The development of the West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne is creating a vital link between Melbourne’s west and the city and, when completed, will provide a welcome and much-needed alternative to the often traffic-clogged West Gate Bridge.
This is one of the busiest stretches of road in Victoria, carrying more than 200,000 vehicles every day. Inevitably, the volume of traffic brings congestion issues and gridlock whenever a traffic incident or collision occur.
The West Gate Tunnel has been designed to ease pressure on the bridge by providing a new gateway to the surrounding suburbs. If building runs on schedule, it will open at the end of 2025.
Since construction began in 2018, the project has brought together an army of workers who rely on a range of equipment to drill, excavate and build. If equipment breaks down, it can have serious impacts on progress.
When a machine used to drill holes in the concrete support structure of the tunnel stopped working after filling with water, LK Diesel was asked to restore the equipment to full working order.
“We’ve been servicing and looking after the machines of that particular contractor for a number of years and during a prolonged period of wet weather in Melbourne, the drill became submerged in water,” says LK Diesel Manager, Mike Kuhlwind.
“When that drill was needed for another job, the contractor came to us and we recommended putting in a DEUTZ TCD2.9 L4 X-change engine – buying a new drill would have cost twice as much and been a two-year process.”
The LK Diesel team drained the oil and water from the engine and discovered the electrics had corroded. So Mike ordered a new DEUTZ base engine from Germany and ordered accessories including a starting motor, wiring loom and computer.
“We supplied the engine number for the drill and DEUTZ built the engine to that specification, so we knew it would be the right spec when it arrived in our workshop,” says Mike.
“It was a very easy process and we knew we’d be able to replace the engine exactly without any stress. The engine and accessories arrived and we completed the job on a Friday afternoon and it started up without a drama.
“By the following Tuesday, the piece of equipment was out on site at another underground drilling project. We’ve had no problems with the drill at all since then.”
LK Diesel have a long and mutually respectful relationship with DEUTZ Australia.
“We are always happy to work with DEUTZ Australia, we’re comfortable with the people there, and we have all the technical information about DEUTZ products on our computer system,” says Mike.
“I’ve been working on DEUTZ engines for 45 years and I know they are good and the back-up service is always reliable.”