Sapphire to Woolgoolga

The Pacific Highway upgrade from Sapphire to Woolgoolga is a $700 million project being constructed by Leighton Fulton Hogan joint venture. The project comprises a 25km upgrade of the Pacific Highway with eleven new bridge structures. Our infrastructure team was responsible for the design of numerous temporary works packages for the project, including:

Design of formwork and falsework for integral headstocks

Robert Bird Group designed a 68 tonne temporary structural steel support frame that enabled the bridge piers to be constructed, and Super Tee girders to be installed prior to construction of the headstock. The support frame also provided support for the headstock formwork.

Due to poor ground conditions the piers were utilised to provide vertical support for the structural steel support frame.
Sand jack supports were also designed as part of the system to enable the temporary loads to be released once the permanent structure was complete.
The Robert Bird Group also designed the installation and removal methodology for the structural steel support frame.

Temporary sheet pile wall for culvert works

Our infrastructure team was responsible for the design of a temporary sheet pile wall to enable a 13m deep excavation to be performed adjacent to the existing Pacific Highway to allow an existing stormwater culvert to be repaired.

Due to the presence of a live highway directly adjacent to the excavation Robert Bird Group was required to work closely with the geotechnical consultants to develop a construction sequence that limited settlement of the adjacent highway. A safe and economical design was achieved by a combination of batter excavations and soil strengthening, and staged installation of walers and temporary anchors.

Project Metrics

Project Value:
$700 million
Sectors:
Road
Client:
Fulton Hogan-Leighton JV

Project Metrics

Robert Bird Group Services:
Temporary Works
Structural Engineer