BRISCONNECTIONS – Delivering smarter ways to move
Windsor panorama of Airport Link mainline tunnel excavation from Truro Street
Thiess John Holland make the critical connections As any motorist knows, driving from Brisbane to the nearby international airport can be a very slow road, particularly during peak times when traffic movement is heavily congested. The concept of reducing the time it takes to make that trip to a mere 15 minutes is hard to comprehend. However, that prospect is not far away as the Thiess John Holland Joint Venture brings the new Airport Link Project closer to fruition. For the construction sector, building anything in Queensland over the past year has been extremely difficult given the record breaking rainfall that has fallen in that state. Yet the Joint Venture team is now well past the halfway mark and well on the way to completing that critical piece of time-saving infrastructure. But the project team from Thiess John Holland is also responsible for the design and construction of two other important projects that will dramatically reduce congestion in and around the Brisbane area. Back in May 2008, the State Government announced that BrisConnections was the Preferred Bidder for three major projects. BrisConnections had been formed under a Public Private Partnership and the group was given the responsibility to deliver the much needed Airport Link, as well as the Windsor to Kedron section of the Northern Busway and to complete the trio, the Airport Roundabout Upgrade. The three projects will total $4.8 billion in design and construction costs. BrisConnections will also will operate and maintain the Airport Link for a period of 45 years. The board and executive management team of BrisConnections has significant experience in road engineering, toll road operation and the delivery of major infrastructure projects. With the aim of constructing a world-leading toll road in terms of affordability, urban design and customer service, BrisConnections immediately contracted the proven expertise of Thiess John Holland as a Joint Venture to manage the design and construction of all three projects. The operations and maintenance of the Airport Link will be undertaken by Thiess John Holland Services, which is an unincorporated joint venture between Thiess Services and John Holland Services. City North Infrastructure (CNI), a wholly owned Queensland Government entity which represents the State is overseeing the delivery of these major infrastructure projects
road, mainly underground, which will connect the existing Clem 7 Tunnel, Inner City Bypass and the local road network at Bowen Hills, to the northern arterials of Gympie Road and Stafford Road at Kedron, as well as Sandgate Road and East West Arterial Road leading to the airport. The Airport Link will be the first major motorway linking Brisbane city to the northern suburbs and airport precinct and when completed in 2012, it will allow motorists to avoid 18 sets of traffic lights. It will provide six new lanes for drivers between Bowen Hills and Kedron and four new lanes between Kedron and Toombul. The new Airport Link also means that the once arduous trip to the airport will be confined to the history books, quickly forgotten as motorists enjoy a simple trip from the city to the airport which should last only 15 minutes. The new Airport Link will also become a vital transport hub, able to connect motorists to multiple destinations including the heavily populated northern suburbs of Brisbane and important centres such as Australia Trade Coast, Chermside Shopping centre and the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Thiess John Holland has also ensured delivery of a much improved local environment
as part of the construction process. The project will provide three hectares of new green open space, cycle networks and improved pedestrian walk ways. Overall, the new Airport Link will deliver high-speed, free-flowing travel underground with reduced congestion on key surface roads which will in turn improve air quality because of that dramatic reduction of traffic congestion. The efficiency of the trip for motorists will be assisted by the use of electronic tolling and 24 hour surveillance which will make the journey far less congested, much safer and with no stops and starts, much quicker. Currently and despite the excessive rainfall the project schedule is well on track and it was recently announced that when the tunnel is completed, the two 12.48 metre in diameter, cutter-heads and shields used by the two giant, Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) will remain underground rather than be removed as was previously planned. The two machines, costing $45 million are the largest of their kind ever used in Australia and require 22 people to operate each machine. At 195 metres in length they are just a bit longer than the Suncorp Stadium playing area. Each machine will travel up to 55m below the
surface and is equipped to install full-circle concrete tunnel lining during excavation. Each machine weighs 3,600 tonnes and the pair took 12 months to build and a further 3 months to assemble at Toombul. Each cutterhead contains up to 80 x 17 inch cutters made of hardened steel According to Thiess John Holland Project Director, Gordon Ralph, the two machines would be disassembled this year after they break through into the caverns at Lutwyche. “The cutter-heads and shields will be disconnected from the rest of the machines and the hydraulic systems and gearboxes will be drained and capped. They will then be lowered into purpose built pits below the floor of the Airport Link tunnels to sit on prebuilt cradles and be fully encased in concrete,” Mr Ralph said. “Holes will be cut into sections of the shields to ensure the complete internal and external encasement of the machine in concrete. By encasing the machines in concrete, no ground water will be able to come into contact with the machine shields and cutter-heads, eliminating any possible contamination.” BrisConnections CEO Dr Ray Wilson confirmed that the burial of TBM components is a practice regularly adopted by tunnelling projects in Australia and around the world. “The two TBMs were custom built for the Airport Link project and this solution will reduce the complexity involved in removing the cutter-heads, while avoiding the need for additional surface work in the Lutwyche area,” Dr Wilson said. Continued next page
THIESS JOHN HOLLAND DIGS DEEP TO MAKE AIRPORT LINK Logistically, all three projects are extremely demanding but of the three, the Airport Link is perhaps the most complex. The design and construction of the 6.7km Airport Link toll road also requires digging dual 5.7 kilometre tunnels from Toombul to Bowen Hills to accommodate the multi-lane motorway and the construction of the necessary exit and entry ramps. The difficulties associated with the tunnel construction alone, makes the Airport Link one of the most complex road and tunnel engineering feats ever undertaken in Queensland’s history. The Airport Link is essentially a 6.7km toll Page 4 - Australian Main Roads Construction News
The Gateway Motorway Overpass facing south to Brisbane City. www.amrcn.com.au
BRISCONNECTIONS – Delivering smarter ways to move Thiess John Holland make the critical connections Continued from page 4
This is good news for local residents as it will negate the need for extra disruptions as the removal of the cutter-heads which have a bigger diameter than the finished tunnel, would have required an additional 3 months of construction in the Lutwyche area.
The Northern Busway will also connect communities in Brisbane’s northern suburbs such as; Windsor, Lutwyche, Chermside, Aspley and Kedron to major shopping centres and businesses in and around Brisbane. When completed in mid 2012 the Northern Busway will be operated by TransLink.
NORTHERN BUSWAYTUNNEL TO LINK WINDSOR TO KEDRON
FLYOVER REPLACES AIRPORT ROUNDABOUT
The second project constructed by the Thiess John Holland Joint Venture, the Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) is also well underway and like the Airport Link, although a shorter route, it features a 1.5km tunnel. The tunnel will link Windsor to Kedron and apart from expanding the bus network it will greatly enhance public transport access for residents on the north side of Brisbane. The Northern Busway will be a two-lane, two-way road for buses only, connecting the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital to Kedron via the Lutwyche Road and Gympie Road corridor. It’s expected that when operational the Northern Busway will reduce the average travel time between the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital and Kedron by 50%. The busway route will travel underground for approximately 1.5km from Truro Street, Windsor through to Sadlier Street, Kedron, surfacing at the new, state-of-the-art Lutwyche and Kedron Brook busway stations. The aim of the project is to cater for around 47,000 people on public transport by providing a bus every 30 seconds in peak periods. It’s hoped that by providing such an efficient means of travel that thousands of motorists will leave their cars at home.
The final piece of the construction puzzle for the Thiess John Holland Joint Venture is the Airport Roundabout Upgrade, providing the solution to one of Brisbane’s biggest traffic bottlenecks. The project, which is nearing completion, is being constructed in tandem with Airport Link. The upgrade features a new, four lane 750m Airport Flyover bridge which connects East-West Arterial Road to Airport Drive, dramatically improving traffic flow to and from the airport. With the eastbound lanes of the flyover opened in November 2010, motorists are already enjoying shorter trips to the airport. The westbound lanes are scheduled to open in early 2011. It’s estimated that motorists will save ten minutes in peak hour travel when travelling through the area to and from the airport. Underneath the flyover, the roundabout has been replaced with a highly efficient, signalised, fast diamond intersection which motorists will be able to cross in half the time it took to traverse the old roundabout. The Airport Roundabout Upgrade also includes improvements to the local connections to the airport precinct, via the Gateway Motorway and Kingsford Smith Drive. East-
Airport Roundabout Upgrade facing west down East West Arterial Road. West Arterial Road will be expanded to three lanes in each direction along with road surface improvements to Airport Drive. This particular project is expected to be completed, weather permitting, in early 2011. JOINT VENTURE SETS NEW BENCHMARKS IN CONSTRUCTION EFFICIENCY The Thiess John Holland Joint Venture team has worked non-stop to progress all three major projects as quickly as possible and to perform the extensive construction tasks while minimising disruption to those motorists and communities affected.
The Joint Venture team has coordinated its traffic management efforts with the Brisbane Metropolitan Transport Management Centre, the Department of Main Roads, TransLink and Brisbane City Council. The team continues to conduct regular traffic analysis and time travel surveys to ensure traffic flow and capacity is maintained during the construction schedule. The Joint Venture team has also done its utmost to mitigate against construction impacts such as noise and dust. Various strategies have been employed to manage these local environmental concerns including covering stockpiles and soil embankments with appropriate dust suppression measures. Continued page 8
Holcim strengthens Brisbane Link to the Airport
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HE AIRPORT LINK PROJECT, which will connect Brisbane’s Airport and Northern Suburbs to the NorthSouth Bypass Tunnel and Inner City Bypass, is one of Australia’s largest civil infrastructure projects. Holcim Australia, as a major concrete supplier in South East Queensland, is also one of the main suppliers for this impressive project and provided a dedicated team to meet the challenge.
The 6.7 kilometre Airport Link runs mainly underground at a cost of around AUD 5.6 billion and is being constructed by the Thiess John Holland Joint Venture under the rigours of an extremely strict timetable. Therefore, scheduling delivery of supplies and undertaking construction according to the precise requirements of the various project managers is a critical factor. Mark Taylor, Sales and Marketing Manager for SEQ concrete, is extremely proud of the team’s efforts. “We’ve now been supplying this project since November 2008 and it’s been an outstanding effort from the whole team. The team recently reached 425,000 cubic metres supplied on the job.” Mark also highlighted the team’s relationship with the Joint Venture Partners. “We have established an ongoing relationship with both Thiess and John Holland by supplying the highest quality products together with industry leading service, including a strong commitment to safety at all levels of the project.” Holcim Australia’s special Airport Link team includes a project manager, technical support staff as well as resources for all order taking, production and truck scheduling. A dedicated number of project field testers were also on hand to cast cylinders, together with senior management and sales personnel. The technical team has worked closely with the design engineers to develop concrete mix designs to suit a range of strict performance characteristics to meet both the challenging
conditions and the project deadlines. To date there has been a number of particular challenges for the team including the need for numerous trial mixes. “We have submitted over 100 individual mix designs for approval to the various project locations,” says Peter Ney, Technical Manager for Northern Region. The company’s ability to overcome any challenge was proven earlier in 2010 with the task of providing and placing more than 2,800 cubic metres of concrete in a marathon engineering effort over just one night. The contract called for a single pour, to create the roof for a section of the tunnel. “On the designated night, a team of 50 concreters, engineers, and labourers spent nine hours pouring the concrete at the site,” says Pauline Elliott, Key Account Manager for SEQ. “We used 48 trucks to deliver 380 loads of concrete, which were scheduled to arrive every two minutes. Four concrete pumps were needed to ensure that concrete could be poured at a rate of 300 cubic metres an hour, throughout the night.” Of course Holcim Australia is used to meeting any challenge. It’s a company that has been delivering construction materials in Australia since 1901, originally under the well-known Readymix and Hume’s brands. The company now continues to supply a broad range of products including aggregate, sand, pre-mix concrete, concrete pipe and other pre-cast concrete products. Today, the company operates right across the continent supplying concrete from a network of more than 200 concrete plants, 900 mixer trucks and mobile and on site facilities. With 88 quarry operations, Holcim Australia is perfectly placed to provide consistent, quality products for a diverse range of customers and applications. The company’s contracting business also services major mining and infrastructure projects. For more information visit: www.holcim.com.au www.amrcn.com.au
Australian Main Roads Construction News - Page 5
BRISCONNECTIONS – Delivering smarter ways to move
The rain no match for Downer at Airport Link HE CONSTRUCTION of Brisbane’s new Airport Link, including a new tunnel, flyover, underground bus link and a fast diamond intersection, typifies the strength and endurance of the construction sector in its combined ability to overcome the many logistical challenges it often has to face when dealing with major infrastructure projects.
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Above: Piling at Airport Drive and Flyover Construction on East West Arterial Road.
The area around the airport has been one of Brisbane’s major bottlenecks for a long time and simply keeping the high density traffic on the move during construction would be enough of a challenge except in this case, nature also decided to vent its fury.
Downer Road surfacing contractor on Australia’s largest road infrastructure project - The Airport Link. At Downer, our proven team of talented and innovative professionals are committed to working in partnership with you to plan, build and maintain your infrastructure assets. We are dedicated to the future of the road industry, offering a comprehensive infrastructure service with core skills ranging from road surfacing, road maintenance and operations to asset management and much more.
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Downeredi.com Page 6 - Australian Main Roads Construction News
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Record amounts of rain fell in Queensland throughout 2010. Downer is contracted by the Joint Venture partners Thiess and John Holland for road surfacing services on Brisbane’s Airport Link, which also included the other key project components, Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) and the Airport Roundabout Upgrade. The Downer team has worked through the challenges of a heavy rainfall period and traffic switching requirements with the Joint Venture Partners, completing the surfacing on the Fast Diamond Intersection in mid November 2011. In simple terms, the roundabout has been replaced by a state of the art and highly efficient, signalised, fast diamond intersection which will cut in half the time it takes for a motorist to cross the old roundabout. Over the new intersection, a new 750m four lane, Flyover connecting the East-West Arterial Road to Airport Drive will dramatically improve traffic flow to and from the airport. The East-West Arterial Road is being widened to allow for three lanes in each direction and the road surface of Airport Drive road is being improved. A new ‘bus only’ tunnel will link Windsor to Kedron on the Northern Busway to connect to Brisbane’s heavily populated northern suburbs. Downer will continue to work with the JV partners to forge ahead with its surfacing contract despite the wet conditions that have prevailed and it highlights Downer’s ability to deal with these challenges. Downer is a provider of engineering and asset maintenance in the transport and water sector. The company’s construction capacity includes areas such as the rehabilitation of road infrastructure assets. The company has a long history in network management and maintenance of road, rail, airfield and water assets. Downer’s client roster includes federal, state and local government agencies, airport operators, public utilities and major private organisations.
BRISCONNECTIONS – Delivering smarter ways to move
The construction sector’s Electrician of choice OVEREIGN ENERGY is one of the largest electrical contractors in South East Queensland and perhaps its greatest strength can be found in the amount of know- how it brings to any project.
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The company has three, working directors with over 60 years of combined frontline experience in South East Queensland and New South Wales. Sovereign Energy also employs more than 140 qualified staff, so with that kind of expertise at its disposal it’s little wonder that Sovereign Energy’s annual sales tally exceeds $30million. As a major electrical contractor Sovereign Energy specialises in intelligent transport systems, road lighting (major & minor), traffic signals, overhead and underground electrical reticulation and maintenance works. In keeping with the application of alternative, low emission power resources, the company also supplies and installs solar lighting and solar bollards for use on bikeways and paths. THE COMPLETE TURNKEY SOLUTION The company is also equipped to provide turnkey solutions from budget estimates through to design and construct packages for a range of projects. A typical example would be the installation of a set of traffic signals on an existing roadway whereby the company organises everything from traffic control and road closure permits to the civil works required. This includes road widening, asphalting, concreting, line-marking extensions, changes to levels of existing sewer and stormwater services. Sovereign Energy also install kerbing and channels, road signage and any electrical
and communications conduits required. As a fully licensed electrical contractor the company is accredited with Energex, Ergon and Country Energy. Sovereign Energy is also a NSW accredited level one service provider. The company has a wealth of design and construct experience in ‘street works’ projects which it has completed on behalf of councils and supply authorities. These have required major traffic management and the reinstatement of existing surfaces. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR AIRPORT LINK Sovereign Energy’s important contribution to the major Brisbane Airport Link project currently underway was the installation of special Intelligent Transport Systems as well as road lighting and traffic signal infrastructure for the Airport Roundabout Upgrade Project. The roundabout is being replaced by a highly efficient, signalised fast diamond intersection which motorists will be able to cross in half the time it normally takes to drive through the old roundabout. A new 750m flyover bridge connecting the East-West Arterial to Airport Drive has also been constructed and underneath the flyover two major intersections were constructed, one to replace the existing roundabout and the other to expand the Nudgee/ East West Arterial Road intersection. To assit in monitoring traffic flows and traffic numbers Sovereign Energy installed CCTV and vehicle detection systems on the apex of the new flyover as well as on the entry and exit ramps leading to the old Gateway Motorway. Variable Message Signs were strategically placed on the approaches to the flyover keeping
Kedron Brook Building site - shaft excavation approx 25m deep for Airport Link tunnel company’s contribution to numerous major civil infrastructure projects. These include amongst many others; • Tugun Bypass • Logan Ipswich Motorway Interchange • Horizon Alliance • Logan Alliance • Varsity Interchange • Bridgeman Road Upgrade Stages 1 & 2 The Tugun Bypass project consisted of placement of over 100km of electrical and communications conduits as well as installation
motorists informed of possible changes to traffic flow and other relevant information. Motorists will soon save more than 10 minutes in peak hour traffic at Brisbane’s airport roundabout following the upgrade and it will provide the solution to what has been one of Brisbane’s biggest bottlenecks. LIGHTING UP THE NEW TUGUN BYPASS The power of Sovereign Energy’s ‘on the job’ expertise is clearly demonstrated by the
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Your complete TurnKey Solution to: ■
Intelligent Transport Systems
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Traffic Signals
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Road Lighting
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Underground and Overhead Reticulation
Ph: (07) 5549 3688 www.sovereignenergy.com.au info@sovereignenergy.com.au
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Australian Main Roads Construction News - Page 7
BRISCONNECTIONS – Delivering smarter ways to move
The construction sector’s Electrician of choice Continued from page 7
of around 150 street lights and traffic signals at intersections. One interesting aspect of the project was that it traversed the NSW/Qld border so that half the project was constructed to Queensland Main Roads Specification while the other half to NSW RTA Specification. Remarkably, Sovereign Energy completed the project 6 months ahead of schedule. THE POWER TO GO UNDERGROUND AND OVERHEAD The Company also specialises in power reticulation and is employed by many major land developers throughout South East Queensland. These include Australand, Delfin Lend Lease, Gurney Excavations, Gary Deane Constructions, Pensar and Villaworld. Sovereign Energy constructs the power reticulation through their estates. Overhead power line construction is yet another service provided by Sovereign Energy and the company maintains a highly efficient and effective overhead crew specifically for that task. The crew consists of Electrical Linesmen, Electrical Fitter Mechanic/ Linesmen, Apprentice Linesmen and Trade Assistants and has the ability to perform all aspects of overhead work. Each member has the qualifications and capability to work on live low voltage up to and including 415V, street lighting, high voltage up to 33,000 Volts in Queensland and 66,000 Volts in New South Wales. THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS INSIDE AND OUT The company’s philosophy is very much about valued relationships and motivating workplace satisfaction in a safe workplace environment. It’s a culture that begins within its own walls between management and employee
Thiess John Holland make the critical connections
and extends from there to the way it relates to its subcontractors and in turn, the manner by which the company responds to the needs of its clients. According to Managing Director Simon Lush, “The amount of repeat customers in itself vouches for the standard of service they receive from us. The best message we can send is sent by word of mouth through everyone we deal with and you can see it in the range of services we provide and the consistent high standard of our delivery. We also pride ourselves on our safety record and we strive to keep this record at the highest of standards. We have a fully implemented quality control system, which complies with Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental requirements.”
Roadheader excavation and spoil removal in the Northern Busway tunnel
SPECIALISED FLEET READY TO GO The company runs an extensive fleet of purpose vehicles including 20 Tonne, 14 tonne, 5 tonne and 2.5 tonne excavators as well as JCB backhoe frontend loaders, Skidsteer loaders, Proline Lifter Borer Trucks, Crane Trucks, small and medium size tipper trucks, elevated work platform trucks and winch trucks. Sovereign Energy takes great pride in maintaining its fleet of vehicles in perfect working order and believes that with its own large excavation machines the company can save its clients valuable time and money. When a standard backhoe is not sufficient to remove material Sovereign will often have an appropriate excavator on site which means additional float costs and downtime are avoided. Sovereign Energy is an extremely dynamic company providing exceptional standards of service and with such a broad range of expertise to offer it’s understandable why the company will continue to be the construction sector’s electrician of choice for many years to come.
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The team has also continually sprayed construction sites and haulage routes with recycled water to suppress the dust and used a street sweeper regularly to clean nearby streets. Temporary noise barriers such as fencing and shipping containers have also been installed and where possible, acoustic work sheds have been erected to minimise noise levels. Wheel wash downs and rumble grids have been incorporated on site to minimise dirt and dust from covered haulage trucks accessing the site. Just prior to Christmas 2010, the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, confirmed the team’s remarkable efficiency in a statement issued at the time. The Premier stated that over eight
kilometres of tunnelling had been completed with more than 60% of construction achieved across each of the three projects. Furthermore, the existing Airport Roundabout had been replaced and the eastbound lanes of the new Airport Flyover had been opened to accommodate airport bound motorists. The Premier also stated that more than 13.5 million hours had been worked with 3,700 people employed across the three projects and that more than 80% of all spoil had been excavated. The Thiess John Holland Joint Venture is on target to complete these three major projects on time and when you consider that they are being constructed simultaneously in extremely inclement weather it is quite an extraordinary feat.
Beams installed for roof of Busway tunnel at Broughton Road-Gympie Road site
Installation of bridge segments for East-West Flyover
Shotcreting of the Busway tunnel, Truro Street site Page 8 - Australian Main Roads Construction News
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