NORTH QUEENSLAND
A YOUNG ENGINEER’S VIEW OF A BIG PROJECT
Joshua Flanders
I am currently working for St George Project Services (SGPS) who have been engaged by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to undertake the contract administration and construction verification works on the $481 million Bruce Highway – Cairns Southern Access Corridor – Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale (E2G) project in Cairns, Queensland. The E2G project is one of the stages of the Cairns Bruce Highway Upgrade Masterplan, as part of the $12.6 billion upgrade program to improve safety, flood resilience and capacity along the Bruce Highway from Cairns to Brisbane. The area which the E2G project boundary covers is currently the busiest two lane section of the Bruce Highway between Cairns and Brisbane, so the positive outcome this project will have is evident, especially for all road users on the southern side of Cairns. The design and construction (D&C) of the project has been awarded to John Holland, Seymour Whyte, and AECOM, trading under the HSA Group Joint Venture title. The D&C contract was awarded in October
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The northern part of the project where the new highway is being constructed on a greenfield site.
Wrights Creek where there are four new bridges: one northbound and one southbound Bruce Highway road bridge, one cane rail bridge, and one Queensland Rail bridge.
2019, construction started in July 2020 and the estimated completion date is mid 2023, depending on weather. I have been working on the project since February 2020 where I was predominantly performing design documentation and
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | JUNE 2021
management plan reviews and other various document control duties. Now that the project is in its early stages of construction, I am performing construction verification engineering works for multiple different disciplines.
