A proposal has been put forward by the Royal Automobile Club Queensland (RACQ) for a change in tunnel plans that would see Brisbane City Council’s “Northern Link” road project scrapped in favour of its alternative “North West Bypass” plan, submitted last month to the Australian Government.
Both proponents have developed concepts that tackle the transport problems of linking the west side of Brisbane to the north and the airport. While the debate has taken off, work is underway on two separate projects that will form a north-south axis through the heart of Brisbane and link to the airport, in the northeast sector.
RACQ is calling for its North West Motorway option as the scheme would deliver a full bypass and ring road package for the west of the city. However, while not having costed the scheme, nor detailed the substantial tunnelling involved, RACQ estimates than the budget should be approximately US$6.4bn.
The organisation’s proposal emerged from a recent study – Western Brisbane Network Investigation – by the Queensland Government. RACQ said that a number of potential projects were identified and it has made a strategic selection that would establish a unified scheme. It added that no other bypass scheme would be required for the west of the city in the long term.
RACQ has called on the Government’s transport arm, Infrastructure Australia, to commission a feasibility study into its proposed alternative to the Northern Link.
Brisbane City Council’s proposal for the Northern Link envisages a 6.4km long route of which two-thirds would be built in tunnel. The underground section would be constructed as two-lane twin tubes with cross passages every 120m. A variety of excavation methods would be employed on the project, which is at the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) stage.
Separately, RACQ also called on the Government to fund construction of the Toowoomba Bypass, which would be a four-lane twin road and 735m long tunnel project with an estimated cost of US$1.28bn. With the completion of the 600m pilot tunnel, RACQ wants the Government to fund construction.
Elsewhere in Brisbane, on the north section of the “north-south” axis projects, BrisConnections has just formally started construction of the Airport Link and Northern Busway scheme. The contractor is a JV of Thiess and John Holland. The scheme involves a 5.7km long stretch of twin bore tunnels, and both roadheader and TBM excavation is planned. Two TBMs are on order with Herrenknecht.
Immediately south is the North-South Bypass, much of which is in tunnel is under construction by roaders and twin Herrenknecht TBMs. The concessionaire is RiverCity Motorway Group and the JV contractor is Leighton and Baulderstone Hornibrook with support from Bilfinger Berger (T&TI, July, p25-27).
Also, recently, the roadheader excavation holed through for the Boggo Road busway tunnel.
