Managing Geotechnical Risks during Construction - A Case Study TSRC Project by Peter Reynolds

Abstract

The $1.6 billion Toowoomba Second Range Crossing project is a 41km road bypass route to the north of Toowoomba. It connects the Warrego Highway at Helidon Spa in the east to the Gore Highway at Athol in the west via Charlton. Construction commenced in 2016 and will be completed by mid-2019. The road alignment traverses some problematic geological formations in mountainous terrain in the east and undulating hillocks and low-lying terrain on the western plateau, top of the Range. These resulted in many uncertainties and potential risks to the Project. Several of these geotechnical risks were identified at the reference and tender design stages. Some of these risks were realised during construction. The aim of this presentation is to highlight some of the main geotechnical issues encountered during the construction of the road and what measures were taken to resolve them.