Lift off at St Peters Interchange with the first Super T installed
11 Dec 2017
The first concrete 'Super T' girders have been craned into position at St Peters Interchange as the transformation of the old Alexandria landfill site for the WestConnex New M5 ramps up. New M5 Director Ken Reynolds said a 500 tonne crane was required to lift each of the 65 tonne, 30 metre-long, concrete T-shaped bridge beams, which will form part of the tunnel entry for the future connection to the M4-M5 Link. “It has taken a significant engineering and logistics operation to lower these impressive locally made Super T's into position,” Mr Reynolds said. “Workers took just two days to install the first nine pieces, with the next nine Super T's to be put into place in the next fortnight. “Given the sheer size of each piece, the delivery and installation has required a staged process with three 'Super-T's' transported more than 500 kilometres via truck from the Coffs Harbour precast yard each week.” Sixty of the 'Super T's' will be needed to build the tunnel entry portals which will allow motorists to access the M4-M5 Link via the St Peters Interchange. Around 1,000 concrete pieces including the 'Super T's' for the St Peters Interchange and Kingsgrove sites are being built in the Coffs Harbour precast yard, highlighting the economic boon WestConnex is providing to regional communities located far beyond Sydney. “This work is helping to support around 50 jobs on the mid-north coast and importantly, all materials used at the precast yard are sourced locally, ensuring further flow-on benefits to support the Coffs Coast region,” Mr Reynolds said. Work at the Coffs Harbour precast yard complements a further 600 concrete structures being made at the Hunter precast yard to build the nine bridges at the St Peters Interchange, helping to create around 50 jobs for the region. “This work is crucial to the construction of the bridges which will be a key feature of the interchange, built largely below the existing surface level.” ”The St Peters Interchange will connect to Kingsgrove via twin nine kilometre tunnels which will run roughly parallel to the existing M5 East and double the M5 motorway corridor from two to four lanes in each direction. It will also provide connections to the M4-M5 Link and future Sydney Gateway. “For construction of the interchange alone, there are around 430 workers on site each day and almost 100 types of plant and machinery helping to support activities including tunnelling, piling, excavation and earthworks. “When the New M5 opens in early 2020 motorists will be able to travel from Beverly Hills to St Peters in around 10 minutes.”
