The Pakenham Roads Upgrade project is set to undertake another major milestone, with a dozen 62.5-tonne concrete bridge beams set to be installed over the Princes Freeway this week.
Travelling from Melton to Pakenham, the 12 bridge beams will be brought to site and craned into place to form the new bridge deck over the Princes Freeway at Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road.
The bridge beams will be installed between Sunday 21 January and Wednesday 24 January, with all major works completed at night to avoid as much disruption as possible to the community.
The bridge beam installation is the next major work to be undertaken to build the new Princes Freeway bridge, following on works carried out last year to build the bridge embankments – using 90,000 tonnes of recycled and reclaimed dirt and soil – and the centre pier on which the beams will rest.
The works will require closures on the Princes Freeway across the four nights, with inbound lanes closed between the Nar Nar Goon Interchange and McGregor Road, with those travelling outbound to detour via the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road freeway ramps.
Outbound lanes will be closed on Sunday 21 January until Monday 22 January from 7pm to 5am each night, while inbound lanes will be closed on Tuesday 23 January until Wednesday 24 January from 7pm to 5am each night.
While works are well underway to build the new-look Princes Freeway interchange, including the blitz to remove the roundabout at Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road on the Koo Wee Rup side of the freeway, the Pakenham Roads Upgrade has also started Stage 2 works on McGregor Road, including adding an extra lane in each direction on McGregor Road between the Princes Freeway and Webster Way/Henry Road, upgrading the intersection at McGregor Road/Henry Road/Webster Way to add additional capacity and a dedicated left turn lane from Webster Way to McGregor Road and widening the existing outbound exit ramp at McGregor Road.
For more information on the project, visit bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/roads/pakenham-roads-upgrade
