Construction News

Fri March 29 2024

Related Information

Lend Lease and Bouygues land $2.65bn Sydney tunnel

17 Mar 14 A joint venture of Lend Lease and Bouygues has been named preferred bidder for a AU$2.65bn (£1.43bn) tunnelled motorway scheme in Sydney, Australia.

The contract involves the design and construction of the NorthConnex motorway. The award of the contract to the Lend Lease Bouygues joint venture is subject to planning approval and finalisation of contract terms.

Work involves construction of a 9km twin tunnel tolled link from the southern end of the M1 Pacific Motorway at Wahroonga to the Hills M2 Motorway at its existing Pennant Hills Road interchange.

The scheme is being developed by Transurban, which  approached  the  New South Wales government  in  2012 with an unsolicited  proposal to design, build, operate and finance the link.

Related Information

Transurban’s chief executive officer Scott Charlton said that tender process overseen by Transurban had demonstrated the benefits of private sector-led procurement. The benefits included a fast tracked timeframe and turn around, reduced cost for tenderers, and innovative tender solutions. “We received expressions of interest from a number of strong bidding consortia which resulted in delivering a design which is strong on innovation, sustainability and with enhanced outcomes for the road users and residents in the project corridor,” he said.

Charlton addded the design had incorporated a number of lessons learnt from other tunnel projects in order to make sure the NorthConnex tunnels were reaching the highest levels of sustainability and functionality. “On site there will be a high level of construction waste recycling, the builders will maximise collection and reuse of non-potable water while in the tunnel they will establish and run low energy lighting and energy efficient tunnel ventilation systems,” he said.

“This will ensure the design and construction of the tunnel makes it one of the most sustainable road projects currently under way. The selected solution was one that minimises impact on property and the environment. It will have the highest headroom of any road tunnel in Australia and its alignment has been carefully designed to maintain consistent vehicle speed.”

Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk

MPU
MPU

Click here to view latest construction news »