Objectives
The Victorian Government set out to deliver the missing link between the Eastern Freeway and the M80 Ring Road to reduce congestion and freight traffic on local roads. As the State's largest ever road infrastructure initiative, the North East Link Project (NELP) is procured through multiple, separate works packages, spanning collaborative PPP and Alliance contract models across both greenfield and brownfield assets. A challenge of construction within a brownfield alignment is to minimise the impacts of construction to the surrounding road network, as well as residents and businesses.
Our services
SmedTech was engaged by NELP at the project's inception in January 2017 and has provided ongoing technical support and strategic direction throughout the project's lifecycle. SmedTech has provided critical support to NELP throughout the project delivery phase, including the following key activities:
- Development of the project requirements for the construction phase of the project.
- Secondment of staff into a construction package, acting as Senior Design Manager for the Northern Package. This role included end to end design management and the coordination of interfaces between the Northern and Central Packages.
- Review, commentary, and resolution of outstanding issues across a range of Project Plans, including the Design Management Plan and associated sub plans for early works, post IFC changes, and temporary works across multiple packages.
- Development of the post IFC change management process for the Alliance.
- Supported the alliances in developing operational models along the Eastern Freeway, M80 Ring Road, and Doncaster Road. These models were used to assess construction impacts and inform the development of mitigation measures.
- Drafting updates to the project specifications to address issues as they were identified throughout delivery such as scope changes and departures.
- Review and modelling of any scope changes to assess whether they still meet the project performance requirements. If needed, work with the alliances to optimise the designs to improve the performance.
- Comprehensive review of the Worksite Traffic Management Plans (WTMPs) for all five project packages. This included assessment of traffic impacts for each construction stage, review of traffic models, undertaking operational modelling to test alternative scenarios, and developing mitigation measures collaboratively with each package with the goal of minimising construction impacts to the surrounding road network.
- Working with the alliances to improve processes and provide greater working windows for access to roads and ramps. This helps increase the amount of time crews can work on-road, reducing the during of some construction stages.
- Engagement with key stakeholders including DTP, local councils, and transport operators to address identified concerns.
Our impact
Due to our in-depth knowledge and previous experience on the project, SmedTech was able to provide valuable assistance to the State during the delivery phase of the project, through:
- Developing the delivery strategy that has been applied across all five packages of the NEL Project.
- Developing the project specification, outlining the project requirements across all packages.
- Supporting NELP during the delivery phase through secondments of staff as design manager, including managing interfaces between project packages.
- Developing the testing of operational models to assess and improve construction staging to minimise the impact to the surrounding road network.
