The City Rail Link (CRL), which is being delivered by a McConnell Dowell and Hawkins Joint Venture, has been awarded a ‘Leading’ Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Design rating by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA), the highest possible achievement in the IS scheme.
The rating to Auckland Transport is for the design and construction planning of Contract 2 – Albert Street tunnels and a stormwater diversion.
To award a rating, ISCA considers project performance across six themes: Management & Governance; Using Resources; Emissions, Pollution & Waste; Ecology; People & Place; and Innovation. The process the CRL has undertaken to engage and partner with Mana Whenua (the local Maori people who hold customary rights in that area) to embed cultural values into an industry recognised sustainability framework has been acknowledged as a ‘world first’ innovation.
Auckland Transport worked closely with Mana Whenua to tailor the IS tool to suit not only Auckland, but also the New Zealand cultural context. Also through this partnership with Mana Whenua, the CRL design is developing a cultural richness and sense of place, which will be carried through to the completed project.
“The sheer scale and significance of the CRL means taking a sustainable approach throughout the project lifecycle, is not an option, it just makes sense. This recognition tells us we’re on the right track to achieving our sustainability goals,” says Auckland Transport Project Director Chris Meale.
The submission to ISCA consisted of design documentation produced through the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) phase with AT’s Principal Technical Advisors (Aurecon with Mott MacDonald, Jasmax, Grimshaw and Arup) and delivery partner Connectus, the McConnell Dowell/Hawkins joint venture.
The City Rail Link Contract 2 package achieved a rating score of 78.7, well above the 50 points required to gain an ‘Excellent’ rating.
Sustainability underpins the entire CRL project from inception, planning and construction and through life operation. The CRL is the first public transport project in New Zealand to measure carbon emissions associated with the construction and operation of the stations and tunnels, with data on energy and water use and waste generation being collected monthly during construction.
Key CRL sustainability initiatives planned over the project lifetime include:
- Switching from diesel generators to grid electricity during construction
- The use of LED street-lighting for the Albert Street reinstatement
- Collaborating with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to promote efficient driving and monitor machinery during construction to reduce fuel use
- Changing excavation methods to reduce diesel and water use
- Installing tree pits in the street to collect and filter stormwater runoff.
After 14 months in the Northern Territory, the Amadeus team have completed the last of the facilities along the Amadeus Gas Pipeline between Darwin and Mereenie, approximately 300km west of Alice Springs.
APA awarded the project to McConnell Dowell in May 2015, whereby the existing coating of the below ground pipework at 25 facilities was to be removed and replaced with a new epoxy coating, and the sites reinstated to their original condition. An additional facility was added to the project scope during execution of the site works, taking the total number of stations completed to 26.
Battling the heat and remote locations, and travelling long distances, the McConnell Dowell project team did an outstanding job of completing the work safely and to a high standard. The relationship between APA and McConnell Dowell was exceptional, and the site personnel worked extremely well together to ensure the success of the project.
“McConnell Dowell faced some extremely challenging conditions over the life of this project and to their credit have completed the works without major incident and with zero lost time injuries.” Senior Project Engineer Ben Tibenszky, APA Group
McConnell Dowell Project Manager Grant Kruger “The work was physically demanding and the heat was a significant factor to address. Following our governing procedures for the challenging conditions the team did a great job. The project was successfully completed safely and on time."
Some statistics from the project:
Site Mobilisation: 03/07/2015
Site Demobilisation: 23/08/2016
Project Sites Completed: 26 (9 MLV, 4 offtake, 5 meter stations and 8 scraper station)
Project Sites Spread over 1700 driving kilometres
In excess of 250,000 driving KM’s
Volume of Soil Excavated: Approximately 6675m3
Pipe Painted: Approximately 1400 m2
Health, Safety & Environment
Days on Site: 319
Man Hours: 30,000+ (combined APA and McConnell Dowell)
Lost Time Injuries: 0
APA Management Interactions: 85
Permits Issued: 340
Permits Reviewed: 40
SWMS Reviews: 87
Inductions: 54
McConnell Dowell is pleased to announce that the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore has awarded McConnell Dowell South East Asia Pte Ltd the tender for design and build of road access at Tuas View Basin.
The scope of the Contract involves the design and construction of 2 permanent Viaducts from Tuas South Avenue 9 to Tuas View Basin including foundations, abutments, approach structures, approach slabs, marine deck, utility trench, retaining structures, drainage system, asphalt wearing course, M&E Works, future water pipe and other bridge related works for both structures. The Project has commenced with a construction period of 2 years to be completed in 2018.
The Project also requires McConnell Dowell to carry out Design and Construction of drainage, road widening and re-grading works at 4 major locations along with required ground improvements and the Installation of 3m high visual and noise barriers.
These two viaducts are required to provide access for new key Singapore Infrastructure such as the NEA Integrated Waste Management Facility and the PUB Tuas Water Reclamation Plant.
The company looks forward to undertaking these works with the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore.
The O-Bahn City Access Project in South Australia has reached another milestone over the weekend with the realignment of East Terrace near Rymill Park.
In preparation for the next stage of the project, traffic travelling on East Terrace between Grenfell and Hutt Streets will be switched to a new section of road, to the west of the existing alignment.
The O-Bahn City Access Project will create a 670metre tunnel linking priority bus lanes on Hackney Road and Grenfell Street to improve travel times and reliability for Adelaide’s busiest public transport network, as well as for traffic on the City Ring Route.
“Not only does the O-Bahn City Access Project represent a significant investment in building a stronger public transport network, it will provide enormous benefits to more than 79,000 road users who navigate this part of the Inner Ring Route and is creating valuable work for local businesses” said Hon Martin Hamilton-Smith, Minister for Small Business, Acting Minister for Transport and Infrastructure.
McConnell Dowell is delivering on its commitment to ensure that SMEs in South Australia share the benefits of this project. Approximately 450 jobs are expected to be created during construction of this project with completion scheduled for late 2017.
About the Project
The O-Bahn City Access Project will extend the O-Bahn system from the end of the busway at Gilberton into the cross-city priority (bus) lanes on Grenfell Street. The Project will include creation of centrally aligned priority bus lanes along Hackney Road and a dedicated bus tunnel from adjacent the National Wine Centre to near Grenfell Street, providing quicker, more reliable access for O-Bahn buses into the city and reducing traffic congestion and delays on the Inner Ring Route.
The new alignment will move East Terrace further west between Grenfell Street and Bartels Road, returning 710m2 of road reserve to Park Lands.
McConnell Dowell is pleased to announce the award of another gas pipeline EPC project in Thailand. PTT Public Company Limited, Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company has awarded McConnell Dowell Constructors Thai Ltd the contract for design, procurement, construction and commissioning of a 48 km, 28-inch diameter gas pipeline linking the Provincial Gas Transmission Pipeline Project to Nakhon Ratchasima Extension Phase. The works include procurement of all line pipe, valves and permanent materials, construction of four block valve stations and tie-in facilities, SCADA and communications systems. Our team brought a proactive approach to minimising stakeholder impact through an innovative construction methodology utilising trenchless technology.
This award extends McConnell Dowell’s successful relationship with PTT over three decades and follows on from the successful completion of the Fourth Transmission Pipeline EPC2 Contract in 2014/2015, which included 60 km of 42-inch diameter pipeline, 18 block valve stations, 2 major end facilities and approx. 20 km of pipe installation by horizontal directional drilling or Direct Pipe processes. This project involved over four million workhours, was delivered Lost Time Injury Free and was an effective demonstration of collaborative stakeholder engagement.
Design works on the pipeline to Nakhon Ratchasima will commence in August 2016. The construction phase will be from mid-2017 to mid-2018.
Img: Team members at the project 'kick off' meeting