GHD, together with its client and partners, have been recognised by its peers for excellence in the application of concrete design, construction, materials technology, durability and innovation on the South Road Superway. This is the largest and most complex transport infrastructure project ever constructed in South Australia.
Industry organisation, the Concrete Institute of Australia, presented the project team with one of three National Awards for Excellence in the Engineering Projects category. The project previously received the Award for Excellence in the Engineering Projects Category at the Institute’s South Australian State Awards.
Adrian Spencer, GHD’s Senior Structural Engineer, says, “The South Road Superway is a landmark achievement for South Australia.
“A key feature of the project was the use of continuous flight auger piles, which utilised a high performance concrete mix design, supplemented with durability enhancing admixtures, to provide design life of more than 150 years in hyper-saline groundwater and potential acid sulphate soil ground conditions.
“Above ground, the curved structural shape and form challenged standard concrete design and construction practices. Pre-stressed segmental concrete box girders were constructed in balanced cantilever, supported monolithically on reinforced concrete curved pier substructures.
“Fly-ash was used as a supplementary cementitious material to substitute large quantities of Portland cement, achieving significant sustainability outcomes. Other notable aspects of the concrete mix design included the research and development of long term creep and shrinkage characteristics, which found that advanced performance was possible with South Australian aggregate materials.
“Deck articulation was provided using mid-span needle beam joints, an Australian first application of this technology. GHD’s design will provide significant cost and safety benefits to the asset owner over the long term with fewer, smaller bearings, which will be inspected and replaced from within the box girder structure.”
Engineers Australia South Australia General Manager, Renae Leverenz says, "This segment of the South Road Superway has significantly improved the driving experience for north-south journeys. The Superway project exemplifies the vision, innovation and skill of our engineering talent in Australia."
GHD was the lead consultant to the Urban Superway Joint Venture, which delivered the project for the South Australian Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. The design team also included International Bridge Technologies and SMEC as sub-consultants.
The outcome is a 4.8 km highway corridor in the north of Adelaide including 2.8 km of elevated roadway that has improved safety and efficiency of road and rail freight transport, and reduced the impact of peak hour traffic congestion. The project completes another stage of the state’s ambitious 78km north-south non-stop road corridor.
The structure was made possible by GHD’s application of the latest developments in specialised concrete design and construction.