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Clem Jones Tunnel
(CLEM7)
North-South Bypass Tunnel
Map
General information
TypeError: |type= not defined (help)
Length6.8 km (4.2 mi)
 Template:AUSR Shafston Avenue
Location(s)
viaKangaroo Point

The M7 Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7), known during its development as the North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT), is a AUD$3.2 billion toll road built under the Brisbane River, which crosses between the suburbs of Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills in Brisbane, Australia. The CLEM7 Community Open Day, a public open day which included a tunnel run and walk was held on 28 February 2010.[1] The tunnel opening for traffic is expected in March 2010.[2]

The tunnel was originally proposed by then Labor Lord Mayor Jim Soorley in 2001, and was incorporated into the Liberal Party candidate Campbell Newman's five tunnel vision, called TransApex in 2002. In December 2007, Brisbane City Council decided to name the tunnel the Clem Jones Tunnel in honour of the former lord mayor.[3] On July 16 2008, the Government of Queensland announced that the tunnel will be known as the M7 Motorway. The M7 name will also be assigned to the Airport Link.

The project will be Brisbane’s first privately financed toll road.[4] The road is the city's largest road infrastructure project and one of Queensland's largest infrastructure projects. With tunnel length of 4.8 km it will be the largest road tunnel in the country until the planned 6.7 km Airport Link tunnel is complete.[5]

Construction bids were provided by a tender process in which Rivercity Motorways was selected over the Brisconnections consortium. The project commenced in September 2006, with tunneling using two very large boring machines completing digging by May 2009. The tunnel will be tolled via an electronic tolling system. The tunnel design includes extensive safety systems, a traffic control centre and speed cameras. The price of the toll has been criticised as too expensive and the ventilation stacks as too intrusive.

Design

The motorway is designed to alleviate traffic congestion in the rapidly growing city, especially in Brisbane's congested central business district and Fortitude Valley.[6] The major benefit of the 6.8 km toll road is that it will bypass 24 existing sets of traffic lights, potentially saving 15 minutes of travel time and provide an additional Brisbane River crossing. The concrete road includes 4.8 km of tunnel and 18 bridges.[7] The Clem7 will provide two lanes of traffic in each direction via parallel tubes.[8] There are 41 cross-passages that are spaced every 120 metres along the entire length of the tunnel which can used in emergency situations.[8] Access to the tunnel from the southern end will be via Shaftson Avenue, Ipswich Road and the Pacific Motorway.[7] Northern connections include Lutwyche Road, the Inner City Bypass and the Airport Link tunnel[7] which is now under construction.

Tunnel under construction

Up to 100 000 cars are expected to use the tunnel each day.[9] Toll collection will be conducted by both an electronic tolling system using a tag fitted inside vehicles or by taking a photograph of licence plates, avoiding the need for vehicles to slow or stop.[10] The Go via and FLOW Tolling systems will both be utilised. The design includes a smoke reduction ceiling that will rapidly draw out smoke in case of a fire or explosion.[11] The ventilation system incorporates 100 jet fans.[8]

The tunnel will have a speed limit of 80 km per hour and contain 165 emergency phones.[12] The Clem 7 will be equipped with eight speed cameras. These will be Queensland's highest concentration of fixed speed detection devices and have been justified as a way of reducing the potential for disastrous high speed tunnel crashes.[13] A traffic control centre staffed by 50 personnel will monitor the tunnel 24 hours a day, using 250 cameras.[5][8]

Steel and aluminium sculptures at the tunnel entrances act as a transitional light filter. They were designed by architect, John Ilett who also designed the colourful exhaust fume stacks.[14] The red and purple stacks were inspired by the colours of the jacaranda and poinciana trees.[9] Included in the project's design are a series of urban enhancements such as parklands and road widening in adjacent suburbs.

Tender process

The successful tenderer, Rivercity Motorway Limited, was announced by Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman on 27 April 2006, beating a bid by the Brisconnections consortium.[5] Contracts for the design and construction of the tunnel were given to Leighton Contractors and Baulderstone/Bilfinger Berger Joint Venture.[15][10] Transurban declined to place a tender because of risk-return factors.[16]

The losing bid by the Brisconnections consortium incorporated three lanes of traffic in each direction (as opposed to two lanes for the winning bid). With a price difference of AUD$20 million the decision to build a two lane tunnel was criticised in some circles as shortsighted. [5] Brisconnections did win the tender for the Airport Link with a similarly aggressive bid that requires almost double the traffic anticipated by government for the project to be successful.

Controversy

There has also been considerable controversy over the environmental hazards which may be caused by the construction phase and operation of the tunnels.[9] In March 2005, local residents protested construction plans primarily due to the expected air pollution from exhaust ventilation stacks.[17] One 43 m purple structure is being built in Jurgens Street, Woolloongabba, another 36 m red stack is being constructed in O'Connell Terrace, Bowen Hills.[9]

One of the reasons for building the tunnel as a public-private partnership is that it should reduce Brisbane City Council's risks regarding the tunnel construction and operation. However, the public disclosure documents released by Rivercity Motorway indicate that there are still considerable un-costed risks left with Council. For example, a 10 m extension was required for the exhaust stack at the Woolloongabba end of the tunnel and the full cost was required to be borne by Brisbane City Council, not Rivercity Motorway.

The tunnel will be tolled for a minimum of 45 years,[7] or ten years more than promised by Newman in the 2004 election. The toll on this tunnel is expected to be about $4.20 when the tunnel is opened,[18] despite Newman promising a toll of no more than $2.00 including GST and a total cost of AUD$1 billion during the election.[19]

The traffic estimates produced for Rivercity Motorway by Maunsell include a two year ramp up period to an annual average daily volume of 100 000 vehicles in 2012.[20] The Maunsell forecast then rises to 110 000 vehicles per day in 2014, and 135 000 in 2026. In contrast, traffic estimates produced as part of the Northern Link Supplementary EIS predict an average weekday traffic volume in the Clem7 tunnel of 70 900 vehicles in 2014, and 92 300 in 2026, if Northern Link is not built (over 30% less than the Maunsell estimates).[21] If Northern Link is built, these estimates for the Clem7 tunnel volumes fall further to 65 900 in 2014 and 82 000 in 2026 (40% less than the Maunsell estimates). In the most recent Rivercity Motorway Financial Report it was noted that "if traffic assumptions over the entire concession period differed to estimates by +/-5% then the value in use would be impacted by +/-$99 million." [22] Therefore the traffic forecasts included in the Northern Link EIS should be a cause of some concern for Rivercity Motorway investors.

Public offering

The initial share offer was for shares at a cost of $1.00 with 50% deferred for 12 months.[6] The shares were listed on the ASX at $0.46, 8 % below the offer price, and as of November 2008, have traded for as little as $0.13. The ASX issuer code for the Rivercity Motorway Group is RCY. A dividend of 2.4c per stapled unit has recently been released to investors.

Construction

The boring machine dubbed Matilda

Construction commenced in September 2006.[23] At the start of the project it was the longest road tunnel being built in the country.[18] 3.5 million tonnes of excavated rock was removed from the tunnel by conveyor, stored in silos and taken away by truck.[23] During a typical weekday period more than 25 trucks per hour have been hauling removed soil and rock along Kingsford Smith Drive to an area near the Brisbane Airport.[11]

During construction all 1700 staff working on the project and all site visitors, who are inside the tunnel, could be located at any time using an RFID tagging system that transmits a person's location wirelessly.[24] The system was designed to monitor site access and asset location as well as to improve safety and efficiency in what is a high profile and potentially hazardous worksite.

Difficult drilling conditions, due to the very hard Brisbane Tuff rock that is found under inner Brisbane, were encountered and overcome. Both purpose-built, double-shield boring machines began on the northern end, with the first arriving in Brisbane in July 2007 and cutting commencing in December after testing was conducted.[5] At the time, the tunneling machines were the biggest in the world, weighing 4 000 tonnes and each being 250 m in length.[25] Each machine cost AUD$50 million to build.[5] The boring machines were built by the German firm Herrenknecht and can dig up to 20 m per day. When finished the boring machines will have placed 37 000 precast linings.[5] Smaller roadheader machines began from the southern end in February 2007.

As of September 2008, TBM 2 (named Florence) had reached Kangaroo Point on the southern side of the Brisbane River whereas TBM 1 (named Matilda), which began in March 2008, was still tunneling under the river. By this time bridges had reached the final construction stages at the Northern Portal and the Morrissey Street bridge in Woolloongabba. In early December 2008, Florence had connected to the eastern entrance tunnels from Shafston Avenue.[18] By April 2009 the tunnel excavation was 85% complete.[26] Florence completed tunnelling work on 16 April 2009,[27] while Matilda completed tunneling work on May 26, 2009.

CLEM7 Community Open Day

The CLEM7 Community Open Day took place on 28 February 2010. The Open Day commenced with a 10 km long Clem7 Tunnel Run through the entire length of the Clem Jones Tunnel. The electronically timed event was limited to 5000 participants. The run started and finished at the Bowen Hills tunnel portal. Runners run through the tunnel twice, from Bowen Hills portal to the Woolloongabba portal, and back to Bowen Hills portal. Funds raised during the Tunnel Run will support the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.[1] Following the Tunnel Run, the first public walk through the tunnel attracted 55,000 people.[2]

Public transport

From the 29 March 2010, a new bus route will operate through the tunnel at a cost of $1.6 million. Route 77 will link the suburbs of Eight Mile Plains and Chermside, completing the 30 km cross-city journey in 39 minutes and will operate every 15 minutes at peak times and 30 minutes off-peak [28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Opening Events". Rivercity Motorway Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  2. ^ a b "Brisbane tunnel public walk attracts 55,000". Anna Caldwell. February 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  3. ^ Neil Hickey (2007-12-17). "Tunnel named after Clem Jones". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
  4. ^ "North-South Bypass Tunnel". maunsell.com. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "North-South Bypass Tunnel, Brisbane, Australia". roadtraffic-technology.com. SPG Media. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  6. ^ a b Trevor Chappell (2006-06-14). "Brisbane tunnel group wants to raise $724m". Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  7. ^ a b c d "Rivercity Motorway Group - Facts and Figures". Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  8. ^ a b c d Project Update December 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  9. ^ a b c d Phil Bartsch (2009-03-13). "Colourful vents for cross-city Clem Jones Tunnel". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  10. ^ a b "Rivercity Motorway Group - Clem Jones Tunnel". Rivercity Motorway Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  11. ^ a b Tony Moore (2008-07-16). "'Clem 7' now 1km under city". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  12. ^ Kelmeny Fraser (2009-06-07). "Clem 7 drive finds drama 60m down". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  13. ^ Christine Kellett (23 November 2009). "Snap happy: Clem 7 speed cameras 'excessive'". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  14. ^ Tony Moore (20 August, 2009). "Matilda and Florence strip off in 24 seconds". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 2009-11-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Clem Jones Tunnel (Clem7) - Baulderstone". Bilfinger Berger Australia. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
  16. ^ Rod Myer (2005-03-23). "Big three infrastructure funds baulk at Brisbane tunnel". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  17. ^ "Protesters rally against Brisbane tunnel". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  18. ^ a b c Alison Sandy (2008-12-08). "Clem Jones Tunnel joins up ahead of schedule". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  19. ^ Michael Corkill (2006-08-08). "Tunnel goes deeper". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  20. ^ Rivercity Motorway (2008-07-03). "Traffic Update - July 08" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  21. ^ SKM Connell Wagner Joint Venture (2009-06-01). "Northern Link Environmental Impact Statement - Supplementary Report" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  22. ^ Rivercity Motorway (2009-09-22). "Final Financial Report 30 June 2009" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  23. ^ a b "Rivercity Motorway Group - Construction". Rivercity Motorway Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  24. ^ Dave Friedlos (2008-06-17). "RFID Improves Safety, Efficiency of Brisbane Tunnel Construction". RFID Journal. RFID Journal LLC. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  25. ^ "Massive tunnel borer arrives in Brisbane". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  26. ^ "Project Update April 2009" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  27. ^ Thea Phillips (2008-04-16). "Clem-7 drill breaks through". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  28. ^ Minister for Transport The Honourable Rachel Nolan (2010-03-01). "77 in Clem 7 crosses north-south divide". Ministerial Media Statements. Queensland Government. Retrieved 2010-03-01. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |author= at position 23 (help)

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