An overview of the latest tenders and contracts from around Australia

CONTRACTS IN BRIEF

ROADS & INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON SOME OF THE CONTRACTS AND TENDERS RECENTLY AWARDED OR PUT TO MARKET ACROSS THE AUSTRALIAN INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR.

NEW SOUTH WALES First major tunnelling contract awarded for Sydney Metro West

The first of the three major tunnelling contracts for the Sydney Metro West project has been awarded to the Acciona and Ferrovial Joint Venture. Valued at $1.96 billion, the contract will involve construction of 11 kilometres of twin metro rail tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and The Bays. Additionally, the contract includes excavation and civil works for five new stations at The Bays, Five Dock, Burwood North, North Strathfield and Sydney Olympic Park. Under the contract, two double-shield, hard rock tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be in the ground before the end of next year. The TBMs will use more than 70,000 concrete segments to line the twin tunnels. Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Sydney and the Sydney CBD, with customers able to get from Parramatta to the Sydney CBD in around 20 minutes on a fast, safe and reliable driverless metro train. The contract award follows a competitive tender process involving three shortlisted companies. The remaining two tenderers John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella Australia Joint Venture (JHCPBG JV) and Gamuda and Laing O’Rourke Australia Joint Venture (GALC JV) will now bid for the Western Tunnelling Package, which is expected to be awarded by the end of this year. Completion of the tunnelling contract is expected in 2025.

John Holland, Fulton Hogan share $400M Sydney rail freight projects

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has awarded the contract for design and construction of the Port Botany Rail Line Duplication in Sydney to John Holland, with another major contract awarded to Fulton Hogan to deliver a passing loop at Cabramatta. The two contracts have a combined value of $400 million and form part of the Federal Government’s plans to improve freight movement on Sydney’s rail network and encourage a shift in freight from road to rail. The Botany Rail Duplication will duplicate the remaining 2.9-kilometre section of single line track between Mascot and Botany, while the 1.65-kilometre Cabramatta Loop will allow freight trains up to 1,300-metres in length travelling in either direction on the Southern Sydney Freight Line to pass each other. With one train able to move around the same amount of containers as 54 trucks, the project will support the New South Wales Government’s targets to increase the rail mode share. The project will help meet future demand at Port Botany, where the freight task is predicted to increase by 77 per cent by 2036. Following site mobilisation in the second half of 2021, major construction works on both the Botany Rail Duplication and Cabramatta Loop are scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2022.

Decmil awarded $21M Crookwell wind farm contract

Decmil Group has been selected to deliver the balance of civil works for the Crookwell 3 wind farm project in New South Wales, under an engineering, procurement and construction contract. Located near Goulburn in New South Wales, the 50 megawatt (MW) wind farm is designed to generate enough energy to power 40,000 households. The project was green-lighted last October and is expected to be fully operational in the first half of 2023. Decmil’s contract has a base value of $21 million, with an exercisable option worth a further $2 million. Under the contract, Decmil will be responsible for 16 kilometres of road construction, encompassing both new site access roads and improvements to existing site access roads. Additionally, Decmil will undertake 116,000 cubic metres of bulk earthworks and 6,600 cubic metres of concreting for the towers’ bases. The Crookwell 3 project is being developed by Global Power Generation (GPG) and will include construction of 16 turbines, providing an additional 50 MW of power to the New South Wales energy market via a 330-kilovolt transmission line.

VICTORIA Melbourne Airport Rail early works tender now open

An advanced tender notice for the Melbourne Airport Rail early works package is now live, inviting contractors to pre-qualify for the next stage to deliver essential first works. Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) is inviting interested parties with the requisite experience, capability and capacity for delivery of the early works package to complete the pre-qualification document. The early works package will primarily comprise of utility relocation and protection works along the Melbourne Airport Rail Link alignment. Work is continuing to finalise the utility works required, but at this stage, approximately 250 utilities have been identified as likely needing to be modified/relocated or protected. Completing early works such as utility relocation and protection is a method that has already been successfully used on other major transport infrastructure projects, such as the Metro Tunnel, paving the way for new infrastructure to be built. The utility relocation and protection work will be completed in a way that aims to minimise impacts to people’s day-today lives, ensuring a seamless transition between old and new utility locations. Construction for early works is targeted to start next year, subject to all relevant approvals.