Haughton River Floodplain Upgrade

Location
Giru (south of Townsville), Queensland

Cost Range
$250-500M

Sector
Road & Bridge

Scope
Design and Construct

Client
Department of Transport and Main Roads

Overview

The Haughton River Floodplain project included upgrading a 13.5km section of the Bruce Highway at Giru, across the Haughton River Floodplain, located 50km south of Townsville. The project aimed to improve safety, flood resilience and capacity through the replacement of three existing bridges, construction of two new bridges, building two highway overpasses of cane tram lines and local roads, rural intersection upgrades and further safety improvements.

The scope of works included:

• Design and construction of 13.5km of Bruce Highway pavement at Giru
• Upgrading rural intersections to improve safety
• Installation of wide centre line treatments to increase the distance between oncoming lanes of traffic and reduce the risk of head-on collisions
• Replacing the Horseshoe Lagoon, Pink Lily, and Haughton River bridges with new, wider, higher-level and safer bridges
• Building new highway crossings of Healey’s Lagoon and the Reed Beds curve to improve flood resilience
• Constructing two highway overpasses of previously open-level cane tramway crossings to remove interactions between highway and cane traffic

Deliverables

• Replace the Horseshoe Lagoon, Pink Lily, and Haughton River bridges with new, wider, higher-level bridges
• Build new highway crossings of Healey’s Lagoon and the Reed Beds curve
• Upgrade 13.5km of the Bruce Highway (on approach to, and between the bridges), in some areas on a new alignment
• Construct two highway overpasses of previously open-level cane tramway crossings, removing interactions between highway and cane traffic
• Upgrade rural intersections within the project area to improve safety
• Installation of wide centre line treatments to increase the distance between oncoming lanes of traffic and reduce the risk of head-on collisions