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Integrity | Reliability | Collaboration | Supporting Local Communities

Pacific Motorway M1 – Burleigh to Palm Beach Upgrade

Pacific Motorway M1: Package B – Burleigh to Palm Beach Upgrade (as part of the Varsity Lakes to Tugun M1 Upgrade), SE Qld (2020 – 2024)

This is a $390m project to upgrade 3km of the heavily trafficked M1 Motorway from four lanes to six lanes, between Interchange 87, Burleigh and Nineteenth Ave, Palm Beach. Works include motorway bridge widenings over Tallebudgera Creek, re-locating and reconstructing a major grade-separated intersection at M1 Exit 89, as well as the addition of a western service road and its own new bridge over Tallebudgera Creek. These works are for the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and are being delivered via the SMA Infrastructure JV, a joint venture between SGQ, McIlwain Civil and Albem.

Scope of Work

  • Increase dual carriageway motorway to a minimum of three lanes in each direction, plus auxiliary lanes
  • Construct a total of six new bridges (some using T-girders; some using deck units)
  • Widen three existing motorway bridges (two over Tallebudgera Creek)
  • Upgrade the Tallebudgera Interchange (Exit 89), including ramp extensions and demolition of three bridges
  • Widen Tsipura Drive at the Tallebudgera Interchange
  • Construct new two-way Western Service Road section from Exit 89 (Tallebudgera Interchange) to Exit 92 (Palm Beach Ave Interchange), traversing a new bridge over Tallebudgera Creek
  • Lower Tallebudgera Creek Road under the motorway
  • Build a large fauna underpass (up to 15-metres wide & 55-metres long), connecting the Burleigh to Springbrook bioregional wildlife corridor
  • Construct connection of the dedicated active transport path from Varsity Lakes, complete with transitions to active transport paths on the new western service road
  • Replace the existing concrete road surface with stone mastic asphalt for a quieter and more readily maintained road surface
  • Major Public Utility Plant (PUP) protection, relocations & coordination
  • Large volume cut-to-fill earthworks, including across flood-prone soft-soils
  • Upgrade existing and install new drainage infrastructure
  • D&C of PFAS contaminated soil removal and soft-soil treatments
  • Construct heavy motorway pavements
  • Rubblisation of existing pavements.
  • Install Smart Motorway technologies
  • Construct new and amend existing street lighting infrastructure
  • Construction of extensive noise walls
  • Concrete Barrier, Guardrail and Wire Rope Installation
  • Landscaping
  • Liaison & Coordination with local councils, companies and residents

Notable Aspects

  • The contract was won through an ETI (Early Tenderer Involvement) tender process
  • Fully integrated Joint Venture management and site team
  • Complex project management of multi-staged Pacific Highway construction works, under very heavy live traffic
  • Major bridge widenings and new bridge over the sensitive
  • Tallebudgera Creek and immediately adjacent to ongoing heavy traffic
  • Extensive new bridge construction under the existing motorway lanes
  • Key PUP works
  • Determine extent of and remove PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contaminated soils
  • Major soft-soil issues to address under widenings (the JV’s D&C solution for these works achieved a large saving for the client)
  • Extensive ground improvement treatments – including wick-drains & CFA piling
  • Management of Acid Sulphate Soils
  • Large scale bulk earthworks
  • Full culvert reconstructions of very large culverts under the existing, constantly trafficked motorway
  • Extensive LBIL (Lightly Bound Improvement Layer) pavements
  • Extensive deep lift asphalt pavements
  • Design and installation of ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) infrastructure
  • Sensitive environmental/cultural heritage issues to manage, including the PFAS & Acid Sulphate soils
  • Extensive, detailed stakeholder & community liaison & management, including with TMR, Gold Coast City Council, local businesses, general public and motorists
  • Including with respect to the popular recreational usage of Tallebudgera Creek
  • Maintaining positive, productive relationships between SMA, TMR and their consultants to optimise outcomes
  • Value-adding achieved through the D&C elements and collaborative working

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