Freeway a high way over floodplains

Rail delay holds up link road

FLOODS might be far from everyone’s thoughts this spring but the Albury-Wodonga Hume Freeway has been built to cater for worst-case inundations in the Murray Valley.

The 2.6km stretch of freeway in Victoria between the existing Wodonga bypass and Murray River involves some of the most complex engineering on the 17km route.

The new road is generally 5m to 6m above the floodplain and is carried on a mix of embankments and bridges over the creeks and floodways.

A cluster of five bridges now straddles the Wodonga Creek where the freeway meets the Bandiana link roads.

Abigroup Contractors have tackled one of the most complex parts of the 17.4km freeway route by positioning 330m of the two main highway carriageways high above the creek, the railway line and a ground-level roundabout.

Access and exit roads are built either side of the freeway.

This work is virtually completed but Abigroup is unable to create all the desired linkages because of the presence of the railway.

Freeway traffic from the direction of Melbourne seeking to head to Bandiana will have to enter High St, Osborne St and Chapple St until the connection can be made.

Abigroup’s Victorian arm is well-advanced on the Bandiana link road and it has built a roundabout halfway along where connections will be made to future residential and industrial areas.

In Albury, the focus of work is between East Albury and the railway line, while work continues on the Borella Rd bridge, the Bridge St intersection and footbridges near the station and Dean St.

The extension of Atkins St to “Rollover Corner” is built but not yet open.

In North Albury, the Fallon St bridge is making good progress with the connecting slip roads finished on either side of the freeway.

The Thurgoona Drive bridge has been operating for several weeks and the freeway between there and Ettamogah is almost finished.

Much of the work remaining on the freeway involves finishing touches to bridges and connections.

Source: The Border Mail

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