Gatton Bypass duplication opens one month early

The federally funded $46m Gatton Bypass duplication was expected to be finished and opened to traffic by mid-October, following the conclusion of work on the 10km central section known as Package 2.

Queensland's Department of Main Roads assumed the task of completing the Warrego Highway work on May 27 when the original contractor, Stockport (NQ), entered voluntary liquidation only eight months after the firm had required an initial bail-out.

On June 6, with assistance from its RoadTek unit which undertook the design in 2001, DMR started to complete the remaining $2.5m-$3m work of the $8.4m Package 2 contract. Luckily the government department was able to re-employ most of the existing sub-contractors and suppliers and the remaining work mainly involved finishing the last 40% of bypass paving and undertaking about 90% of the landscaping and associated work of seeding, tree planting and mulching quite sodic soils to prevent erosion.

DMR also had to prime and seal the road, asphalt the bridge surfaces and install carriageway guard rails.

Fortunately too, Stockport had already duplicated the three bridges at Smithfield Road, Philps Road and Sandy Creek, with the latter incorporating five spans over 109m.

Beilby Holdings won a "design and construct" contract for the eastern 5km and was also awarded the construction work on the western 5km section, which Toowoomba firm Farr Evratt Engineers had designed. Practical completion of the western section was achieved in mid-September this year

and the eastern section on August 24.

Beilby's project engineer, Andrew Howgate, said it had proved especially hard work to build narrow verges on top of a working sub-grade. Beilby sub-contracted J F Hull Holdings to build the Helidon rail overpass bridge in the western section, with this task completed on July 1.

Package 4, the final part of the Gatton Bypass project, mainly involves converting the original highway to westbound traffic flow.

It is understood the entire four-lane bypass could be fully open to traffic by the middle of October, a month ahead of schedule.

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Gatton Bypass duplication opens one month early

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