The North Head works is surrounded by a national park, which limits the placement of the decline portal. Another segment services the sea level pump station. The schedule calls for construction to be completed by the end of the year. It will take nearly six months to put the tunnel into working order, says Montgomery Watson's Rashidi. Although minor setbacks have caused the schedule to slip by several weeks, the job is on line for completion and operation by the start of the Summer Games in September, he says.
Timing is critical.
Five projects are already complete and the rest will be finished by the end of the year, he adds. Alliance team members are confident that construction will go as well for the storage tunnel. ''The most important milestone so far was the completion of the small spoils tunnel at Manly Point. But the real test will begin a few months time'' when tunneling begins in earnest, says Transfair's construction manager Cuttler. That's when the team of contractors and designers must begin the last lap of their own race.