Progress on track for the Bruce upgrade

Earthworks smooth for Bruce Hwy upgrade stage

Looking south towards Tandur Rd. Picture: Contributed

MAJOR movement on the latest section of the Cooroy to Curra Bruce Hwy upgrade puts Section C on track to completion next year.

Since work between Traveston and Woondum began last March, bulk earthworks were almost complete and bridge construction was progressing smoothly, a Transport and Main Roads spokesperson said.

The works form part of a 62km upgrade and realignment of the Bruce Hwy between Cooroy and Curra that includes a bypass of Gympie, and is among the state's highest priority road projects.

Construction contractor CPB Contractors has moved more than 1.5 million cubic metres of earth and placed concrete "Super T” girders on several of the 13 bridges to be constructed as part of the project.

Major drainage structures under the main highway carriageway and creek diversions at Traveston, Kybong and Jackass creeks and Cobbs Gully are complete with landscaping and revegetation continuing.

TAKING SHAPE: Bridge progress at Cobbs Gully. Picture: Contributed

"When works are complete contractors will have moved around 1.7 million cubic metres of earth and constructed 13 bridges over roads and waterways,” the spokesman said.

"They will have laid around 150,000 tonnes of asphalt on the four new highway lanes and at

the interchange ramps,”

he said.

The new four-lane divided highway section is expected to be open before the middle of next year.

The project, which is designed to meet transport needs of the Sunshine Coast and Gympie regions, is being delivered in four sections.

Work on Section A from the Cooroy southern interchange to Sankeys Rd will be completed early this year at a cost of $490 million (in a one-off 50:50 federal and state funding split).

Section B, between Sankeys Rd and Traveston Rd, which was built first for safety reasons, was finished late 2012 after three and

a half years of work at a

cost of $513 million (80:20 federal and state funding split).

The final section (D) between Woondum and Curra, which includes the Gympie bypass, is being designed.

Designing began in May last year.

This 26km highway section includes a bypass of Gympie with the corridor running east of the town, close to the railway line

until Old Maryborough Road. It will then travel through the edge of Curra State Forest to minimise the impact on private land.

The upgrade will separate long distance from local traffic movements to allow the highway to function as a high-speed, high-volume corridor.