead tunneling under the harbor he heads to the UK to inspect a  recent tunneling project first hand   in London as in Sydney these train tunnels had to  be dug beneath a major waterway in this case the   Thames Simon Wright leads the British project it's  a bit more like trying to cut through yogurt the   more you dig it out it all falls in on itself  we have a lot of yogurt yes but London Clay   is perhaps a bit more cheese-like it's a kind of  Fairly solid yogurt pleased to say that the ground   control the settlement of the yogurt collapsing  in itself was pretty good thankfully how are you   doing with that Simon takes rod on a tour of his  crossrail project we're tunneling sometimes came   extraordinarily close to existing infrastructure  we had to weave our way between the existing   Northern line and an escalator Barrel there's  about 380 millimeters under the escalator barrel   and about 500 millimeters above the northern line  literally that far away and and in the highly   specialized world of Mega engineering projects  the best learn from the best if major programs can   learn from each other globally and build upon this  library of data and information and good practice   then we will all get a lot better A lot faster  at what we do but Engineers are a competitive   Bunch especially when the title of world's best  metro is up for grabs for me the battle will be   won or lost on the systems and getting the testing  commissioning right our backers to have the best   customer outcome oh well there you go we'll see  we'll take a ride on each other's Railway and   we'll uh have a glass of wine on the outcome how's  that look forward to it thank you well done cheers [Music] Nick in Sydney it's a big day the tunneling team are taking delivery of Kathleen [Music] after a long journey  of more than 9 000 kilometers   she has to travel just one more kilometer  to reach her launching site at barangaroo unlike the other tbms however she won't  be making this trip by truck she gets   transferred to a barge which is going  to end up here and all the pieces we   take off the barge and start putting all the  pieces together and there's a lot of pieces   Kathleen's pieces are  offloaded nearby at White Bay a port also used for International Cruise ships  the three largest components will be transported   together so they are being craned out of the  ship's home and lowered directly onto a barge one by one the huge sections of the  slurry machine are gently loaded aboard after some final checks of the all-important cut   ahead the barge heads off across the  harbor to her launching site [Music]   since work is still underway in the station box  Kathleen will be assembled in her very own shaft so we're not just digging a hole here we're  also setting up to start our tunneling works   decided early on in the piece that we've  excavated what we call our Northern shaft   and what that did are decoupled the  crossover cabin from the station box   we could have started the tunneling at the station  here and going under the harbor but to take site   there's a lot going on and it's just not the most  sufficient way of doing it so it means that we can   separate the two activities and we can do the  tunneling at the same time as Excavating the   station box this has created more challenges  Kathleen shaft had the Mann Street Bridge   the massive size of her largest components  means it will be a tight squeeze   or it's pretty tight the engineers at the start  and our designers sort of left nothing to spare   but that'll deal awaits the more immediate  challenge is getting Kathleen off the barge at   dusk the largest pieces are floated in towards  the shore it's high tide and it has to be this Mega Machinery can't be craned off   it needs to be driven off safely as  the barge floats next to the dock to have the best chance of doing  this andreas's team has brought   in a special multi-wheeled machine called a  self-propelled modular transporter or spmt   it's a scene straight out of NASA responsibility  Falls to Andreas to make sure nothing goes wrong a lot of preparation from the whole team will   now bring the machine from the barge  onto the land and then at barangaroo and spmt is an extremely agile machine each axle  can be moved independently and separately jacked   up and down essential for transporting a massive  load across uneven ground which is exactly what it   faces now driving the huge TBM components off  the barge so if it drives the spmt underneath   the Lord reject the spmt up we pick up the Lord  and then we drive away with the Lord on the spmt this is pushing the envelope even for a  sophisticated and powerful machine like   the SPM team it must lift at 220 ton cylinder  balanced on a barge which is floating on water   if the spmt doesn't lift the load perfectly level   the massive machinery and its Precious  Cargo could tip over into the harbor the team can't afford to put a foot wrong but  soon there's a problem the tide starts to turn   and the lower the water gets the  steeper the climb to the dock   with every passing minute The Climb steepens  and the operation becomes more dangerous the operator revs the massive engines but  it's still not enough if they can't make it   now they'll have to wait for the next high tide  12 costly hours away one last push and finally   solid ground Andreas can breathe again try to see  the machine finally arriving here at barangaroo right in the Heart of the  City another extraordinarily   challenging station excavation is about to start Martin place gateway to the heart of  Sydney's Global business and banking sectors   like Central Station Martin Place must stay open  while a whole new station is hollowed out below giant new Metro cabins and tunnels will be carved  out just a few meters away from the existing   operating train lines at the same time enormous  boxes will be excavated to support two new   skyscrapers as well as the station infrastructure  like escalators and the cafes and shops commuters   will pass through as they descend to their trains  this new station is extraordinarily complicated   and will eventually rival Central as one of  Sydney's busiest [Music] above the station   will rise to new landmarks one 28 stories  high the other even higher at 39. together   they will be a new workplace for thousands  of people but there's one major complication [Music]   this Heritage building 5th Fifi Martin Place  built in 1928 needs to stay exactly where it is   once the city's tallest and most expensive  building its solid red granite base and ionic   columns are a Sydney landmark and it needs to stay  that way sitting above the massive new station   that will be hollowed out below project manager  will Freelander is working with the building's   team to ensure it is protected over 10 stories  high it's a full city block and we're basically   going to construct a railway station directly  below it working around and Below 50 Martin   place without disturbing the historic structure  is one of his more daunting tasks so we've got to   do a whole bunch of geotechnical research we've  got to do investigation in the area to make sure   that all those tunnels that we're going to put  below are not going to cause the building to move   in a way that would damage the supports or damage  the facade Michael Silman is the Project Director   for the station and the new skyscrapers he also  oversaw the complex restoration of 50 Martin place   he is understandably cautious about all the  caverns and tunnels to be dug beneath his bank   The National Trust has given it its highest  category essential to the heritage of   Australia and so that's kind of a bar that  not many other buildings in Australia have   we're not expecting any form of significant  damage there's a net over the stained glass   window and before the excavation Works start  we'll be installing a net in the grand hall so   making sure we protect the Heritage elements of  the building is absolutely the top priority will   and Michael must take extreme care that the teams  work around and below the bank does not undermine   this grand old building it is Grand probably not  everyone's taste in their household but certainly   spectacular to visit and I want to leave it that  way will has installed all manner of gadgets the   latest technology to detect any unexpected and  unwanted Movement we have noise and vibration   monitors on multiple levels in the building and  in multiple areas we've got noise meters measuring   the groundboard noise that's traveling through and  also the Airborne noise that's coming through the   windows and we've also got vibration meters down  here picking up the ground born vibration you come   in here and you see the marble features and the  columns you really understand that any changes   below could affect you know the 12 or 13 stories  above when we have a process where we get together   and analyze the data um so that gives us a lot  of comfort that things are being well monitored   50 Martin place is in safe hands but the  building's next door are destined for demolition   and reducing them to Rubble falls on  the shoulders of Brian Marshall Mid-City   demolition is quite high risk we're taking down  a building one of them's it's at 28 stories high   we've got to put the machines on top of  the building in the first place as night   falls and city blocks are shut down the team  prepares to lift excavators onto the tops of   the buildings they need to demolish great care  is taken attaching the chains no one wants to   see a three-ton machine plummet back to street  level we need to work out what pressures those   cranes are going to put on the pavement because  there are Services there are access tunnels and   different structures that are directly below the  pavement we need to make sure that we're not going   to cause damage to those or cause the pavement  to fail and have an issue with the lift itself   the first of three excavators makes it onto  the roof 80 meters above the streets below in the coming days The Wrecking Crew gets to work  turning concrete to rubble and dumping it all down   the center of the building where the lifts used  to be this is the fastest and most efficient way   to get rid of a high-rise building in the middle  of a busy City adding to their challenges will   and Brian have to keep the decibels down within  strict limits we fully acknowledge that we are   in the middle of the central business district and  so one of the methods we use is wherever possible   we employ munchers rather than rock hammers which  use hydraulic power to crush the concrete rather   than using the Hammers which belt the concrete  and create a large amount of noise [Music]   noise limitations for what we can do and for how  many hours we need to give respite times so we   normally only hammer for two hours then respite  for an hour the quicker they can make these   buildings disappear the better and the demolition  soon Hits full pace it takes just six days to   demolish each floor soon the two buildings to the  north of 50 Martin Place disappear followed by the   28-story building to the South once they're  gone digging the southern shaft can begin [Music] responsible for Designing Sydney's new Metro  trains is Frenchman Xavier Allard he wants   to give the trains a unique Sydney touch and has  found his inspiration at the Royal Botanic Garden   I think it could be really interesting  to use the idea of roots coming from the   ground for the front end of the train  so it could be interesting to express   stability to express something capable  to give confidence to the passenger   I think it could be good and could be  unique also for passing day [Music]   back in Paris Xavier and his team try to bring  this Vision to life sometimes it shoots sometimes   it doesn't suits as the tree coming from the  ground and sometimes it's really really really   important to change our position to change our  inspiration in order to fulfill with the customer   expectation and you know that the design theme of  your train is based on the tree so if you look out   for them Rod Staples like Xavier's design for  the front of the train but he's more concerned   with the train Interiors pair use the latest  3D technology to walk through the concept train   so the handholds most people be able to reach  those or will only be for tall people like me   we have tested the talk with Xavier was you wanted  a real sort of modern feel but a spacious feel yes   so the old metros didn't have that because they  were all closed off of the newer metros have   opened that up and you can you can watch the the  train Meandering through the tunnel and it gives   you the color schemes and so forth for a big  topic and wanting to make it light and vibrant   yeah it's something we are in progress by Chance  the architect in Sydney designing the stations   on the Northwest Line has also been inspired  by Nature for Ross de Lamont the leaves of   the local Blue Gum Tree are the key so what we  have here is the the arching form of the roof   landing on either side yep call it coincidence  called divine intervention two designers working   independent of each other they've come up with  a great idea and sometimes people think you do   things deliberately sometimes you just have  a bit of luck [Music] the canopy forms of   the stations they're not purely a leaf form but  you can see the organic nature of that beautiful   form draping Over The Concourse I have a very  strong believer in the importance of getting   the engineering right these jobs are so big and  so complex that you have to solve the engineering   problem but you can actually use the engineering  design criteria to make beautiful structures   no doubt I had high expectations from the very  beginning about what we create here and there's   two there's two very strong messages think outside  the box and really push yourself to come up with a   great design transports brief to us was to really  create the next generation of Transport Excellence I gave them the space to go and  do something extraordinary and   I think they did more than that  I think he absolutely nailed it tunnel boring machines are remarkable efficient  mobile tunnel making factories designed to keep   workers safe deep underground refined over  many decades the TBM design means the crew is   never exposed to unsupported Rock simply the  concrete tunnel is built inside the machine   as it moves forward like a giant mechanical  worm it leaves a finished tunnel behind it   the concrete segments are brought up into  the machine and a robotic arm lifts each one the segments are secured to the others and bolted  into place six concrete segments make up one ring   then powerful hydraulic arms push off the  latest ring created providing the force to move   the TBM along the tunnel all the while spoil is  constantly being conveyed out the back of the TBM   and down the tunnel on giant extendable belts   TBM Nancy started tunneling from marrickville  four weeks before her sister mum show but the   difference is now down to less than two weeks  mum Shull is catching up it seems rivalry is   Alive and Well between competing TBM Crews Brendan  Timmons is the TBM operator on the Nancy crew we   did have a good lead on them before but they're  probably a bit closer than what they were but   yeah it's all good just to get a friendly  Banner with the boys just friendly banter   sure so who will be the first to the Finishing  Line at barangaroo where tbm1 so I'm hoping we started before them so I'm hoping I  sure do hope we finish before them anyway   Timo fears that going first being the Pathfinders  could be a disadvantage I suppose any any little   dramas that you do have like they get a little  heads up where the guinea pigs really so Timo and the other Crews keep track of  whether they're getting ahead or lagging   behind by keeping a tab on the number of  rings they've made compared to the other   crew I checked on my conveyor screen wall 377  rings in front I think we're back down to only   100 or so so boys ring up how many do you  get today and it's it's the same as anything   hopefully we break through first but whatever it  is it is breakthroughs aren't grandstand events   on the Northwest Line at Hills showground  a large crowd gathers for the big moment   it's not long before TBM Elizabeth makes  her presence felt after devouring almost 430   000 tons of rock over just 4.2 kilometers TBM  Elizabeth gently noses out a small slab of rock   almost there she makes one last push but suddenly  a huge piece begins to fall further to the right for an alarming moment the entire wall shudders  and huge Rock slabs Begin to Fall [Music]   then Elizabeth smashes through into the light [Music] it's been a long hard journey  and her Battle Scars are clearly visible over the coming days she traverses the station box   towards the city end and plunges back  into the darkness once again [Music] bank at barangaroo it's time to put the specialist   slurry machine TBM Kathleen to work  yeah and you've got the one for eign the team finalizes the plan get the components  underground then assemble so when I bring it   in I will make sure the tread is 100 level and  then from there you just give us the instructions decision is better and the only thing I  want to tell you is that when we are on   the final lift the clearance that we've got okay the shaft that Kathleen's  components will be lowered   down is 340 meters away across  the road above the station box   the road authority has agreed for traffic to be  stopped only between the hours of midnight and 5am one of Sydney's most popular celebrations  the Vivid Festival is currently in full swing   with only five hours to get Kathleen to the  shaft Andreas is up against it tonight you   will bring the frontier first and then  the middle shield from here out to the   side across the road into the shed and then  down into the shaft and into the Dodge cabinet sounds easy a little bit more  tricky than what it sounds   first of all that we have to cross the road  which we can only do with the road closure   andreas's right-hand man Vincent  Gane gets ready for the green light   at 12 we've got the road closure so we are  gonna get first front ship and then the rear   shift across Hixson Road we're gonna get to  the shed and lift everything down tonight it's   critical that we get those two pieces across the  road otherwise we'll be in big trouble [Music]   there will be challenges that's that's for sure  but we have the right people here to tackle them   and to sort them out as we approach them it's  going to be very tight both in terms of time   and the space available beneath the  monstreet bridge if there wasn't enough   space because account is 13 meters but when  they're measured it was only 12 and a half   so Andreas confers with the Jamie church one of  the site engineers there's been some confusion   about the amount of clearance beneath the  bridge so and if he puts his 12 and a half   in it's almost exactly 13 meters at the top  so there shouldn't be a problem by andreas's   calculations there's less than half a meter to  spare 400 mil there should be enough space and   also the angle it should be okay and as far as  Andreas is concerned that's enough it's go time thank you at 11 o'clock the spmt gets the  first giant piece of Kathleen on the moon it crawls towards the road when the road closes at midnight  the team want to be ready okay we have five hours now Road is closed we  need to get the TVM across the road let's go   the countdown is on with 190 tons of Machinery  on board every move must be inch perfect   there's already over an hour on the clock and the  next obstacle Mund Street Bridge Is Yet To Come   the top of the cylinder stands over 12  meters above the road but mere centimeters   below the Bridge's concrete slabs Andreas  hopes that his calculations are correct   it's all way too close for comfort then it's through but the tightest squeeze  is still to come the massive load Maneuvers   towards the shaft and now they'll be rigging  it up with the ganti crane though they're going   to Grinders the yellow one there and then  lowering it down the shop into the panel   so we are going to lower the TBM  Shields down into the soil it's   an extremely tight tight spot the  machine just sits into this hole they become clear how small the shaft is  just millimeters on either side so a very   delicate operation with millimeters to spare in  some places Andreas is understandably anxious it's Do or Die time a Gantry crane brings  the massive load out over the shaft   and begins to lower it towards the  bottom 30 meters below in places the   giant cylinder comes within a whisker of the  sheer rock walls but the team hold their nerve and she's through without a scratch there's one down and two to go the spmt heads back for the next piece taking time  out for a quick pit stop we're just stopping for a   better feel and as soon as we finish filling  up we'll get back into moving the shield   two hours and 15 minutes we should be able to  make that easy I have no problems at all I think   we're good for time we'll uh load up the second  shield and then they go across the road this   second Shield is bigger than the first this is  the biggest piece of the TVM so it's critical   that the guys get it lined up properly for under  across the road two hours to go to go home and   I reckon we're making plenty of time bigger than  our last section so it's going to be a bit tighter   this one is the most challenging the spmt strains  against the enormous weight and gets on the move   the real test will come when it reaches  the shaft and crane this piece is 220 ton   the crank capacity is 220 ton so this one will  go on full capacity on the crane there [Music] The Shield makes it across the  road and Glides under the bridge   the team just make it before the road  reopens the road is open now yeah thank you now it's test time for the Gantry crane  right on the limit of its lifting capacity there is zero room for error  in a night of tight squeezes   this is the tightest with anxious  eyes watching it finally arrives at the bottom the team inches the  220 tonne monster into position joins it to the first shield the next piece to descend is the  cut ahead the Gantry crane over the   shaft is the only crane that can lift  any of the three Mammoth components   the last piece of this giant jigsaw  is finally ready to heave into place   it's a big puzzle and uh very challenging bring  the color head down have to come back in again   crane lifting point is moved from the  center to the side of the cutter head   it's now suspended in mid-air like a giant Target Take Aim bullseye while Kathleen is being assembled so too is the  crew that will carefully guide her Voyage beneath   the harbor the Internationals Vincent mckaylee and  Andreas are joined by Aussies Red Dog and Griffo   my name's Daniel known as a red dog I don't know where the red come from but uh engineer Jamie chirk has also joined the team  she has never worked on a TVM before this is my   first TBM so I'm very excited actually because  I'll be learning so much new things every day   I'm also very nervous anxious for the same reason  that it is all new I guess when something does go   wrong it's just good to know like what's the  decision we need to make at the time next time   TBN Kathleen faces her biggest challenge in  the mud under Sydney Harbor if you drop the   pressure the water would just trace it at this  point absolutely racing it's a bit of a critical   time it really is mass graves are discovered  in the middle of Central Station unfortunately   we've got a quarantine area handed over to  the archaeologists and they'll do their work   on it and hopefully hand it back to us pretty soon  fingers crossed and Martin place deep underground   obstacles present a major challenge so we come  within two meters of the existing Eastern suburbs   Rail lines and we actually come within 500 mil of  the tunnels that we're constructing at the moment [Music]   foreign [Music]

2023-07-31

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