{"id":668261,"date":"2026-05-13T13:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/668261\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T13:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:25:08","slug":"tunneling-toward-a-more-connected-south-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/668261\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunneling toward a more connected South Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Until now, Adelaide was the only mainland Australian capital without a continuous, non-stop motorway \u2014 creating growing congestion and safety concerns as traffic and population increased. The missing link in the city\u2019s North-South Corridor, the River Torrens to Darlington (T2D) section, posed the greatest technical challenge: a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) stretch cutting deep through established residential areas.<\/p>\n<p>To overcome this, the South Australian Government turned to an alliance, including Jacobs, to design and deliver the final piece of the 48.5-mile (78 km) corridor. Once complete, this infrastructure project will allow drivers to bypass 21 traffic lights and reduce travel times by up to 40 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Jacobs brings extensive experience in holistic infrastructure delivery, including global leadership in both tunneling and transportation solutions, to bring this transformational investment to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By easing congestion and improving traffic flow, the project is expected to unlock $153 million (AUD $230 million) in annual productivity gains for South Australia \u2014 making it a cornerstone of the region\u2019s long-term economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.t2d.sa.gov.au\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">T2D Alliance<\/a> Jacobs is involved across all design disciplines, including\u00a0roads and civil, stormwater, civil structures, geotechnical and buildings, as well as leading tunneling design, transport planning and construction integration for the corridor \u2014 and working to accelerate delivery. The project features two sets of three-lane twin tunnels \u2014 the southern tunnels and northern tunnels \u2014 linked by an open motorway.<\/p>\n<p>Massive tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have started arriving, marking a major milestone in South Australia\u2019s largest infrastructure undertaking. Each machine measures about 328 feet (100 meters) long and 49 feet (15 meters) wide \u2014 making them the largest pieces of construction equipment ever used in the state. Two TBMs will launch from the southern precinct to create twin 2.8-mile (4.5-kilometer) tunnels, while a third will deliver the twin 1.4-mile (2.2-kilometer) northern tunnels. Procuring all three machines allows crews to work concurrently on both tunnel sections, ensuring efficient delivery of this landmark infrastructure project. The project also includes upgrades to local infrastructure, including walking and cycling paths, and revitalizing green space exemplifying our ability to deliver transformative outcomes while investing in community resilience and sustainability.<\/p>\n<p>All images courtesy of South Australia Government<\/p>\n<p>In June 2025, the\u00a0T2D Alliance\u00a0hosted an industry engagement event at the Adelaide Convention Centre, drawing over 700 attendees. The event showcased upcoming work packages and reinforced the commitment to supporting local businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Jacobs is also supporting local workforce development and inclusion initiatives. With more than 300 South Australian businesses expressing interest, the project is creating a supplier legacy for the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until now, Adelaide was the only mainland Australian capital without a continuous, non-stop motorway \u2014 creating growing congestion&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-668261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}