Integrity | Reliability | Collaboration | Supporting Local Communities

Bruce Highway Safety Package, Pineapple Hill

Bruce Highway Safety Package, Pineapple Hill, near Maryborough, Qld (2017 – 2018)

The $13m Pineapple Hill works for the Department of Transport & Main Roads (TMR) involved upgrading the busy Bruce Highway to provide a 1m central median, pavement widening and strengthening and multiple overtaking lanes. The works were mostly undertaken under live traffic and were located at a number of highway sections between 12 and 20 kms south of Maryborough.

Scope of Work

  • Road widening and reconstruction
  • Upgrade intersection works 
  • Extensive cut to fill earthworks 
  • Pavements (including heavy duty CTB)
  • Bitumen & asphalt surfacing (including deep-lift AC)
  • Kerb & channel, guardrail
  • CTB sidetrack construction around a multi-cell 2100*2100 box culvert
  • Some specific key quantities included:
    • 20,000 tonne of asphalt 
    • 20,000 m3 of road base 
    • 7,300m3 of 400mm deep rock blanket subgrade treatment
    • Multiple pipe and box culverts, up to 2.1 x 2.1 box units
    • 1300 m of guardrail 

Notable Aspects

  • Heavy, high-speed traffic environment – up to 12,000 vehicles per day, with 20% heavy vehicles
  • Extensive detailed traffic and construction staging 
  • Very poor ground conditions were overcome with rock mattresses, “Combigrid” reinforcing and extra depth pavement materials
  • A two-lane sidetrack with 12x 900 dia pipes, suitable for the heavy traffic, was enacted at the largest culvert 
  • Management of weather impacts was a constant requirement, with consistent rain events throughout the works, especially during the AC works – and included effectively managing the effects of Cyclone Debbie in late March 2017, to successfully mitigate time & cost effects
  • All local stakeholders were satisfied with the minimal disruptions, including the commercial enterprises within the extent of the contract, who were not impeded by the construction and for whom better access was provided at no extra cost to the client
  • Productive, collaborative working occurred with TMR throughout, to address various design & construction issues, including the persistent wet weather and to ensure best possible final ride quality 
  • Value engineering options identified by SGQ included the following adopted measures:
    • Introducing a method to enable the guardrail to be readily installed through 250mm of deep-lift asphalt
    • The adoption of “Combigrid” over unsuitable ground sections.
    • Asphalt pavement night-works were introduced to expedite the program

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