Pre-casting work in underway in Ulverstone, Tasmania, for the new rail bridge that will cross the Elizabeth River at Campbell Town.
VEC Civil Engineering, an Ulverstone-based company, won a TasRail tender last year to upgrade six of the state’s bridges, part of the state and federal government funded $119.6 million Infrastructure Investment Program (IIP), established to upgrade “priority sections” of the rail network.
“We were delighted to win this competitive tender to work with TasRail to replace the Elizabeth River Bridge at Campbell town. There is no doubt that TasRail’s commitment to supporting local businesses like ours enables us to employ additional people and contribute more to the local economy,” said Lincoln Bromwich, VEC’s civil engineering general manager.
“This project comprises three on-site in-situ pours for the blindings [footings] and additional pours for fill between existing abutments and new panels and a steel walkway for personnel access in the future.”
Approximately 80 per cent of the pre-cast work for the Elizabeth River bridge is complete, consisting of 8 deck beams, 2 abutments and a pier. All these sections will be transported on semi-trailers to Campbell next week.
Rail operations will be suspended on the South Line between Easter Friday (30 March and Easter Sunday (1 April) to enable the replacement of the current 28-metre-long five span bridge with the new 26.7 metre two-span bridge. A crane will lift each of the pre-cast bridge sections into place.
Gilbert Ness, TasRail’s IIP manager, said that the new bridge would dramatically improve hydraulic capacity.
“The superior design will enhance environmental flows in the Elizabeth River, assist in the prevention of debris build-up during a flood event, reduce ongoing maintenance costs and enure the safety of our trains, drivers and customers’ freight along this key freight corridor,” Ness said.
A TasRail team has been working with VEC at the site for 3 weeks, helping conduct excavations and the concrete pourings for the centre pier and south abutment.
“There is no doubt that these projects are challenging as we have a very tight deadline to complete the bridge replacement at Easter while the trains are stopped,” Bromwich said.
“But we are confident that we will again deliver for TasRail.”