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Trackstar Alliance

Graham Murray BE(Civil), MIEAust, MIStructE(UK), CPEng, NPER, RPEQ Connell Wagner Pty Ltd Phone: 07 3135 8000 Fax: 07 3135 8002 Email: murrayg@conwag.com

Matthew Fleet

BE (Civil), MIEAust, RPEQ

Maunsell Australia Pty Ltd,

Phone: 07 3858 6700 Fax: 07 3858 6705 Email: matthew.fleet@maunsell.com

Synopsis In early 2006 Queensland Rail selected the Trackstar Alliance as a method to deliver four (4) major metropolitan rail projects in the South East Queensland area. The alliance partners are: Queensland Rail (The client) Thiess United Group Connell Wagner Maunsell AECOM Trackstar is the first Program Alliance to be formed in Australia. Unlike the usual alliance model set up to deliver a single project, Trackstar’s scope of works is to design, price and construct various projects for the Queensland Government. Initially four separate projects were identified for delivery through the alliance:

• Caboolture to Beerburrum Rail Realignment and Duplication • Robina to Varsity Lakes Extension of the Gold Coast line • Corinda to Darra • Beerburrum to Landsborough Rail Duplication

The bridges and civil structures included in these projects have been constructed under a variety of conditions, from green field sites in farm/forest areas, to very constrained brown field sites in suburban areas. Geotechnical conditions which vary from very soft alluvials, extremely hard rock and deep contaminated landfill sites, provided challenging foundation designs. Environmental and community diversity had to be sensitively accommodated during the design, consultation and construction phases. A unique aspect of this alliance was the first project for Qld Rail to be self certifying, all phases of the project, i.e. design, construction and commissioning.

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1. Introduction

In April 2005, the Queensland Government announced the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan 2005-2026, SEQIP. SEQIP is a $66b, 20 year blueprint for SE Queensland, consisting of: $35.5b road & public transport $3.3b social & community infrastructure $2.3b water infrastructure $13.4b energy networks $11b for 120 additional projects A key component of SEQIP is SEQIPRAIL, which consists of $7 billion over 20 years for rail upgrades in South East Queensland. Included in these works are: Duplications / triplications of current lines New extensions 44 new trains 28 projects 144km new track Up to 8 new stations Upgrade up to 12 stations

TrackStar Alliance

Program to date is 7 projects : 6 years

More than $1 billion

Rail projects28 projects : 20 years

144 km of new track

$7 billion

TrackStar Program Alliance

$82 billion

SEQ Infrastructure Plan : 2006 - 2026

Figure 1 Trackstar Alliance's place in SEQIP

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With a strategy aimed at securing quality design and construction resources in a tight market Qld Rail conceived a programme alliance to deliver projects for SEQIPRAIL. Unlike the usual alliance model set up to deliver a single project, the Alliance’s scope of works would be to design, price and construct various projects for the Queensland Government. The alliance agreement is open ended in that additional projects can be added as required. After an exhaustive selection process, Thiess and United Group were selected as the Constructors with Connell Wagner and Maunsell AECOM selected as the designers. The 5 proponents became the Trackstar Alliance. 2. General Project Description

Initially four separate projects were identified for delivery through the alliance:

Project 4

Beerburrum to Landsborough Duplication

5

Project 1

Caboolture to Beerburrum Duplication

1Project 5

Beerwah Grade Separation

4

Figure 2: Northern Project Map

• Caboolture to Beerburrum Rail Realignment and Duplication - 14.7 km, $225m, 6 bridges, 25 culverts, numerous retaining walls and station buildings. All bridges completed August 2008 including the first Queensland Rail bridge utilising super T girders.

• Robina to Varsity Lakes Extension of the Gold Coast line - 4.2 km, $220m, 3 bridges, 300m long cut & cover tunnel, numerous retaining walls and station buildings. All bridges completed April 2008, tunnel completed December 2008.

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• Corinda to Darra - 6.5 km, $189m, augmentation of 2 bridges under traffic, design and construction of 2 new bridges and numerous major retaining walls. All structures completed October 2008.

• Beerburrum to Landsborough Rail Duplication - 17 km, $300m, 11 bridges, numerous retaining walls and station buildings. Design completed. Construction commencement anticipated 2010.

Project 2

Gold Coast Line Extension: Robina to Varsity Lakes

2

Project 3

Corinda to Darra Third Road

3

Figure 3: Southern Project Map Each of these projects involved the extension or duplication, and upgrade of existing facilities, which were in significant need to enable the current and future patronage of the metropolitan rail services in the ever increasing population growth in South East Queensland. With extremely tight design and construction programs, a high level of cooperation and coordination between the Alliance partners was required to enable the stringent approvals and certification process to be carried out. From a standing start in July 2006 Trackstar alliance was able to progress design, submit TCE’s and commence construction of two of the initial four projects within six months. Since then, Trackstar has completed the design and begun construction of a fifth project, Beerwah Rail Crossing, worth approximately $50m which includes a four span road bridge with 10m high vertical cantilever abutments.

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3. Verification and Certification

A unique aspect of this alliance was the first project for Qld Rail to be self certifying for all phases of the project. The Alliance was able to prepare a verification plan, to cover the concept design, detail design, construction, commissioning and validation of all aspects of the project, including civil works, structural works, track works, electrification, signals and communications. The Alliance was also able to prepare a detailed safety case for the process, such that the Rail Regulator, had sufficient confidence in the process, to accept the final project handed over, with complete internal project certification.

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Figure 4: An Abridged Version of the Verification Flowchart

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4. Trackstar Alliance Structures of Interest

As a program alliance Trackstar has projects running at various stages of completion. These include studies, TCE phase and on through to detailed design and construction phases. This demands the full range skills from civil structures designers. Rapid scoping and concept design to a level which can be priced to within a few percent takes a separate set of skills to the compilation of for construction documentation and on site construction support. Few other environments provide engineers such opportunities for gaining experience in these areas simultaneously. The repeated experience of construction, design and client teams working together and drawing on the wider resources of the alliance partners has yielded some innovative design solutions and cost savings to the projects undertaken.

4.1 Caboolture to Beerburrum Super T Rail Bridge

Caboolture to Beerburrum (CAB) was the first Trackstar project to progress through the TCE phase and into construction. Queensland rail has traditionally used standard PSC deck slabs for its short span bridges up to 15.4m. Medium span bridges up to 25m utilised transversely stressed PSC bulb T girders. The hydraulic and environmental constraints at the new dual track crossing of Beerburrum Creek were much better suited to 30m spans. A four span bridge utilising six 1800mm super T girders with truncated flanges and insitu composite deck was designed. This is the first use of super T girders in a rail bridge in Queensland.

Figures 5a & 5b: Construction of Six Mile Creek Bridge.

The use of super T girders in Queensland Rail bridges allows greater flexibility in span arrangement and procurement options. Due to the predictability of rail loading and alignment geometry, they also lend themselves to the development of standard designs. In addition to the use super T girders the CAB project also developed new standard drawings for the modified design of the 25m bulb T girders. These were by no means new designs, but the program alliance framework allowed for the higher level verification and consultation required to produce standard drawings based on the benefit to Trackstar and other QR projects.

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4.2 Beerwah Level Crossing Bridge

Elimination of level crossings is major issue for every rail authority in Australia. The rail line from Beerburrum to Landsborough bisects the town the Beerwah. The level crossing is located on Kilcoy Beerwah Rd just 300m from a T junction with the major sub arterial Steve Irwin Way. Traffic attempting to enter Steve Irwin Way regularly backs up and across the level crossing. In early 2007 the Minister for Transport Paul Lucas (now Dept. Premier) committed to remove the Beerwah Level Crossing, with construction to begin to begin before the end the year. With only a few preliminary options to begin with, Trackstar with its design and construction resources already in place and delivering projects in the immediate area, was the obvious choice to meet the tight time frame. The preferred option involved a four span overpass to the southern edge of the town. This was to accommodate access to remnant land two rail lines and a future council road. Due road and rail alignment constraints at the overpass, 22m spans with 10m high vertical cantilevered abutments were required. The construction program was such that the spans would need to be erected prior to backfilling the abutments. This raised obvious concern with respect to deflect of the abutments during backfilling and compaction of the approach embankments. A full 3 dimensional model of the bridge was constructed to model the construction staging soil-structure interaction, creep and shrinkage and temperature effects and to ensure correct design of the articulation. Survey points were installed on the piers and abutments and monitored to record the actual deflections against those predicted by the model. A tolerance of +/- 30mm between the girder ends over the central pier was settled upon. Through the monitoring it was found that the model had overestimated the abutment deflections but it was accurate enough that the 30mm tolerance allowed for proved adequate. 4.3 Corinda to Darra, Oxley Footbridge

The Corinda to Darra Rail Upgrade is located on the Ipswich to Brisbane line, which is the most heavily patronised line in the network. The upgrade involves the addition of a third track with provision for a fourth and the upgrade two stations. The upgrade at Oxley station included the replacement of the two span timber footbridge. The station had been identified as a location requiring a higher degree of architectural input due to the surrounding suburban hub. The architectural concept for the footbridge had supporting columns tapering in both planes and stair and spanning elements with transverse tapered soffits. Due to the live overhead traction power, almost all construction work would need to be done under full weekend shut downs. The bridge was designed to allow construction with a minimum of disruption to service and to limit the high costs involved in closing a section of the line and having to bus patrons around the shut down. The only insitu concrete works in the bridge were the bored piles, pile caps, and five 200mm thick stitch pours over the landings. Piers, landing supports, headstocks, stairs and main beams were all precast. Service conduits with large radius sweeps for drawing coms and power between platforms, CCTV and lighting loops were to be cast into the bridge elements. This combined with congested

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reinforcement, post tensioning end zones and an array of cast-in ferrules presented a significant challenge to the designer and particularly the draftsman. The foundations for the main piers consist of four 900mm closely spaced bored piles and an insitu pile cap. The central pier required all piles to be bored and poured and the pile cap installed in one shut down of the line. This included installation and removal of the access for the piling rig all in a 50 hour window. The precast piers and landing supports had their reinforcement plug and fillet welded into 32mm base plates which were fitted over the pile cap hold down bolts and levelled in all planes to +/- 3mm. The precast headstocks, stairs and beams were then erected without incident. The articulation of the footbridge is fully fixed other the where the stairs meet the platforms. It has been designed to withstand the full 3000kN in line and 1500kN lateral rail impact loads without loss of its main spans or piers. The Oxley

Station Footbridge is a fine example of what can be achieved when engineers and architects work closely to deliver an attractive minor bridge structure under a range of budget, functional and constructability constraints.

Figure 7a & b: Assembly of Precast Spans

4.4 Robina to Varisty Lakes Tunnel

The 300m long Robina to Varsity Lakes cut and cover tunnel passes through a 50m wide corridor bounded by a gated residential development to the west and an office building and high-care retirement home to the east. The track formation is up to 15m below natural surface. The lower half of the excavation was in extremely hard rock

Figure 6: Placing Precast Headstock

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with strengths over 180MPa. A carefully designed blasting program was developed to remove the material and keep peak particle velocities below 10mm/s at the corridor boundaries. This involved a series of test blasts with multiple sensors to determine the optimum charge weights to achieve maximum excavation rates. With the blasting operation still expected to take 8 months, it was necessary to begin construction of the tunnel simultaneously. A simple chart was developed which tabulated charge weight against the age of concrete and proximity of detonation so as to ensure no damage to the constructed sections of tunnel. This proved to be an invaluable tool for the construction team to plan the excavation.

Robina Tunnel Blasting Factor of Safety 3.0

Based on "Blasting near Green Concrete, Robina to Varsity Lakes Rail Extension", by Cameron McKenzie.

Blasting Proximity in metes-vs-concrete

age-vs-charge weight

Charge Weight

0.3kg 0.5kg 1.0kg 1.5kg 2.0kg 2.5kg 3.0kg 4.0kg 5.0kg

Concrete Age

4 Hrs 11.1 14.3 20.3 24.8 28.6 32.0 35.1 40.5 45.3

6 Hrs 7.4 9.5 13.5 16.5 19.1 21.3 23.3 27.0 30.1

8 Hrs 6.1 7.9 11.2 13.7 15.8 17.7 19.4 22.4 25.0

10 Hrs 5.5 7.1 10.0 12.2 14.1 15.8 17.3 20.0 22.3

12 Hrs 5.0 6.5 9.2 11.3 13.0 14.6 15.9 18.4 20.6

18 Hrs 4.3 5.6 7.9 9.7 11.2 12.5 13.7 15.8 17.7

24 Hrs 4.0 5.1 7.2 8.9 10.2 11.5 12.5 14.5 16.2

3 Days 3.1 4.0 5.6 6.9 7.9 8.8 9.7 11.2 12.5

7 Days 2.6 3.4 4.8 5.9 6.8 7.6 8.4 9.7 10.8

28 Days 2.2 2.8 4.0 4.9 5.7 6.3 6.9 8.0 9.0

Figure 8: Blasting Proximity Table

The concept design of the tunnel progressed from an insitu concrete portal requiring a myriad of fire life safety provisions including jet fans, booster pumps, heat sensors and a substation and incident control room. An idea to tilt the tunnel roof at 10% and use 900mm PSC beams widely spaced to act as smoke curtains and naturally vent the tunnel transversely was developed. Extensive smoke modelling revealed that with the addition of 400mm pedestals to increase venting area, tenable conditions within the tunnel could be maintained indefinitely through a train accident and subsequent tunnel fire event.

Figure 9a & b: Robina Tunnel Construction

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Figure 10: Robina Tunnel Concept Cross Section

The tunnel has also been designed to withstand a train fire event without any further passive fire protection measures required. Cover to reinforcement is at least 70mm to provide thermal insulation and concrete in the support beams contains polypropylene microfibers to control explosive spalling. Further modelling was carried out to simulate a fire event and the transmission of heat through the beams and insitu slab. The composite section was then analysed using the properties of the reinforcement and individual strands would exhibit at the current elevated temperature. This analysis led to the addition of two extra lightly stress tendons and additional shear reinforcement to the ends of the beams. The tunnel is capable of withstanding an event equivalent to the RABTZ - train fire while carrying all service dead loads super imposed dead load and 25% of the design live load.

Figure 11: Thermal Modelling of Fire Event on Composite Tunnel Roof

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The design of the Robina to Varsity Lakes Tunnel with its’ minimal operating costs is not only a more sustainable solution; it is also a far safer solution. The modifications to the original design saved the project $8M and will continue to yield operational savings throughout its service life. 5. Conclusions

Trackstar Alliance began in a time of scarce resources in the design and construction market. It has been able to provide its’ clients with confidence that the expertise required to perform at an outstanding level is available and ready to go on short notice. It has a proven record of rapidly delivering projects from concept to construction and with real cost saving solutions. Although the market has changed in recent times the certainty of performance that Trackstar offers has not. Trackstar Alliance, a programme alliance delivering Bridges Linking Communities. 6. Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation of Connell Wagner, Maunsell AECOM, Trackstar Alliance, Queensland Rail, Thiess and United Group in the preparation of this paper and the making of a successful programme alliance. Authors:

Graham Murray

BE(Civil), MIEAust, MIStruct, CPEng, NPER, RPEQ Connell Wagner Pty Ltd Phone: 07 3135 8348 Fax: 07 3135 8002 Email: murrayg@conwag.com

Postal address: Connell Wagner, Locked Bag 1800, Spring Hill, QLD, 4004

Graham Murray is a senior associate and senior bridge engineer with Connell Wagner and has over 25 years experience in the design and construction of bridges and tunnels in Australia and United Kingdom. He has been involved in the design of major bridge structures on the Trackstar Alliance, South Queensland Accelerated Road Rehabilitation Project, Bauhinia Regional Rail Project, Port of Brisbane Flyover, Pacific Motorway, Bruce Highway Upgrade, Gateway Motorway and South East Transit Project, numerous small bridges for various local authorities, and major cut & cover tunnel projects, such as the North South Bypass Tunnel (Brisbane), Cross City Tunnel (Sydney), Medway Tunnel (UK).

Matthew Fleet

BE (Civil), MIEAust, RPEQ

Maunsell Australia Pty Ltd,

Phone: 07 3858 6700 Fax: 07 3858 6705 Email: matthew.fleet@maunsell.com

11 Cribb Street, Milton, QLD, 4064

Matthew Fleet is a principal structural engineer with Maunsell AECOM and has 10 years experience in the design and construction of civil infrastructure including bridges, cut and cover tunnels and marine structures. He has been involved in the inspection and remediation of many structures including some of Brisbane’s iconic cross river bridges and has led the Civil Structures team at Trackstar.