Brisbane’s $2.12b Gateway Upgrade Project beats out interstate competition to win best infrastructure project of the year
March 18, 2011
Brisbane’s Gateway Upgrade Project has beaten out finalists from NSW and South Australia to be named the country’s best infrastructure project of the year.
The $2.12 billion project, aimed at easing congestion in
the capital, was presented with the title at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia’s (IPA) prestigious National Infrastructure Awards in Sydney overnight.
It is the result of a partnership between the Leighton-Abigroup Joint Venture, the Queensland Government and Queensland Motorways.
IPA Chairman Mark Birrell says the Gateway Bridge Duplication has
won because of its iconic status, engineering “brilliance” and sheer scale.
“The Gateway Bridge is a vital economic asset for the state and critically important route for both freight and commuters,” Birrell says of the project, which was delivered seven months ahead of schedule.
“Because the private sector and Queensland Government took a flexible, outcome based approach, there was able to be a significant alteration to the project to deliver four kilometres of new motorway as part of its construction,” he says.
With South East Queensland facing some of the most significant population growth in Australia; Birrell says the project makes a massive contribution to easing congestion and smoothing freight efficiency through Brisbane.
“This project will provide significant benefits for Queensland for decades to come – boosting Gross Regional Product by $683 million contribution per year,” he says.
“I congratulate the Leighton-Abigroup Joint Venture and the Queensland Government and Queensland Motorways on the outstanding outcomes of this project.”
Other companies involved in the project include: AECOM, Aurecon, Cardno, Coffey International, Conneq, Evans & Peck, Sinclair Knight Merz, SMEC and VSL Australia.
The Gateway Bridge project was up against the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Project, Sydney Airport’s Runway 25 – Runway End Safety Area Project, and South Australia’s Northern Expressway Project for the major title.
Other Queensland companies to take to the stage last night include John Holland, which won the Contractor Excellence Award for the Darra to Springfield Corridor.
Port of Brisbane Privatisation won the Financial Excellence Award and the Smart Infrastructure Grant went to Green Infrastructure – an initiative of the University of Queensland.
