Roads
Collaborative contracting experience in Roads projects
Major roads projects have been very successfully delivered using alliances or other collaborative contracting methods. The projects highlighted in these case studies are excellent examples of the best applications of collaborative contracting and hopefully will be a good educational basis for future generations of projects in Australia and New Zealand.
List of case studies
- Ipswich Motorway Upgrade
- Monash City Link Freeway Alliances
- North Queensland Tully Alliance
- Split Rock Inca - Bruce Highway Case study
- Team Savannah ECI - WA
- Auckland's Grafton Gully Freeway Alliance (NZ)
- Port of Brisbane Motorway Alliance
- Southern Gateway Alliance: New Perth Bunbury Highway
- Pacific Link Alliance - Tugun Bypass project
- Brisbane Inner Northern Busway Alliance
- Middleborough Rail-Road separation project alliance
- The Tulla-Calder Interchange Alliance
- Northern Motorway Extension Project (NZ)
- Whitsunday Satinwood Alliance profile
Case studies
Australia’s biggest single road alliance is being undertaken as part of the Queensland Government’s $3.06bn Ipswich Motorway Upgrade (IMU) project. The $1.95bn Origin Alliance is delivering one of three projects to upgrade 15km of the overall 19km Ipswich Motorway. The upgrade will ease congestion, provide a more reliable travel flow and improve pedestrian crossings, service roads and safety.
Monash City Link Freeway Alliances
The M1 case study was completed in partnership with VicRoads and Transurban. It was featured for AAA's National Convention of October 2009 in Melbourne to highlight the leadership of VicRoads in leveraging collaborative procurement of complex Brownfield projects.
North Queensland Tully Alliance
Imagine building a road in Australia’s wettest region on the Tully Murray Flood Plain in North Queensland where average rainfall exceeds 4m annually. Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (QDTMR) determined that an alliance was the best method to deliver this road project in one of Australia’s most difficult road construction environments.
Split Rock Inca - Bruce Highway Case study
The Split Rock Inca Alliance was the final stage in a program of National Highway projects to upgrade the Barkly Highway between Mount Isa and Camooweal in far north-west Queensland. Achieving this task was dependent on the ability to successfully manage the sensitivities and logistical difficulties associated with delivering a large scale infrastructure project in a remote area.
This second case study is part of John Davies' research into alliance contracts and public sector governance as part of a PhD at Griffith University Law School. The author is indebted to Queensland Department of Main Roads, Seymour Whyte Construction Pty Ltd and Myuma Pty Ltd for their support in this endeavour.
Team Savannah ECI - WA
The largest and most complex road project delivered in the Kimberley region. The Great Northern Highway Kimberley was delivered by an ECI in 2009.
Auckland's Grafton Gully Freeway Alliance
Grafton Gully pioneered the project alliancing approach for road construction projects in New Zealand. The model adopted by Transit involves integrating the owner, designers, and constructors as a single team, sharing all risks and rewards and responsibility for solving problems.
- Transit New Zealand, Value for Money Report
Grafton Gully Alliance, Value For Money Report - Jim Ross 2005
- Office of the Auditor-General : Review of the project
Auckland Grafton Gully Alliance- Short report 2005
Port of Brisbane Motorway Alliance - Motorway Alliance Drives Performance Improvement - The BRITE Project
The POBM Alliance was formed to deliver five kilometres of four-lane motorway and 12 major new bridges, to carry an expected 8000 trucks per day by 2011, for a Total Cost Estimate (TCE) of $112m.
The project was completed early and under the TCE, after a one year construction program.
Southern Gateway Alliance: New Perth Bunbury Highway
Southern Gateway Alliance was established by Main Roads of Western Australia to deliver a program of work in the Southern region of WA. This case study provides a general overview of the Perth-Bunbury road project, the first delivered by the alliance.
Pacific Link Alliance - Tugun Bypass project
The Tugun Bypass provides a new, motorway standard link between Queensland and New South Wales, easing congestion and reducing travel times for tourist, heavy vehicular and local traffic. The relatively short route of the bypass (seven kilometres) belies the number and complexity of issues surrounding its design, approval and construction.
Brisbane Inner Northern Busway Alliance - Queen to Roma Streets project
When Main Road’s Major Projects Office (MPO) was asked to deliver the Queen Street to Upper Roma Street section of the INB it reviewed several previous projects including the South East Transit Project, a dedicated busway system between central Brisbane and Logan City, and the Pacific Motorway. MPO then assessed the major risks in those projects and found the major risk was relationships.
Middleborough Rail-Road separation project alliance
The Middleborough Road Rail Separation required an exceptional level of innovation, dedication and teamwork.In a landmark project, the Middleborough Road level crossing in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill was eliminated by lowering the railway line by six metres and slightly raising Middleborough Road to bridge over the tracks. VicRoads believed delivering the project under a typical design and construct model would have taken 18 months.
The Tulla-Calder Interchange Alliance
The Tullamarine and Calder freeways merge 10km north of Melbourne CBD, adjacent to Essendon Airport. The alliance was formed in June 2005 and construction started in October 2005. The city bound lanes were opened on October 30, 2006 and the project was completed by March 31, 2007.
Northern Motorway Extension Project (NZ)
The project is the last stage of the realignment and extension of the Northern Motorway (State Highway 1) between Albany and Puhoi, approximately 30 km north of Auckland. The construction of the motorway faces several engineering challenges, including a number of difficult geological formations, steep terrain and the site’s location within an area of significant environmental value.
Whitsunday Satinwood Alliance profile
JWP 2005
The Satinwood project is an alliance between DMHP, represented by Milne Consulting Engineers, Civdec Constructions, Chenoweth EPLA and JWP. The project is unique in that alliance procurement principles have been used to provide a relatively small, in alliance terms, infrastructure project which is privately owned.
