A trio of enormous concrete bridge components travelled 300 kilometres by truck as part of a superload journey from Gippsland to Hoppers Crossing last week.
The pre-cast concrete parts – known as crossheads – will soon form part of a new 1.2 kilometre road bridge which is being built as part of the Old Geelong Road level crossing removal project.
The biggest of the three concrete sections, which were manufactured at GBG concrete in Sale, weighed in at 173 tonnes and travelled on a 58-metre long truck and trailer.
The “superload” journey of three trucks took 16 hours across two days, arriving in Hoppers Crossing in the early hours of May 22.
To minimise disruption, the superloads travelled at night, were escorted by traffic controllers and followed a carefully-planned route, including Footscray Road and the Princes Freeway.
Level Crossing Removal Project program director Tony Hedley said there were “huge numbers of people involved behind the scenes” in creating and transporting the crossheads.
“This has been a major logistical exercise and I would like to thank everyone involved at every step of the process, including the motorists who took extra care on these roads and helped us to get these deliveries through smoothly,” he said.
“It’s just one of the many steps we’re taking to make sure the level crossing at Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing is gone for good.”
Werribee line commuters are being advised that buses will replace trains from Thursday, June 10 until the last service Wednesday, June 16.
The disruption will allow work to take place on stairs and canopy roofing on a new pedestrian overpass at Hoppers Crossing station, while major works continue on the road bridge.
Excavation works underneath the rail line at Aircraft station in Laverton will also get underway to create a new underpass walkway for commuters, pedestrians and cyclists.
Details: levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/projects/old-geelong-road-hoppers-crossing
