The Legacy Way tunnel will save motorists travelling from the Centenary Highway to Bowen Hill around 10 minutes, but will let commuters link to the Clem 7 and Airport Link tunnels. The toll tunnel will be finished in late 2014 and opened "very early" in 2015. The Federal Government has provided $500 million towards the Brisbane City Council project.

Manufacturer Herrenknecht conducted a trial assembly of the first TBM at a Hemmant site near the Port of Brisbane, which was then  disassembled and transported in 90 loads to the assembly site at Toowong, near the western portal. The largest component, the 6-metre diameter 182-tonne main drive, was delivered to site on 15 May 2012. The journey was a complex night delivery over 2 days involving travel on the Gateway, Logan and Centenary Motorways and the Western Freeway.
The journey involved travel on the wrong side of the divided highway to cross the Brisbane River, as the outbound side was built later than the inbound side and has a higher capacity. Temporary road closures were required as part of this journey.
The main drive was the only TBM component requiring this treatment: around 90 deliveries were required for each TBM and apart from the main drive, a further 27 deliveries for each TBM were required outside normal site hours because of the dimensions of the load.
The primary means of assembling the TBM was a 260-tonne gantry crane set up over the entry shaft, and smaller (60t and 40t capacity) gantry cranes assist with the assembly work. Each TBM took around 3 months to assemble, and there is a 1-month overlap period during which both TBMs are being assembled.
When assembled, each TBM is over 90 metres long, and have a 12.4-metre cutting head for working in the hard rock conditions experienced over the route. The parallel tunnels will each be 4.3 kilometres long and will be lined with concrete segments as the work progresses. The maximum depth below ground level is 40 metres.
Annabell starts digging
The two TBMs, named Annabell and Joyce, were assembled on site before the tunnelling phase of the $1.5 billion dollar could tunnel begin.
Annabell was named after Annabell MacKinney, the daughter of the late Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010.
Joyce recognises Joyce Tweddell, a World War II nurse who showed immense courage after being held as a prisoner of war in Sumatra for three years before going on to become Queensland's chief radiographer.
Tunnel digging on Brisbane's third toll tunnel, following the Clem7 and Airport Link, started in August and should be finished by late 2013.

Work was completed in the citybound tunnel in July 2012. This included laying new pavement, installing the new tunnel portal facades and commissioning and testing the new tunnel services.
Major works in the westbound tunnel commenced in August with eastbound and westbound traffic diverted to the newly widened citybound tunnel to create a work area inside the westbound tunnel for service relocation and roof strengthening work.
On completion, the Norfolk Tunnel will provide three general traffic lanes and one breakdown lane in each direction.
Did you know?

John Holland is the contractor for the major works package of the Vehicle Access and Pedestrian Safety (VAPS) project at Sydney Opera House. John Holland is responsible for the excavation and construction of the new underground loading dock and upgrade of the Forecourt roadway. Work commenced in January 2012.
The contract, with an approximate value of just over $100 million, is part of the $152 million upgrade of Sydney Opera House and is the biggest building works on the site since its opening in October 1973.
The project involves:
- Excavation and construction of a new access road and loading dock under the Forecourt & Vehicle Concourse; and
- Raising of the existing road to remove the kerbs
The Vehicle Access & Pedestrian Safety Project (VAPS) is an important milestone in Sydney Opera House’s history. Funded by the NSW Government, the project will enhance tourist and visitor safety by removing heavy vehicle movements from the Forecourt to a purpose built underground roadway and loading dock accessed from the southern end of our site, near Macquarie Street. This will allow pedestrians to have safe and exclusive access to all the Sydney Opera House facilities at Forecourt level.

Thiess has won an $US61.9 million microtunnelling contract for the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia.
The contract will involve Thiess constructing a 1.2 km long tunnelled shore crossing under the ocean. The tunnel will connect two offshore gas reserves to Chevron’s greenfield LNG plant at Ashburton North, near Onslow in the state’s north west.
The Wheatstone microtunnel will be 2.5 m in diameter and will be delivered by a tunnel boring machine (TBM) and lined by pipejacking. The microtunnel will accommodate a 1.1 m diameter pipeline to deliver gas from Chevron’s Wheatstone and Iago reserves.
Thiess Tunnelling General Manager Glen Ashton said “This is an exciting project for Western Australia and Thiess is committed to engage local suppliers and subcontractors, which will in turn boost local employment and training opportunities.”
Engineering and procurement commences immediately for the design of the TBM launch shaft, jacking pipes, and TBM retrieval pit. Construction on site will commence after the cyclone season in 2013.

After years of planning, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun construction on its largest, most challenging and most expensive project to date. Comprising 2.5km of tunnel, the NZ$1.4b Waterview Connection project will integrate an extra 4.8km of 6-lane motorway through and beneath the city’s Western suburbs, linking State Highways 16 and 20 to complete a motorway ring route around the city
The NZ Transport Agency has announced that excavation work for the first of Waterview Connection's two 2.4 km long motorway tunnels beneath suburban Auckland is on-track to begin in 2013.
NZTA State Highways Manager for Auckland and Northland Tommy Parker said when the southern approach trench was complete, the TBM would descend to 45 m beneath the surface, passing below hard volcanic rock and leaving intact the open space, communities and commercial precincts above.
 “To create the launch pad for the machine, we first have to excavate through a significant chunk of this basalt to reach the softer soil conditions below, and that is the process we have officially begun today,” Mr Parker said.
Following the recent ceremonial ground-breaking for a 30 m deep trench needed for the construction of the project's twin tunnels, an 85 m long tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be assembled before beginning excavation of the tunnels next year.
The 5 km Waterview Connection, including two 2.4 km tunnels between Owairaka and Waterview, will provide a new six lane motorway link between SH16 and SH20 to complete Auckland's Western Ring Route.
It is New Zealand's largest and most complex road project to date, and one of the seven Roads of National Significance identified as key to enabling economic growth for New Zealand.