LEGACY WAY TUNNEL DELAYED
There's a delay on the construction of the new Legacy Way Tunnel meaning next month's planned opening will be pushed back to mid-year.
An inspection today shows asphalt being installed, paving the next step towards to the 4.6km project’s completion.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said road surfacing was one of the last fit-out activities on the project before the focus moved towards testing. More than 70,000 square metres of asphalt will be laid across the tunnel to create the driving surface, which is roughly six times the playing surface of Suncorp Stadium
This means the tunnel fit-out is almost complete, with more than 98 jet fans, 1800 lights and 150 CCTV cameras installed throughout the 4.6km tunnel.
When it opens mid-year, Legacy Way will allow motorists to travel from the Western Freeway at Toowong to the Inner City Bypass at Kelvin Grove in just four minutes.
80,000 power switches will be tested to make sure all systems are in perfect working order before Legacy Way is opened.
ROAD SURFACING ACTIVITIES
• More than 21,000m3 of concrete was poured and around 1400 tonnes of reinforced steel was required to construct the tunnel pavement.
• The concrete barriers required 9000m3 of concrete and took several months to complete.
• The pavement and barriers each took approximately five months to complete.
• On average per day Transcity progressed 180m3. Peak production was 300m3 in a shift.
• The 55mm layer, heavy duty, asphalt is one of the final finishing touches before the tunnel enters the commissioning phase where Legacy Way’s multitude of systems are tested.
• Approximately 700 kilometres of cabling - the distance between Brisbane and Rockhampton - was required for the tunnel’s mechanical and electrical systems.
• A total of 98 jet fans have been installed for ventilation and smoke control.
• Emergency telephones, fire hydrants, hose reels and extinguishers have been installed every 60 metres and a total of 1800 lights have been installed in the twin tunnels.
• A fire management system using the latest technology has been installed, including a total of 150 smoke vents in each tunnel to assist in extracting smoke.
• A total of 2100 pre-cast concrete beams line the roof of each tunnel to form a duct, allowing smoke to be extracted from the tunnel safely.
• Incident detection software will be integrated with more than 150 Closed Circuit Television cameras to automatically detect and alert operators to abnormal traffic conditions, enabling the team to reduce speed limits, initiate lane closures and complete tunnel closures, if necessary.
• A total of 60 variable messaging signs as well as cutting edge public address and radio re-broadcast systems will enable tunnel operators to communicate with motorists in the event of an incident.
No word on how much we'll be paying to use the tunnel although it's believed it could set us back as much as $5.
