The Dinmore to Goodna section of the Ipswich Motorway Upgrade Project required the widening of 8km of the Motorway from four lanes to six lanes, and required the construction of 24 new road and pedestrian bridges, 13km of new or upgraded service roads, and the demolition of 27 existing bridges. This section of the Ipswich Motorway Upgrade Project was delivered by Origin Alliance with Robert Bird Group providing Construction Engineering services as required by the Alliance to ensure the safe and successful delivery of the project. Services provided by Robert Bird Group included the following:
Site inspection services for temporary works to confirm where possible that temporary works were constructed in accordance with the documented design.
Temporary works design services including the following:
- Design and documentation of safe access systems such as static lines and temporary handrails
- Bridge girder stability during construction
- Formwork
- Falsework
- Design of bespoke lifting equipment.
Key technical challenges
A significant proportion of the services provided for this particular project related to the demolition of existing bridges. The majority of bridge demolition was self-performed by Origin Alliance, with Robert Bird Group developing methodologies for each of the bridges in collaboration with the Origin Alliance Construction teams. Bridges demolished ranged from relatively simple deck unit type bridges which were cut up and lifted out, through to complicated multi-span steel with composite steel and concrete decks such as the Six Mile Creek Bridge. Design Services included the following:
- All required temporary works
- Development of demolition methodologies in conjunction with the construction team
- Design and documentation of bespoke lifting equipment
- Review of cranage plans.