Johns River

Bridge to Bridge!

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The rain had cleared enough for our first site tour to begin and we all were ready to go. Watermelon hard hats and high visibility vests we looked the part as we began.

We drove past the structure at Stewarts River that the new bridge support will be incrementally launched from. This will be an amazing process and will take some time, so keep an eye on it (if you are a passenger). First port of call was Passionfruit creek and a brief outline of the road building and compaction process.

They were resurfacing parts of the road as the recent downfalls had damaged some of the prepared surfaces. It was great to see the traffic controller check our dual wheels on leaving the site.

This is to check for large rocks in them and is a process to reduce the damage to vehicles on the existing highway. You may have noticed the controllers with long sticks with mirrors on. These are used to visually check the tyres of dual wheel vehicles.

The alliance is taking very seriously the impact the roadworks is having on the area and taking great precautions to reduce the risk to vehicles along the corridor. After the bus was checked we were out onto the road and off to the north.

Stoney Creek was in the process of having its decking supports placed  by a crane so we stopped and viewed that for a moment. The Karaoke never really started though the running commentary was certainly worth the ride.

The community enquiries group though it is drawn from all areas of the Construction zone seems to have bonded over the last year and we all get along very well. Chatter fills the bus when we’re not being attentive to the speaker. Ross Glen interchange was next on our stopovers and the new works there certainly look the part. There will be a seagull interchange at Ross Glen and this help the little hamlet get its people safely in and out. The staging platform for the bridgework at the Camden Haven River is underway and the piles are now in place. This bridge will also be constructed using the incremental launch process.

I still look to the eastern side of the existing bridge spanning the Camden Haven River to be surprised at times at the missing supports from the old highway that were such a feature of the scenery for so long. Ocean Drive with its temporary road re-alignment was next and here we disembarked for a look into the area that will become the new highway, either side preparation work is underway for the bridge supports.

This area is interesting as there are to be numerous movements of services and has needed to be pumped out several times. There are fibre optics across here and water supply as well, all these elements add to the complications of this construction area. All of the Blasting in this region was controlled for various reasons.

Proximity to households, proximity to pads for the supports for the future overpass and existing water pipes meant all blasting had to be carefully planned and staged. We climbed back onboard the bus and travelled north to Herons Creek.

This area is currently being bridged and retention work on the creek banks is going apace. Each section brings its own challenges and the Alliance seems extremely capable at getting the correct experts for the job.

The speed at which the project is able to be propelled forward still amazes me and each time we go on a site tour the immense achievements of the team still astound. Our last place to visit is the mobile Batch plant at the Vanzino's property.  We saw the latest technology that is being employed to hasten the job.

This is a great addition to the already mindboggling array of equipment that is utilised on this project. This thing can be moved around the site and help in concrete batching where needed.

This particular one will travel between the Vanzino site and Stoney Creek sites. Once again the trip was well worth the effort and I can only encourage anyone with the slightest interest to ring the alliance and go on a site tour when they have them. Louise is a great host and you will not be disappointed! Check online now at johnsriver.com.au for a report and photos from Tuesday’s Community Site Tour — It was Great!