NVC Precast were chosen to manufacture U-Trough beams based on its experience in precast.
LEVEL CROSSING
INNOVATION ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE SPEAKS TO NVC PRECAST ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF USING PREFABRICATED CONCRETE U-TROUGH BEAMS IN AN AUSTRALIAN FIRST ON A LEVEL CROSSING REMOVAL PROJECT.
T
he Level Crossing Removal Project will see 75 level crossings throughout Melbourne removed by 2025 in order to increase safety, reduce travel times and better connect communities across the city. So far 29 level crossings have been removed and completed across Melbourne, including one at Skye Road in Frankston. For the first time in Australia, the Level Crossing Removal Authority, principle contractor, designers, engineers and NVC Precast worked together to deliver the elevated rail using prefabricated concrete U-Trough beams. The design of the Skye Level Crossing Removal used 24 prefabricated concrete U-Trough beams, that were over 6 metre 54
ROADS SEPTEMBER 2019
wide, 30 metres in length and weighing an impressive 280 tonnes to construct the rail bridge using Rapid On-Line Construction techniques. This reduced the rail occupation period and sped up the overall construction of the project for the benefit of the community. NVC Precast were chosen to manufacture the U-Trough beams based on their experience in precast and the L-Beams used for elevated rail for level crossing removal. NVC Precast were able to manufacture and store the beams at their precasting facility in Kilmore Victoria, coordinating delivery to arrive just in time to be erected on site. The U-Trough beams were produced by stitching two precast concrete L-beams
together which were between 25 and 31 metres long with masses up to 120 tonnes each, creating a single unit that weighted up to 280 tonnes. The project involved extensive planning to create the forms and casting beds for the manufacture of the beams, the plant to transport them to site, and to create the infrastructure for the stitching and loading at the precast yard. NVC Precast Construction Manager oversaw the casting of the L-Beams and the process for the stitching of the U Troughs which took four weeks to complete in April 2018. NVC Precast manufacture up to four L-beams at a time casting 140 to 160 m3 to produce 12 L-Beams per week. To create a single segment U-Trough Beam, 50% of
