A consortium comprising Thiess, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Hyder Consulting has been selected to partner with the NSW RTA to build the eastern section of the Hunter Expressway. Construction work will begin early next year.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the successful consortium last week.
Once completed in 2013, the $1.7 billion Hunter Expressway will provide a new, faster east-west connection between Newcastle and the Lower Hunter.
The new four-lane Expressway is being constructed under two contracts, with the eastern section (F3 Freeway to Kurri Kurri) to be built under an alliance and the western section (Kurri Kurri to Branxton) under a design and construct contract.
NSW Transport Minister, David Campbell, also last week announced the construction companies short-listed to build the western section.
"The RTA has assessed the bids received and I can confirm that Abigroup Contractors, Leighton Contractors/BMD Constructions, and Thiess have been invited to participate in the next stage of the selection process," said Mr Campbell.
"After a further detailed assessment the final tender will be awarded to one of these construction companies by the middle of next year, with work expected to start on the 26 kilometre western section in late 2010.
"In the meantime, the RTA will finalise the necessary property acquisitions and the relocation of utilities."
Kempsey Bypass Alliance, comprising Leighton Contractors, AECOM and Coffey Geotechnics, has been selected as the preferred proponent to deliver the first of two major works packages on the Kempsey Bypass project in partnership with the RTA.
As part of the upgrade of the Pacific Highway, the Kempsey Bypass Alliance scope of works includes the design and construction of 14.5km of four-lane divided highway from Kempsey to Frederickton, excluding 2.2km of major bridge crossings of the Macleay River and floodplain.
Mike Metcalfe, General Manager NSW/ACT, Construction Division of Leighton Contractors, said last week the announcement cleared the way for the continued upgrade of the Pacific Highway.
“Leighton Contractors is pleased to have the opportunity to continue to work with the RTA and its alliance partners on the Pacific Highway upgrade, drawing on our expertise and experience from similarly complex construction environments such as the Ballina Bypass,” Mr Metcalfe said.
The Kempsey Bypass Alliance will now work with the RTA to finalise the commercial arrangement and sign a project alliance agreement. Subject to this, the Leighton Contractors component of the works on the Kempsey Bypass Alliance project is valued at approximately $300 million.
For more information about the Kempsey Bypass visit the project website (click on Kempsey to Eungai).
A $10 million planning study is set to begin on Melbourne’s next major road connection, linking the Port of Melbourne to the Western Ring Road.
Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, said last week the WestLink project would create a vital road connection to the western suburbs, catering for a future Melbourne that would be home to more than five million people.
“WestLink is an important project for Melbourne that will reduce over-reliance on the West Gate Bridge, cater for the planned expansion of the Port of Melbourne, remove cars and trucks from local roads, create more jobs and improve our way of life,” the Minister said.
“A key element of the WestLink project will be a road tunnel between the Port of Melbourne and Geelong Road and Sunshine Road, running under the Maribyrnong River and protecting the communities of Footscray and Seddon.
“The $10 million two-and-a-half-year planning study will also consider upgrades to Sunshine Road, Dempster Street and Paramount Road and a longer-term road connection between the tunnels in West Footscray and the Western Ring Road in Sunshine West.”
Due to the size and scale of WestLink, Mr Pallas said the study would be managed by Linking Melbourne Authority, working in close partnership with VicRoads and the Department of Transport.
Linking Melbourne Authority has awarded a $5.2 million contract to specialist planning consultants Aecom, Aurecon and GHD to assist with technical investigations into matters like traffic, groundwater, geotechnical conditions and social impact assessments.
In other Victorian road news, the first of two major contracts for the construction of the Nagambie Bypass has been awarded, clearing the way for work to begin by the end of the year. BMD Constructions has won the contract to duplicate a 3.5 kilometre section of the highway between Kirwans Bridge-Longwood Road and Weir Road.
The Nagambie Bypass is a jointly funded projected, with the Federal Government investing $216 million, and the Victorian Government a further $44.4 million over four years.
The NSW Government has invited community input on a proposed $4.5 billion expansion of Sydney’s M5 Corridor.
NSW Transport Minister, David Campbell, last week announced the consultation process to shape the environmental assessments for the project.
“The NSW Government is proposing to expand the 32km M5 corridor, which is the main road freight, commercial and passenger route between the Sydney Airport and south west Sydney,” Mr Campbell said.
“Around 95,000 vehicles use this corridor each day and the Government’s proposal would significantly expand the busy roadway.
“Sydney is continuing to change and grow and we need to make sure that our infrastructure is able to cope with future transport demand.”
Mr Campbell said the Government had submitted a funding proposal for the expansion through Infrastructure Australia, but planning work would continue so work could commence as quickly as possible, once funding was available.
“It is important we get the M5 corridor ‘shovel ready’ so we are ready to start building as soon as funding becomes available,” Mr Campbell said.
The proposed M5 corridor expansion includes:
The NRMA welcomed the Government’s announcement, saying an expansion of the M5 Motorway would significantly improve the daily travel for more than 100,000 Sydney motorists and provide trucks with better access to Sydney's growing ports.
NRMA President Wendy Machin said the announcement was exactly the type of infrastructure planning Sydney needed.
More information on the proposed upgrade is available at www.m5corridorexpansion.com.au
Public submissions close on February 16.
A new report from Ernst & Young has revealed superannuation funds are unlikely to increase infrastructure investment while projects are offered in their current form.
The trillion dollar question report explores some of the myths about the superannuation industry, identifies barriers to infrastructure investment and explores ways to remove the hurdles.
The report concludes that the risk/return profile of many of these investment opportunities, the lack of a national pipeline of infrastructure projects and the complexity and disparate nature of bid processes, are preventing the nation’s savings from being channelled into economic development.
It says Governments have opportunities to attract superannuation as a long-term infrastructure player by looking at other credit instruments, reducing risk, increasing transparency, standardising processes and clarifying regulation.
The report can be downloaded at the Ernst & Young website.
The Federal and Victorian governments used the occasion of a major conference on intelligent transport systems held in Melbourne last week to announce important initiatives in this area.
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced a parliamentary inquiry into smart infrastructure to look at the role it can play in the transport, communications, energy and water sectors, while Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, launched a new discussion paper from his Government, iTransport - Transport technology in Victoria.
Both Ministers were addressing the Australian Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Summit 2009.
Minister Albanese said his Government’s initiative provided an opportunity for industry and the community to provide feedback about the problems that needed to be addressed by smart infrastructure.
“I am looking forward to receiving advice on the ways smart infrastructure can lift productivity, enhance service delivery, reduce congestion, make infrastructure greener, and improve safety,” he said.
“I am also looking for advice on how the Government can best address some of the concerns raised by smart infrastructure.
“For example, how do we address the range of privacy challenges that such technologies pose?
“How do we enable companies, particularly those large numbers of small operators in road transport, to fully explore the opportunities that smart infrastructure offers?
“What is the role for industry in providing leadership?
“Smart technology isn’t something we can bolt-on to our concrete and bitumen and steel later on, it has to be incorporated into infrastructure planning at the conceptual stage, and we have to start doing it now.”
The full copy of the Minister’s speech can be downloaded at his website.
Meantime Minister Pallas released his Government’s iTransport discussion paper, which looks at innovations in and experiences with ITS solutions in Australia and overseas, considering how they can be used in Victoria into the future to manage roads, improve transport operation and achieve a more efficient freight industry.
“Victoria has been at the forefront of using ITS solutions to address transport challenges – a leader in introducing freeway travel time information, dynamic variable speeds limits dependant and coordinated freeway ramp signalling,” he said.
“We know from investment in smart technology on major projects, such as the M1 upgrade and its freeway management system, that we can move more people and freight, more reliably, quickly and safely using ITS.”
Speaking at the Summit, Mr Pallas also launched a new VicRoads online tool to help people make smarter travel choices, with access to vision of real-time traffic conditions.
The iTransport discussion paper can be downloaded at the VicRoads website.
The Queensland Government has unveiled sweeping plans to modernise Brisbane’s public transport network - including an underground rail network to be built under the city over the next two decades – to help the south-east corner cope with unprecedented inner-city population growth.
Speaking at a Leadership Queensland conference in Brisbane last week, Premier Anna Bligh said it was almost impossible to build more road capacity into the CBD, “so we must look at other options”.
Ms Bligh said it was essential that plans were fast-tracked to rethink the state capital’s transport network as Queensland geared up for massive growth, including a doubling of the population over the next 50 years.
Those plans included an international-standard underground metro rail network similar to the London tube and the Paris Metro.
The critical short term step in the new public transport plan was delivering the first, $8 billion stage of Brisbane’s Cross River Rail, a vital piece of infrastructure for the whole region that will unlock suburban heavy rail expansion.
“It’s a simple formula – more people means more cars on the road,” Ms Bligh said.
“Every hour of every day 12 more people call Queensland home.
“Every day there are 920 000 trips to the inner city - in 20 years, that will spike to more than two million trips a day and if you consider that today 80 per cent of all travel is by car, these are figures we cannot ignore.
“I realise there have been discussions about a return of trams and light rail to our city streets, but outside of our Busways, which were designed to accommodate light rail if needed, the time for trams in the CBD is over.
“That means we need to look outside the square and under the earth - the future of rail planning for the centre of the city is underground.”
Meantime, in other Queensland news the $1.88 billion Gateway Upgrade Project delivered another major project milestone on the weekend, when three new lanes were opened to southbound traffic on a four-kilometre section of the Gateway Motorway.
And AECOM has been chosen to partner with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads to undertake the Yeppen Flood Plan Study, with work now underway.
The first stage of the Great Northern Highway Upgrade at Port Hedland in WA has been completed two months ahead of schedule.
The completed work covers the Pinga Street and Wallwork Road intersections on the Great Northern Highway, as well as construction of a fourth lane on the Highway from Wallwork Road to the Port Hedland Road intersection.
The projects represent the first stage of a $200 million investment in the Great Northern Highway at Port Hedland, to which the Federal Government has committed $160 million and the Western Australian Government $40 million.
The next stage of the project will involve realigning the Great Northern Highway around the northwest side of Wedgefield, with the necessary planning already underway.
Roads Australia’s Capacity Chapter met in Adelaide for the first time last week, bringing together government and industry representatives to discuss a range of capacity issues.
The workshop was hosted by the Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure and addressed by the Department’s Deputy Chief Executive, Rod Hook.
RA’s Policy Director, Christine Keyes, said the workshop attracted a good roll up from both government and the private sector to discuss industry capacity issues in South Australia.
It follows on from similarly successful workshops with the RTA, Queensland Transport and Main Roads, and VicRoads.
“The Capacity Chapter has provided an excellent forum for the private sector and road authorities in each of these states to raise a raft of issues relating to work programs, procurement processes and industry capacity,” she said.
“Through these and future meetings, we hope to achieve truly national outcomes for the industry.”
Almost 300 delegates at the Australian Local Government Association's 2009 National Local Roads and Transport Congress meeting have called for a detailed intergovernmental national strategic transport vision to respond to population projections of 35 million by 2049 and a doubling of freight volume by 2020.
"Our cities urgently need coordinated and integrated planning by the three levels of government to address the pressing issues of aging and social inclusion, congestion and carbon emissions," ALGA President, Cr Geoff Lake, told delegates at the conference held in Mackay earlier this month.
"I welcome the Federal Government's move into urban planning and public transport, however, in the foreseeable future, motor vehicles will continue to dominate transport and local government wants to see all levels of government on the front foot in planning for our future road and freight needs.
"Local government has responsibility for over 80 per cent of Australian roads," Cr Lake said.
"It is becoming increasingly difficult for local government to meet the funding needs associated with maintaining this vast national asset. As almost every trip begins and ends on a local road, appropriate investment in our local roads is essential for boosting the nation's productive capacity. Local government wants to work closely with the Commonwealth Government to secure an increased investment in our local road network."
In a Communique issued from the Congress, delegates have called for:
The Communique is available at the ALGA website under Recent updates.
Seven top road safety experts have been appointed to the recently established National Road Safety Council.
Announcing the appointment’s earlier this month, Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, said the Council’s immediate task would be to advise governments on the development of the next 10-year National Road Safety Strategy, which will set an ambitious, long-term vision for road safety improvements and adopt explicit national targets.
They would also be able to commission research into the effectiveness of potential as well as existing measures designed to reduce the road toll, Mr Albanese said.
The Council will be chaired by Roger Cook AM, the current chair of the South Australian Motor Accident Commission.
The other members are Emeritus Professor MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, Former Dean, Indigenous Research and Education, Charles Darwin University; Ann Bunnell, Chair, Australian Foundation of the Alliance for Healthy Cities; Freda Crucitti, President, Australian Automobile Association; Wayne Gardner AM, former world motorcycle racing champion; and Dr Soames Job, Director, NSW Centre for Road Safety with the RTA; and Professor Ian Johnston AM, Deputy Chairman, National Transport Commission.
The Federal Government has also appointed Road Safety Ambassadors to aid the Council's efforts to communicate their road safety message to the broader community. They are trucking magnate Lindsay Fox, former AFL star David Wirrpanda, TV personality Mel Doyle, and Melbourne radio identity Neil Mitchell.
Council members and ambassadors have been appointed for terms of three years. The Council’s operations will be jointly funded by the Commonwealth as well as state and territory governments.
A free one-day seminar and workshop on infrastructure procurement, hosted by the QUT Faculty of Built Environment & Engineering School of Urban Development, is being held in Brisbane on December 4.
The seminar/workshop aims to update government, business leaders, academics and researchers involved with infrastructure delivery on developments concerning a federally funded research project that aims to enhance value for money in infrastructure delivery through reforms in procurement.
The project has attracted an unprecedented level of collaboration among state treasury departments around the country, along with leading infrastructure contractors, consultants and industry bodies.
Most importantly, this seminar/workshop event will give participants an opportunity to help shape future directions and scope for the project.
Delegates will also hear from Infrastructure Australia concerning current and near term tasks, as well as from the National PPP Forum on infrastructure programs and pipelines.
Other topics include the global outlook for PPPs following the global financial crisis, and research on procuring infrastructure and PPPs.
The seminar/workshop will be held on Friday December 4 at QUT, Gardens Point Campus. Although free of charge, you must pre-register to attend. To view details and to register visit the seminar website.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Monday November 23rd 2009 1:03pm
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