West Gate Tunnel

Client:

Victorian Infrastructure and Delivery Authority (VIDA)

Contract form:

Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

Location:

VIC, Australia

Project lifecycle stage:

Development, Procurement, Delivery and Optimise

Project value:

$12 billion

Duration:

2015 – Ongoing

At a glance

The West Gate Tunnel project is a Public Private Partnership between the State of Victoria and Transurban. This project was instigated through a Market Led Proposal from Transurban which resulted in a contract execution in December 2017 for the project worth $6.7 billion (subsequently re-negotiated to $12b). The project includes:

Upgrading the West Gate Freeway from 8 to 12 lanes with new express lanes between M80 and the West Gate Bridge.
A new tunnel linking the freeway to the Maribyrnong River, diverting trucks off residential streets.
A new bridge over the Maribyrnong River and elevated road along Footscray Road, providing direct links to the Port of Melbourne, CityLink, Docklands, and North Melbourne.

Objectives

The West Gate Freeway and Bridge are one of Melbourne's biggest transport bottlenecks, causing severe congestion, heavy truck traffic on residential streets, and poor connections to the Port of Melbourne, Docklands, and the CBD. The West Gate Tunnel Project was developed to directly address these problems by increasing capacity, removing trucks from local streets, and providing new connections across the city. The State required a strong advisor team to support them in rigorously assessing the Transurban proposal and negotiating the technical outcomes, as well as provide support through the approvals process for the project.

Our services

SmedTech was engaged as the Technical Lead for the State team in the development of the West Gate Tunnel proposal. This role was eventually undertaken by the Western Distributor Authority, with SmedTech continuing to provide specialist support. In this role, we:

Oversaw and directed the development of the concept and reference designs.
Led the development of the Outline Scope and Requirements.
Led the technical negotiations with Transurban.
Acted as lead advisor for the development and negotiation of the tolling structure.
Oversaw traffic modelling and analysis.
Reviewed the original submission from Transurban and worked with the team to refine the design and improve connectivity.
Developed the Traffic and Transport assessment for the EES, including multiple submissions to the Panel and supporting the WGT legal team throughout the panel process.
Were heavily involved in the procurement phases both during the interactive tender workshops and during tender evaluation.
Developed strategic tolling and pricing framework.
Continued to advise the West Gate Tunnel Project through the provision of technical advice relating to construction movements and the opening of the project.

Our impact

SmedTech ensured that the State had a strong technical and commercial position. Our work improved Reference Design quality, strengthened the State's negotiating position and supported the effective delivery of this multi-billion-dollar project.