New super-T beams that will form two new bridges have made the trek from Melbourne’s West to Melbourne’s South East in early October before being lifted into place over Deep Creek at Pakenham South.
Thirteen beams will be used to form the main structure of two bridges over Deep Creek as a part of the Healesville- Kooweerup Road upgrade.
The beams were delivered to Deep Creek in Pakenham before being lifted into place this week.
The beams, spanning nearly 33.5 metres long, have been manufactured at Westkon Precast in Cobblebank.
Major Road Projects Victoria has utilised Westkon’s services across four more of its projects, with nearly 450 beams commissioned across the M80 Upgrade, the Monash Freeway Upgrade, the South Gippsland Highway Realignment and the Mordialloc Freeway.
The bridges will boast two lanes in each direction as well as a shared use path for pedestrians and cyclists.
The new bridges will improve safety along Healesville-Kooweerup Road by straightening out the existing bends in the road.
It comes after 60 piles were driven to depths of 18 metres to support the new bridges.
The bridges are designed as separate structures to provide a clean span of Deep Creek and ensure the sensitive and protected Southern Brown Bandicoot habitat in the creek is not disturbed.
The design also features with a gap in between to allow for light and moisture to support the growth of vegetation and the bandicoot habitat in the creek area below.
It comes following the construction and installation of 40 bandicoot shelters along Healesville-Kooweerup Road that have been providing safe shelter while the upgrade is underway.
Delivery of the super-T beams will see minor impacts to traffic to allow crews to safely deliver the beams to site.
The Healesville-Kooweerup Road Upgrade will deliver safer driving conditions to the 21,000 vehicles who use this road every day.
Once complete, the upgrade will benefit road users by significantly improving safety, traffic flow and travel times for road users across Melbourne’s South East.
The Healesville-Kooweerup Road Upgrade is expected to be completed by 2025.
