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WORKS BEGIN FOR QUEENSLAND’S COOMERA CONNECTOR PROJECT
UGL TAKES OVER NSW’S COUNTRY RAIL NETWORK
Enabling works have begun on the northern section between Coomera and Helensville.
Enabling works have begun on the northern section between Coomera and Helensville, marking the start of Stage One works on the $2.16 billion Coomera Connector in Queensland.
By constructing additional crossings of the Coomera and Nerang rivers, the fi rst stage of construction will aim to reduce pressure on the M1 by providing an alternative route for the growing communities and commercial hubs of Helensvale and Coomera.
Acciona Construction Australia and Georgiou Group Joint Venture, with WSP and BG&E as the designers, are undertaking the enabling works for the project, while also working on fi nalising the design.
The project is also set to provide improved connections and accessibility to more transport options on the northern Gold Coast.
Coomera Connector Stage One is around 16 kilometres and will be delivered in three construction packages.
These include Stage One North (Shipper Drive, Coomera to Helensvale Road, Helensvale), Stage One Central (Helensvale Road, Helensvale to Smith Street Motorway, Molendinar) and Stage One South (Smith Street Motorway, Molendinar to Nerang-Broadbeach Road, Nerang).
Construction of the Stage One North section is expected to support 1000 jobs over the project’s life.
Main construction on the Coomera Connector Stage One North structures will start once all environmental and project approvals are in place, expected from mid-2022.
The Federal and Queensland governments have committed a total of $2.16 billion on a 50:50 basis to plan and build Stage One of the Coomera Connector.
As a major milestone for New South Wales’ regional rail network, UGL Regional Linx (UGLRL) has begun its 10year tenure as the custodians of Country Regional Network’s (CRN’s) around 5500 kilometres of railway infrastructure.
UGLRL won a $1.5 billion contract with Transport NSW early last year, allowing the company to take over the operation and maintenance of the rail assets, which link broad areas of regional NSW to interstate and metropolitan rail systems.
The fi rm, a branch of asset management company UGL which is owned by international fi rm CIMIC Group, takes over from John Holland, which held the rail maintenance contract for the previous 10 years.
The CRN covers 27,000 hectares of land and infrastructure, including 1200 property assets and almost 1000 bridges.
UGLRL’s CEO John Pistak said he was looking forward to a new era for the CRN.
“The CRN is a crucial link between rural, regional and metropolitan communities, and we are ready to roll out our signifi cant skills to operate and maintain it,” Mr Pistak said.
CEO Country Regional Network at John Holland Rail Matt Jones said the company was proud to have operated and maintained the CRN over the past decade.
“John Holland has transformed the CRN over the past decade, introducing new technology, network-wide upgrades and enhancements, delivering signifi cant safety, reliability and operational improvements for rail customers and regional communities,” Mr Jones said.
The CRN includes the regional rail lines that connect to the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s national network and the Sydney Trains network.
It comprises more than 2,400 kilometres of operational rail lines, more than 3,100 kilometres of non-operational lines, and hundreds of bridges and property assets such as stations.
UGL Regional Linx has taken over the operation and maintenance of NSW’s country regional network.
A FULL RANGE OF EQUIPMENT TO ANSWER TODAY’S AND TOMORROW’S CHALLENGES
BINDER SPRAYERS - CHIP SPREADERS SYNCHRONEOUS SPRAYER SPRADERS MELTERS - PATCHERS
CONSTRUCTION RE-STARTS FOR MELBOURNE AIRPORT’S EXPRESS LINK
Transport for NSW has confi rmed the shortlist for the tenderers for stage two of Western Harbour Tunnel project, which will see a second tunnel crossing across Sydney Harbour.
The successful parties of Acciona Construction Australia, Bouygues Construction Australia and Vinci Construction Grands Projects joint venture, and John Holland, CPB Contractors and UGL Engineering joint venture will now begin the formal tender process.
This follows the selection of a joint venture between CPB Contractors and John Holland early this year to deliver the Western Harbour Tunnel – Southern Tunnelling Works, the fi rst stage of tunnelling for the Western Harbour Tunnel.
The second package of works will deliver the remainder of the Western Harbour Tunnel, including the balance of northern tunnelling from Birchgrove, through Sydney Harbour and onto North Sydney, the marine work and all the tunnel fi t-out.
The Western Harbour Tunnel will be a second road tunnel under Sydney Harbour. The tunnel will connect the WestConnex Rozelle Interchange with the Warringah Freeway in North Sydney. Once complete and via the Beaches Link, there will be a continuous connection from WestConnex at Rozelle to Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
The NSW 2021-22 Budget allocated $6.3 billion over the next four years for the Western Harbour Tunnel, Beaches Link and Warringah Freeway Upgrade, including $454 million in FY2021-22.
The successful tenderer will be announced later this year.
Construction for Western Harbour Tunnel is expected to be completed in 2027.
The Western Harbour Tunnel will be the second road tunnel under Sydney Harbour.
Melbourne Airport is addressing growing traffi c congestion through the construction of an elevated loop road network.
Construction for a new elevated road linking Melbourne’s Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne Airport’s Terminal four has resumed, after the project was put on hold in early 2020 due to COVID-19 impacts.
The two-stage project was fi rst announced in 2019, aiming to create a more streamlined exit from the Tullamarine Freeway to all Melbourne Airport terminals, so travellers would no longer need to navigate roundabouts and busy intersections.
Stage one of the project was approved by the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development in 2019 and a $60 million contract was awarded to Seymour Whyte in November 2019. However, the project was put on hold due to COVID-19 impacts, international and domestic border closures, and severe effects on the aviation industry.
As restrictions eased and borders reopened, and with the intent to restart the economy and get ready to welcome back domestic passengers and tourists, Australia Pacifi c Airports (Melbourne) approached Seymour Whyte in August 2021 to restart works as part of the initial contract.
A further $260 million is earmarked for stage two of the road upgrade, which may include a second elevated link to facilitate better connections to Terminals one, two and three.
The T4 Express Link will improve airport access and deliver a 30 per cent faster journey to T4 compared to current travel times. It’s expected to carry 5000 vehicles per day when completed.
Once both stages are complete, the project will add around 1.6 kilometres of new road to the airport’s existing network.
FUNDING BOOST FOR NSW’S M1 PACIFIC MOTORWAY EXTENSION
TheFederalGovernmentis investing a further $80 million for the delivery of the M1 Pacifi c Motorway Extension.
The project will duplicate the only remaining two-lane section of the Townsville Ring Road.
The Federal Government is investing a further $80 million for the delivery of the M1 Pacifi c Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace in Hunter, New South Wales – bringing the Australian Government’s total investment in the project to $1.68 billion.
The $2.1 billion project is being jointly funded by the Australian and the NSW governments, with the NSW Government committing the remaining $420 million.
The upgrade includes 15 kilometres of dual carriageway motorway with two lanes in each direction bypassing Hexham and Heatherbrae, interchanges at Black Hill, Tarro, Tomago, and Raymond Terrace and a 2.6-kilometre-long bridge over Woodlands Close, the Main Northern Railway, New England Highway and Hunter River.
The project will aim to improve connections between the M1 Pacifi c Motorway and the Pacifi c Highway, improve traffi c fl ows, improve accessibility and improve safety.
This additional funding will also enable the delivery of the Hexham Straight Widening project, which is currently going through planning approval processes.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said the extension will get people home sooner and safer and keep freight moving.
“This will ease congestion for more than 25,000 vehicles a day travelling between Newcastle and Maitland, keeping commuters moving and giving them time back in their day,” he said.
Transport for NSW called for registrations of interest from prequalifi ed contractors in October last year to deliver the extension project. There is currently a call for supply partners to register their details for the project.
The construction of four new bridges and overpasses are progressing on the Townsville Ring Road in Queensland, as works advance on the Townsville Ring Road Stage fi ve (TRR5) project.
The TRR5 project will duplicate the only remaining two-lane section of the Townsville Ring Road between Vickers Bridge and Shaw Road.
In addition to improving road safety and traffi c effi ciency, the TRR5 project will improve local connectivity to important employment centres and essential services in Townsville, including Lavarack Barracks, James Cook University and Townsville University Hospital.
The TRR5 project will also see the installation of Intelligent Transport Systems, drainage for fl ood mitigation and noise mitigation measures.
In August 2020, TMR awarded a contract to the Georgiou AECOM consortium to design and construct the TRR5 project.
As a result of the works, more than $40 million has been injected into Townsville and the surrounding region.
Bridge piling has already been complete on two of the four major structures.
The $230 million upgrade project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments on an 80:20 funding split. It is due for completion in 2023.
