The RTA and Hills Motorway Ltd last month signed the contract for the delivery of the M2 Motorway widening project. Leighton Contractors has been appointed principal contractor for the design and construction of the $550 million upgrade.
The upgrade will provide around 18 km of new traffic lanes, with work to commence before the end of this year and completion due in two years.
The project will generate around 800 construction and engineering jobs as well as 2,400 indirect jobs during the life of the project, according to NSW Roads Minister, David Borger.
“The upgrade will be paid for by the Hills Motorway Ltd, with whom the former Coalition Government signed the initial contract in 1994. The M2 concession will now be extended by four years, and there will be a one-off toll increase of 7.7 per cent on completion of the work,” the Minister said.
The final step in a major upgrade to Mackay’s southern approaches is a step closer, with tenders called for Stage 3 of the project on the Bruce Highway.
Stage 3 involves duplication of the Bruce Highway south of Mackay from Temples Lane to Farrellys Road.
As well as increasing capacity with two extra traffic lanes, the project also includes the installation of traffic signals at Temples Lane intersection and construction of a roundabout at the Stockroute Road intersection.
Queensland Main Roads Minister, Craig Wallace, said his department was delivering the project on behalf of the Federal Government.
“We have already completed duplication works on the highway between Farrellys Road and Boundary Road, and the upgrade of the busy City Gates intersection has just got underway,” Mr Wallace said.
“These works are the final piece of the jigsaw, and will result in four lanes of traffic all the way from Bakers Creek to City Gates.”
Construction is expected to commence in early 2011, subject to weather conditions.
Tender documentation is available from www.tmr.qld.gov.au, or by calling the Transport and Main Roads office in Mackay on (07) 4951 8555.
Melbourne’s $2.25 billion M80 Ring Road Upgrade has reached another milestone, with the contract awarded last month to Leighton Contractors for the next section of works between the Western Highway and Furlong Road in St Albans.
The contract to widen the road between Western Highway and Furlong Road is part of the second major section of the Ring Road to be upgraded, complementing the work recently started between Furlong Road and Sunshine Avenue, and continuing between Calder Freeway and Sydney Road.
Victorian Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, said works for this latest contract included construction of an additional two lanes in each direction, reinforcement works on seven bridges and resurfacing works to provide increased capacity and a safer driving environment.
The works between Western Highway and Furlong Road are expected to start early next year and be completed in 2013.
Meantime in other Victorian road news, construction started last month on a new $110 million freeway connection extending five kilometres from Anglesea Road at Waurn Ponds to the Princes Highway at Mount Duneed.
On Peninsula Link, works are ramping up with the commencement of major earthworks.
And Mr Pallas today announced a $36 million upgrade package to deliver a range of safety improvement projects on the 430 kilometre stretch of the Princes Highway East from Gippsland at the Bunyip River to the New South Wales border.
Cut and Fill has been awarded the contract to build the seventh and final stage of the Bass Highway duplication project.
“Stage 7 of this project is the final stage of the overall $132 million Bass Highway duplication project between Lang Lang and Anderson,” Roads and Ports Minister, Tim Pallas, said last week.
“Once Stage 7 is completed in 2013, most of the trip for drivers between Melbourne and Phillip Island will be on a four-lane divided highway.”
Mr Pallas said the final stage of the Bass Highway upgrade was due to commence in early 2011, generating more than 470 jobs over the life of the project and boosting the local economy.
Stage 7 runs from Hade Avenue at Bass to Phillip Island Road and includes an upgrade of some of the existing Bass Highway, additional lanes between Woolmer and Coast Roads, two overpasses and a two lane, two-way link road from Bass Highway through to Phillip Island Road.
Roads Australia is hosting a meeting of the Funding and Financing Chapter in Sydney on November 18 - the day after the landmark Sustainability Forum.
Seats are still available for both events, as well as this week’s inaugural Perth Forum (November 4), sponsored by Aurecon and Macmahon.
RA is also hosting its first Local Government Forum in Melbourne on November 12, proudly supported by the Department of Transport, ConnectEast and VicRoads.
RA Chief Executive, Ian Webb, says the Funding and Financing Chapter meeting on November 18 will look at policy options for new funding solutions for infrastructure.
The meeting is free but attendees are asked to register online for catering purposes.
Meantime, seats for the Sustainability Forum on November 17 are filling fast. Sponsored by Transurban, this event will bring together leading experts on climate change to examine the likely impact on road infrastructure, as well as industry leaders discussing the business case for sustainability.
Click here for the latest program and registration details.
Downer EDI Limited today announced over $455 million in contract wins across Australia, with Downer’s share of the contract revenue totalling approximately $280 million.
Downer’s Works division, in partnership with the leading international consultancy Mouchel, has signed an Integrated Service Arrangement (ISA) with Main Roads Western Australia. This is the first contract win for the recently formed strategic joint venture, DownerMouchel.
The Metropolitan ISA agreement is for the delivery of fence-to-fence road network asset management on more than 2,500 lane-kilometres of road within the Perth metropolitan network. The contract includes the maintenance of State owned and operated assets within the region, including pavements, drainage systems, roadside areas, signs and markings, bridges and dual-use paths.
The annual value is not fixed and will be governed by priorities and budgets. However, it is expected the ISA budget will be over $50 million each year for an initial period of five years with the opportunity to extend the agreement based on performance.
Downer Chief Executive Officer, Grant Fenn, said: “The Metropolitan ISA represents the latest generation in road network maintenance alliances in Australia.”
DownerMouchel has also been awarded preferred supplier status by Main Roads Western Australia for the Mid-West ISA Agreement covering the Gascoyne region. As with the Metropolitan ISA, the annual value of the Mid-West Gascoyne ISA contract will be governed by priorities and budgets, however it is expected that approximately A$35 million will be spent each year for an initial period of five years with the opportunity to extend.
In addition to the Metropolitan ISA and the Interim Mid-West Gascoyne ISA, Downer has secured a five year contract renewal, valued at over A$30 million, to deliver routine road maintenance services on Yarra Ranges Council’s road network east of Melbourne.
The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) and ARRB Group (ARRB) launched the first iRAP Centre of Excellence at the 24th ARRB conference in Melbourne last month.
Rob McInerney, iRAP’s Chief Executive Office, and ARRB’s Managing Director, Gerard Waldron, were present to launch the Centre of Excellence.
The creation of the Centre of Excellence is part of iRAP’s vision for a world free of high risk roads and follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two leading not-for-profit road safety organisations in July 2010.
Mr McInerney said the Centre of Excellence would work to prevent the more than 3,500 deaths that occur every day on the world’s roads during the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020).
“A major focus of the Centre will be on road infrastructure safety in low and middle income countries, where nine out of 10 road deaths occur,” he said.
“We are very pleased to be creating this partnership with ARRB - a world leader in road research - for the benefit of global road safety."
Mr Waldron said the Centre would lead research on issues such as pedestrian safety in urban areas, and would build a network of road safety professionals through training and accreditation.
The Centre of Excellence will support development and delivery of road assessment programmes throughout the Asia Pacific region and establish programmes, including in Australia (AusRAP), New Zealand (KiwiRAP), Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Strong demand for resources-based construction and major infrastructure projects is expected to drive an upturn in the construction sector over the course of 2010/11 and 2011/12, according to the latest Australian Industry Group/Australian Constructors Association Construction Outlook survey.
Released last month, the survey reveals the total value of construction work will rise 5.9 per cent (current dollars) during the 2010/11 financial year and then 7.9 per cent in 2011/12. This is up from a 1.5 per cent growth in 2009/10.
Engineering construction is anticipated to expand the fastest with a revenue lift of 7.3 per cent expected this year and 9.7 per cent in 2011/12. This is largely in response to the many mining and infrastructure projects in the pipeline, together with support from oil and gas processing, telecommunications, power generation and water supply work.
This includes expected expansion in both road (7.7 per cent) and rail projects (7.6 per cent) during 2010/11, in line with a range of large-scale government transport initiatives either underway or in the pipeline.
This expected boost in investment will likely result in jobs growth with employment forecast to rise 6.2 per cent across construction this financial year. However, supply constraints are re-emerging as a significant issue with sourcing of skilled workers expected to impact on the delivery of future projects.
It is anticipated the positive outlook for engineering construction will be strong enough to offset the subdued prospects for non-residential work (2.2 per cent in 2010/11) and the weak apartment building sector (-1.0 per cent in 2010/11 and 4.1 per cent in 2011/12).
Australian Constructors Association (ACA) President, Wal King AO, said the survey confirmed that Australia’s non-residential construction industry was poised for a period of stronger growth, driven by significant planned infrastructure work and a solid pipeline of mining and heavy industrial construction projects.
Mr King also highlighted the risk to the industry from skill shortages.
"Despite this positive outlook, it is clear from the findings that a key risk centres on labour and capital supply shortages. In particular, we are seeing the emergence of critical skilled labour bottlenecks, due largely to rising demand requirements in the resources sector,” he said.
"These supply constraints are already being reflected in the emergence of upward pressures on costs and have the potential to adversely impact on project commencements, and the industry’s growth potential.”
Click here for the full report.
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Monday November 1st 2010 1:32pm
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