Victorian Tunnelling Centre

TRAINING FACILITIES

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre (VTC) at Holmesglen Institute's Drummond Street campus trains and upskills thousands of workers in underground construction and tunnelling. Training up to 5,000 learners annually, the Australian-first tunnelling facility ensures that Victorians are leaders in underground construction, operations and workplace health and safety.

1300 639 111

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre is located at Holmesglen Institute’s Drummond Street campus in Chadstone, where it offers specialist training to workers in the construction and operation of a variety of tunnels including rail, road, and utilities tunnels.

These spaces are suitable for:

All-day training
Seminars
Conventions
Team induction and building days
Safety induction seminars and training
Meetings, conferences, breakfasts, lunches and dinners
Industrial workshops for large scale training programs - including five-tonne gantry
Industrial workshop for exhibitions and trade expos
A VTC tour as part of your day
Access to high-risk work trainers and industry immersion programs

VTC special features

Auditorium: A fully tiered theatrette seating up to 110 guests, the auditorium features flip-top desks and state-of-the-art AV equipment, including a large screen, projector and variable lighting.

Upstairs Cloud Room: Suitable for networking events and exhibitions, as well as conference catering and cocktails. A full-size industrial workshop is available for workshops, exhibitions, trade stalls or large plant training room

Seminar and training rooms: Suitable for training, meetings, seminars and conferences, these versatile spaces can also be used as breakout rooms. Rooms can also be arranged into custom layouts required for your event.

Models of tunnels: Unique to the southern hemisphere, are two scale models of tunnelling construction, demonstrating a full-size segment rail tunnel and a mined tunnel complete with shotcrete lining and refuge chamber.

VR tech: Alongside these training spaces, the VTC also makes available a range of immersive learning demonstrations and experiences using Virtual and Mixed Reality equipment. These simulations run several tunnelling specific training contexts that provide an enlivened experience for participants of any age.

Latest AV facilities: Ceiling mounted data projectors, retractable screens, whiteboards, flip charts, and all necessary equipment for presentation and training purposes.

Nearby accommodation: A range of accommodation options are available within 5km of the centre.

On-site catering: We offer a full catering service, which includes daily meeting packages. Our dining and cocktail menus come complete with licensed beverage selections.

Getting to the VTC / Parking

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre and its training facilities are located on Drummond Street Chadstone adjacent to Warragal Rd. They are also accessible via multiple bus routes.

If you are travelling by car, the facilities are just one minute from the Warrigal Rd exit on the Monash Freeway. There is complimentary onsite parking for up to 150 vehicles at the campus, including disability parking spaces. Additional parking spaces are available at the rear of the campus.

You might be interested in

Training programs

Enquire about our training programs offered to employers.

Enquire

Room hire

Learn more about rooms for hire at the Victorian Tunnelling Centre (PDF).

VTC room hire

Frequently asked questions

Tours are now being conducted at the Victorian Tunnelling Centre. These tours have been designed to raise awareness and introduce primary and secondary students, job seekers and career changers to the careers, pathways, and what it is like to work in tunnel construction and tunnel operations.

Each cohort’s tour has been designed around VTC’s state of the art replica training facilities, Simulators, VR and AR experiences. All experiences are led by industry experts with extensive knowledge in civil and tunnelling construction and operations, and virtual and augmented reality.

To express your interest please contact VTC@holmesglen.edu.au

Funded by Rail Projects Victoria, the Victorian Tunnelling Centre was built to support Victorians who want to gain the skills and knowledge required for work on major projects, such as the Metro Tunnel, Suburban Rail Loop, and North East Link. Also, it was established to provide training for workers on other major projects across Australia. Prior to the construction of the Victorian Tunnelling Centre, there was not a purpose-built training facility in Australia to provide training in the construction and operation of rail, traffic and utility tunnels.

Tradespeople who are constructing tunnels, including Tunnel Boring Machine Operators, Roadheader Operators, Long Drill Operators, can undertake training. The Victorian Tunnelling Centre can also train other workers specialising in underground work to remove spoil, undertake rock bolting and shotcreting and other support roles required in the construction and operation of transport and utilities tunnels.

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre provides a wide range of training services required in the construction and operation of tunnel projects. This includes accredited training in Civil Construction (Tunnelling), Work, Health and Safety, focused on tunnelling and other major projects.

The Centre also offers Industrial Skills licencing in Bridge and Gantry Crane Operation, Dogging and Rigging, Elevated Work Platform Operation, Telehandler Operation, Skid Steer, Front End Loader and Excavator, Scaffolding and Fork Lift Operation. Short duration training is also provided in the operation of long drill and cable bolting for novice operators and verification of competency of experienced drill and bolt operators, plus training in rescue and survival techniques for underground operations.

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre uses a wide range of equipment and extended reality technologies to deliver training. Above all, when the training and assessment activities are designed, we attempt to create scenarios and environments that relpicate what workers will encounter when constructing and operating tunnels. However, when developing these scenarios, they are done in a manner that removes the risk of injury to the trainee.

For example, the tunnel boring machine (TBM) that trainees work with is virtual yet, when using mixed reality, the trainee is able to explore every part of the TBM, be provided with explanation as to how each of its parts operate and then undertake self-assessments in order to determine the level of learning they have achieved.

The training facility at the Victorian Tunnelling Centre is unmatched in Australia. It features two tunnels, one 25-metre long by 7.2 m diameter segment-lined tunnel. This has been constructed with segments to match the metro tunnel under construction in Melbourne. It is presently fitted to replicate what is being installed in the metro tunnel.

The second tunnel is 25 metres long by a 13.5 diameter (equivalent to a two-lane road traffic tunnel). The construction method demonstrated in the tunnel replicates that of a tunnel constructed using a long drill and blast method or Roadheader, and is lined with shot-crete. In this tunnel, we have a underground refuge chamber (Australian designed and constructed). This chamber enables underground workers to experience and be trained in underground emergency and rescue procedures and techniques in a controlled environment. This includes the operation of the refuge chamber, rescue breather use, underground fire fighting and other related activities.

There are two other purpose-designed workshops in the Victorian Tunnelling Centre, a dry training and a wet training area. The wet training area is used to train workers in the use and application of grouts, waterproofing, shot-crete and other wet material construction techniques used in tunnelling construction.The centrepiece of the dry training area is the four-motion bridge and gantry crane. This type of crane is the most widely used type of crane on tunnelling construction projects and the VTC is the only training provider in Australia with a four-motion gantry crane.

The dry training area is also used for firefighting training, using a simulated fire fighting system that can set different fire types/intensity of fire and assess the capability of the learner to effectively control/extinguish the fire. Using this system has enabled Holmesglen to eliminate the use of chemical extinguishers in training process, saving the cost of recharging extinguishers and eliminating the possibility of toxic chemicals entering the nearby waterways.

The VTC simulation centre utilises simulators, Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) to deliver training in the operation of long drill, cable bolter, and excavator (Simulators); tunnel boring machines, roadheaders, dump trucks, drill rigs, shotcrete rigs are safely operated and maintained, in addition to working safely in tunnels and a history of mined tunnels.Virtual reality is used for the underground site induction, firefighting, understanding and identifying hazards in the workplace and mitigating/eliminating these hazards. Overall, the Victorian Tunnelling Centre facilities aim to provide tunnelling training in a safely controlled environment.

The Victorian Tunnelling Centre is a purpose-built-facility and the only one of its kind in Australia. In fact, there are only four of its kind in the world. The VTC contains two tunnels both 25 metres in length and constructed to replicate mined tunnel and tunnel boring machine techniques. Within both tunnels scenarios can be run that simulate what it is like to work in an underground environment.

To accommodate the replica training facilities and give an experience as close to the real thing as possible, the VTC has also adopted state-of-the-art simulators and augmented and virtual reality. These experiences have been designed to cover all aspects of tunnelling operations. Partnered with the replica training facilities, the VTC also offers an immersive experience in underground tunnelling and operations.

For more information, contact us on 1300 639 111 or email VTC@holmesglen.edu.au