Ferrovial’s first project in Australia, the Nelson Bay Road Upgrade Project, was officially opened.
On the 18th May 2015, The Nelson Bay Road Upgrade Project, Ferrovial’s first project in Australia was officially opened by The NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight – Hon. Duncan Gay and Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter and Central Coast, Scott MacDonald. “ The upgrade was funded though the NSW Government’s Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund and will improve road safety and provide more reliable travel times for the 7,000 motorist using this road each day when travelling between Newcastle and Port Stephens,” Mr Gay said.
The Nelson Bay Road is the main arterial link connecting Newcastle to Williamtown and the Tomaree Peninsula. Nelson Bay Road is the only route servicing the Tomaree Peninsula and various township between Newcastle and Nelson Bay, which carries a large volume of local and tourist traffic. The Nelson Bay Road Upgrade Project between Bobs Farm and Anna Bay involved reconstruction of 4.2 km of existing two lane single carriageway to a dual carriageway. The project’s other key feature are Landscape medians, 10 upgraded bus bays, new streetlights, 5 U-turn Bays, pedestrian refuges, 2 fauna underpasses and 2.5 km of fauna fencing for koalas and other native species.
Having awarded the project around July 2013, one of the key challenges faced by the Ferrovial Project team was being able to construct the civil works while constantly maintaining accesses to local business, residential properties and at the same time minimise any disruption to motorist. The project also included utility relocation work consisting of Electrical, Telecommunication and Water Infrastructure which had to be conducted on pre-planned outages or shut downs. During the construction temporary koala fencing was also established at certain location in which local koalas were tagged and monitored to ensure that the local population was not affected by the road works. The project team, through detailed planning, consultation with the client and stakeholders were able to develop a complex construction staging plan that became the main tool used for the project’s delivery. The project team had to implement multiple traffic switches to enable to complete the road upgrade project which was delivered two months ahead of program, with the final product completed surpassing client expectation in terms of ride quality.
Over 900 personnel working 160,000 man hours were involved in the delivery of the Nelson Bay Road Upgrade Project. Ferrovial project team’s main highlight, aside from being the first project in Australia, was being able to deliver the project without any Lost Time Injury (LTI). The Project will also be remembered for winning the 2014 NSW Roads and Maritime Services Construction Quality Award in the Environmental Performance and Innovation Category. As Ferrovial’s first project in Australia draws to a successful close, the project team looks forward to continuing to grow with Ferrovial in Australia.
