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Customer: Main Roads Western Australia Contract: Construct Only Location: Perth, Western Australia
 
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Fast Facts
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Main Roads Western Australia awarded McConnell Dowell the construction contract for the new Mandurah Road Footbridge. The bridge is a large twin span steel-arched structure approximately 110 m in overall length with steel deck units suspended from the arch. The bridge connects two communities on the east and west sides of the train station, as well as providing easy access to education facilities, health, future shopping areas and the station itself.
The project was technically challenging with the work adjacent to a major road and over electrified rail lines with limited laydown and working area. Limited availability of rail shutdown periods and the large lifting cranes required added to the challenges.
The Solution
To safely install the bridge the arch structures were positioned temporarily on Mandurah Road. This was to avoid rail disruption and to remove the risk of insitu assembly over the rail reserve. The largest arch weighed 120 t and was installed with a 600 t crawler crane. The installation was completed in 40 hours, within an allocated shutdown window of 56 hours. At no point did any of the lifting personnel require entrance to the rail reserve.
Keys to success
Throughout the construction period, the full capacity of Mandurah Road was maintained through effective traffic management. At all times the safe operation of the rail network was achieved including the passage of pedestrians within the Mandurah Line Rail Station area. The works in proximity to the live rail were undertaken under a fully developed Rail Safety Management Plan and no disruption or incidents occurred. The rail operations were suspended during the planned lift periods only, thus minimising impact to commuters.
The MCD project team overcame the constraints of working in close proximity to live rail through effective and collaborative preplanning; innovative construction methodologies; and constant communication with all stakeholders.
The project was completed with zero lost time injuries - a testament to the professionalism of the project team, considering the confined, complex and congested nature of the work area and the high risk activities undertaken.
