Bauer Carries Out Piling Works for the Bruce Highway Upgrade Project

The Bruce Highway Upgrade – the Cooroy to Curra, Woondum to Curra (C2CD) project, Contract 1 is also known as the Gympie bypass – is a major road infrastructure project being delivered in the Australian state of Queensland. It involves the new construction of a multi-lane highway roughly two hours north of Brisbane by car.

The project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments. Contract 1 is being delivered by the Beilby BMD Joint Venture (BBJV) and involves construction of 23 of the 42 bridges that are part of the new 26 km, 4-lane divided C2CD project. BAUER Foundations Australia, a subsidiary of BAUER Spezialtiefbau, is commissioned by the Principal Contractor BBJV to carry out the piling works required for the bridges in Contract 1.

“In total, we will construct 405 permanently cased piles with rock socketing and diameters between 1,200 mm and 1,800 mm”

explains Matt Barber, Project Manager at Bauer Foundations Australia. The pile lengths range from 15 m to 25 m, with drilling carried out through argillite with strengths of up to 100 MPa. A BAUER BG 30 is being used for the work.

Apart from the rainy season lasting from November to April, strict requirements in terms of safety, quality and environmental protection pose a challenge. The Bauer team has successfully passed seven safety audits ordered by the BBJV as well as Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, achieving excellent results. “Our piling work is currently ahead of schedule, and we have received positive feedback from the BBJV about our performance”, notes Matt Barber. After the execution period of around 12 months, Bauer anticipates concluding the work in early 2022.