Wednesday 16 August 2023 didn’t just mark the history-making achievement of the Matildas in the Women’s World Cup semi-final, but also the exciting construction milestone of the largest concrete deck pour on the project to date.

 So, what really goes into organising a large-scale concrete deck pour on a project the size of BORR?

The approach taken consisted of several important considerations, being:

• Job size
• Concrete quality; and
• Public disturbance.

 View on the bridge

Job Size

The deck dimensions of the South Western Highway interchange required concrete to cover a total surface area of over 1,400 square metres. 375 cubic metres of concrete were used to construct the deck which is about as much concrete as would be required to cover three entire basketball courts a foot deep! This required a team of 25 experienced concreters and a variety of different types of equipment to get the job done smoothly and safely.

Concrete Quality

Once the resources needed for this quantity of concrete was under control, the quality had to be maintained as well. Hence, the two concrete testing stations that were set up to test every individual truckload to ensure the materials met standard requirements – including temperature control for durability specification requirements.

Public Disturbance

Minimising public disturbance requires some extensive planning… And sometimes waking up at the crack of dawn too! To reduce the number of motorists inconvenienced by the traffic control arrangements put in place during the pour, the South West Gateway Alliance started the job nice and early with kick-off at 4:00 am.

Despite the logistical and construction challenges, the largest concrete deck pour was completed efficiently and on schedule, and the South Western Highway interchange is now ready for the next stage of its construction.


 The largest concrete deck pour to date on BORR