Ipswich Motorway

The 4-year project included the design and documentation of 22 bridges, 2 ½ km of stormwater and drainage lines, and in excess of 1.1 million cubic metres of earthworks. Innovative design outcomes were achieved as a direct result of developing a successful alliance culture of collaborative working.

The Wacol to Darra upgrade was a highly complex project, particularly in terms of location, traffic volumes, staging and community and stakeholder concerns. The Centenary Highway Interchange, a key part of the project, is one of the largest high performance interchanges in Australia.

With a core workforce of 500, the SAFElink Alliance delivered the upgrade eight months ahead of schedule in March 2010, within budget at a total cost of $824 million.

The Alliance set many benchmarks for future sustainable infrastructure delivery, undertaking the first detailed carbon footprint calculation for a major infrastructure project, running the site office on Green Power and using broken waste concrete as a replacement for quarry rock. The Wacol to Darra project achieved an exceptional reuse and recycling rate of 93 per cent.
Ipswich Motorway

The upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway between Wacol to Darra in Brisbane’s south-west was one of the largest infrastructure alliances undertaken in Australia. As part of the Australian Government’s Nation Building Program, the upgrade forms an essential link in the State Government’s Western Corridor.

Arup’s multidisciplinary team was part of the SAFElink Alliance (TMR, Leighton Contractors, BMD Constructions, Maunsell Australia and Arup) to plan, design and construct the upgrade, including the complex grade-separated, free-flow interchange between the Centenary Motorway and the Ipswich Motorway.