The training scenario was organised by Rod Carr, the company conducting works underground on the tunnel’s drainage system for the Warrnambool City Council. 

Engineer Josh Sneath said it was an opportunity for the company to undertake training, and they invited along the Warrnambool Country Fire Authority to assist and learn more.

“We have run through what we would do in an emergency,” he said.

“The scenario was that we had a worker down a 20-metre shaft with a broken leg, who could not self-evacuate.”

Company workers enacted its emergency response plans, with the help of the city’s CFA.

A gantry crane over the top of the shaft with an electric winch helped stretcher the ‘patient’ – which was actually two bags of cement lying on a stretcher – up to the road.

“It’s all about being prepared and knowing what to do,” Mr Sneath said.

“We generally play out an emergency situation on every site we work on.”

Warrnambool Fire Station senior station officer David Ferguson said the scenario offered an opportunity for emergency services workers to respond how they would if the incident was real.

“We obviously hope no accidents ever occur, but if they do, we want to be effective and efficient,” Mr Ferguson said. 

“The Country Fire Authority locally are responsible to respond to emergencies in a confined space, such as trench rescues.

“This was a joint exercise to get to know how systems operate and the procedures used.” 

Mr Sneath said upgrade works on the city council’s Simpson Street tunnel project were due to wrap up in March. 

To ensure the longevity and efficiency of the tunnel, work has been ongoing to reline and rehabilitate it since December.

The second stage effort will complete about a third of the 713-metre tunnel.

Warrnambool City Council construction engineer Rhyce Milward said the tunnel was constructed during the period between the two world wars.

“The tunnel was built to give the local economy a boost during the depression era,” Mr Milward said.

“Teams went down and dug it by hand.”

There is still evidence of that handiwork in the tunnel.

“You can still see the tool marks down there,” Mr Milward said. 

Two years ago a 118 meter section of the tunnel was repaired using specialised steel reinforced concrete and formwork.

This time a different technique will be used on a 120-metre section of the tunnel which will involve the installation of glass-reinforced polymer pipe. 

The relining of the tunnel is expected to last for many decades.

The work was necessitated by the deterioration of the previously unlined sandstone tunnel, which drains stormwater from a large area of north-east Warrnambool. 

The water travels along the tunnel underneath Simpson Street, the EJ King Park and eventually into the Hopkins River.

Another major component of the ongoing city council’s drainage project is the construction of a stormwater retention basin at the Warrnambool Racecourse. 

Stormwater from a 24-hectare catchment leading up to Wanstead Street will be diverted to a series of water storages in the centre of the racecourse.