Page 1099 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
when these intellectual giants finished building that bit of the road? And, of course, $32 million is about as accurate as Mr Smyth’s health budget in the last election—30 million bucks out.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, come back to the technical achievements.
MR HARGREAVES: I will. Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. One of the engineering challenges was the construction of a major bridge over Belconnen Way while the road was still operational—$7.1 million, I think, if my memory serves me correctly—which is about 25 per cent of the whole budget of that lot opposite, for one bridge. Members would be interested to know that the bridge over Belconnen Way is 108 metres long with a span between the piers of 53 metres. It is 12 metres wide, 5.8 metres above Belconnen Way and it contains 400 tonnes of steel and 2,000 cubic metres of concrete. That took 12 months to complete and was an engineering feat.
Mr Pratt: It was $7.1 million, was it?
MR HARGREAVES: It was $7 million that I have in front of me, Mr Pratt, but my memory says $7.1 million. But, if you wish to argue the toss over $100,000, you might like to talk to Mr Seselja about the cost of those ridiculous ads.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, direct your comments through the chair, please.
MR HARGREAVES: Ten thousand bucks worth of ads or something like that—more expensive, his ads, than the logo on a bus, I have to tell you, Mr Speaker.
The bridge over Ginninderra Drive was another major construction challenge, requiring the erection of six bridge beams, which was a very complex operation. The beams were transported to the site under police escort, with two large cranes then being used to lift them on to the bridge abutments.
Mr Pratt: What is the relevance of that?
MR HARGREAVES: Each beam, not unlike the width of Mr Pratt’s mouth, is 40 metres long and has a depth of 1.8 metres and weighs approximately 76 tonnes. The beams were manufactured in Newcastle and are the longest prestressed concrete beams available.
The nature of the work at Glenloch interchange was very complex and involved the construction of four bridges at three different levels within a 50-metre radius. The demolition of the existing bridge was also necessary. The GDE southbound carriageway is 6.5 metres higher than the bridge for the citybound off ramp at Parkes Way, which is 6.5 metres higher than Parkes Way/William Hovell Drive bridge. In summary, there are bridges at three different levels with an overall height difference of some 13 metres.
The Parkes Way to William Hovell connection was constructed in a trench, which reduced the overall height of the structures above the general terrain by about five metres. This section of the Gungahlin Drive extension connects Caswell Drive,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .