The first of the Inland Rail projects in Victoria has now been completed.
Inland Rail and construction partner McConnell Dowell have finished the work to lower the rail track under the Murray Valley Highway bridge at Barnawartha North, paving the way in future for double-stacked freight trains to pass through the section safely.
Work began on the project in November 2022 and more than 125 workers contributed to lowering the track by about 1.4 metres under the highway bridge.
Located 18 kilometres west of Wodonga, the project required 400 metres of track to be dug up and five Olympic swimming pools’ worth of soil to be removed to allow double-stacked freight trains to pass underneath the bridge.
The bridge foundations have been reinforced, drainage installed, levee banks constructed, 6000 tonnes of rock ballast deposited, and 800 new concrete sleepers and 800m of rail laid.
ARTC Victoria and South Australian projects general manager Ed Walker said the construction team worked tirelessly to complete the job at Barnawartha North, and now the focus would move south to complete the remaining sites.
“Inland Rail is such an important project and will be instrumental in moving freight from the road to rail,” he said.
“Once completed each double stacked 1.8km train will remove the equivalent of 110 B-doubles from our cities and highways.
“Moving freight on rail is not only safer but will significantly reduce our carbon emissions.”
McConnell Dowell project manager for Inland Rail, Tom Foley, said it was an important milestone for the Beveridge to Albury section of the project and had been years in the making.
“It’s a real thrill to be involved in a nation building project such as this and to deliver these works safely and on time for Inland Rail manager ARTC,” he said.
“This particular Inland Rail site in Victoria provided many challenges to both McConnell Dowell and ARTC and to have it safely completed allows both teams to concentrate on the remaining sites in the second half of our construction program.”
Inland Rail construction in Victoria focuses on the enhancement of 12 sites between Beveridge and Albury.