Start of bridge work on Coffs Harbour bypass

The latest milestone in the construction of the Coffs Harbour bypass is boring – literally.

Two piling rigs are now onsite to start piling work as part of building the 17 bridges needed for the bypass. Work will start on bridges for the Englands Road Interchange, at North Boambee, and for the Korora Hill Interchange.

The project team will build 42 piles in the Englands Road area and 29 for the northern interchange.

Transport for NSW Director North Region Anna Zycki said the Coffs Harbour bypass construction team would build more than 300 bridge piles across the alignment, with each pile taking about eight hours to complete.

“Bored piling for the bridges at these interchanges will be carried out weekdays from 7am to 6pm and Saturdays from 8am to 1pm and will take about two months to complete, weather permitting,” Ms Zycki said.

The overall bridge piling work across the alignment is expected to continue into 2026.

“The work will include building pads on which the piling rigs will sit, drilling through soil and rock to form pile holes and installing steel reinforcement cages into the holes,” Ms Zycki said.

“We’ll then pour concrete into the holes to build the piles and, when the concrete is set, use jackhammers to remove any excess from the overpour.”

Ms Zycki said that to minimise noise and disruption, the bypass team would use a bored piling technique.

“Piling falls largely into two categories, bored and driven piles,” Ms Zycki said.

“Bored piling is much quieter and less disruptive than driven piles as they don’t require hammering, but there will still be moderate and consistent noise from the piling rig as it drills through the soil and rock.

“Towards the end of the digging operation there will be louder clangs when material is removed from the rig’s drill piece.

“Plant and equipment will be positioned as far as possible from neighbours and respite periods may be scheduled, where required.”