Paving a new way: Great Eastern Highway Realignment Wooroloo, Western Australia
Civiltest supports the 2 km realignment to improve road safety for all users
Highways and roads are the connectors of society, and their condition is crucial to the safety and reliability for road users.
The Great Eastern Highway in Wooroloo, project involves realigning a two-kilometre stretch of highway to remove three substandard curves, which will improve safety and visibility.
Civiltest’s primary role on the project:
- Quality control for compact testing
- Investigation and quality testing of the imported materials
Stage 1 started in August 2021 with the overarching goal of roadworks meeting stipulated design requirements for the main roads.
Extensive foundation testing has been a pivotal part of Stage 1, which started with the embankment and the embankment fill through to pavement layers and the base course layer of the seal. A whole new foundation was required, meaning a sidetrack for existing traffic was required whilst building the new road.
“A fair amount of earthworks were required to get it to where it needed to be,” Matt Flood, Perth Laboratory Manager for Civiltest, said. “Working under 24-hour timeframes, we’ve had to provide efficient and fast delivery on our compaction tests and reports to ensure we met the road requirements in line with the construction schedule. However, Stage 1 required minimal material testing, which positively progressed workflow.”
Stage 2 is now underway; however, the project scope is more laborious with this stage due to the complexities associated with erecting three bridges.
“After building sidetracks, so we could commence works on the bridges, one of the main challenges was erecting Bridge 607. Being situated on a steeper aspect with a bend in the road, more fill was required to raise the embankment to improve visibility and meet the design requirements. We’ve managed it well.” Matt said.
So far, Stage 2 has required more investigation on material quality and collaboration with local suppliers to source materials that fit the specifications.
Stage 1 are now complete and we’re proud with what we’ve accomplished so far.
