Piling works have been progressing well at the ‘mega-bridge’, which will take BORR over Golding Crescent, the Ferguson River, the freight rail line, and Boyanup-Picton Road. The bridge will be 382 metres long, making it the longest in the South West region of Western Australia.

At the start of November, the team completed the first section of bridge piling work near the Golding Crescent construction site. These nine piles will be the base for three bridge piers in this area, each with a depth of around 20 metres.

(The piling rig completing the first test bore for Pier 3 at the ‘mega bridge’ near Golding Crescent)

“We’ve faced some challenging conditions working in close proximity to the roadworks on Golding Crescent this month. We have over 40 piles to complete in this area, so there is still lots of work to be done”, said Ana, Project Engineer for the South West Gateway Alliance.

A piling rig is a large drill that bores into the ground to establish strong bridge foundations. The rig drills a hole, before a steel cage is dropped in and filled with concrete. These works are especially important in areas like this, where the ground is made up of sandy soil and silty clay.

(Steel cages used in the piling process)

The rig sits on a piling pad built from a layer of compacted sand and a capping layer of limestone to support its weight while drilling. The pad provides a stable base on which the rig can move around the site and operate.

Following its work at Golding Crescent, the piling rig has been moved onto the construction site near Boyanup-Picton Road where it will stay for around four weeks and complete the piling for another three piers.

The team has recently commenced one of the project’s largest concrete pours for bridge piles to the east of Boyanup-Picton Road. These three piles are 2.2 metres in diameter, 27.5 metres deep, and use 130 cubic metres of concrete to fill the steel casings.

(Concrete bridge pile at the Boyanup-Picton Road site)

If you drive down Boyanup-Picton Road during this period, you might even be able to spot the piling rig working from the road, check out the video below for see the project progress.