Precast concrete everywhere

The most obvious usage of precast concrete on the West Gate Tunnel Project is the tunnels themselves.

Each of the 3-lane tunnels requiring 2500 precast concrete segments to line the interior.

West Gate Tunnel Project photo

But the massive viaduct running above Footscray Road also requires tonnes of precast concrete.

Piers to hold up the two carriageways.

Then there is the bridge deck itself.

Assembled using a giant mobile gantry.

From shorter sections of precast concrete.

Enter LS Precast

In a paddock outside Benalla is a yard filled with massive pieces of precast concrete.

Google Maps

Cranes everywhere.

Each massive piece of precast concrete was created inside an bigger sheds.

Then stacked up outside.

Google Maps

Hundreds of tunnel lining segments waiting to make the trip to Melbourne.

Multiple times a day, A-double semi trailers departs the yard.

On the 200 kilometre, two and a half hour drive down the Hume Highway to Melbourne.

There they thread their way through the western suburbs to West Gate Tunnel work site.

The precast concrete elements that make up the elevated viaduct above Footscray Road are also manufactured at Benalla.

But since these elements are much larger.

West Gate Tunnel Project photo

They need to be transported by specialised low loader trucks.

West Gate Tunnel Project photo

To spread their extreme weight across the road surface.

West Gate Tunnel Project photo

What about trains

Benalla is on a railway line, and so is Melbourne – so why not transport all of these pieces of precast concrete by train? Well, that is exactly what the government said would happen.

New Benalla manufacturing facility to create hundreds of jobs for rural and regional Victorians
1 Feb 2018

Victoria’s largest precast concrete manufacturing facility will be built in Benalla to supply major Victorian infrastructure projects, create 400 jobs and provide a massive boost to the local economy.

The $60 million facility will be operated by local businesses and will supply precast concrete for major projects including the West Gate Tunnel Project.

The facility will be capable of producing up to 1,500 tonnes of concrete product per day at peak capacity.

Benalla’s access to road and rail infrastructure means the facility is well placed to supply future Victorian and interstate projects, creating ongoing economic benefits to Benalla and surrounding communities.

To limit the number of trucks on local roads, the precast concrete segments for the West Gate Tunnel Project will be transported to Melbourne by freight train.

A new 700m rail siding will be built along the existing rail line in Benalla to provide a direct link between the precast facility and Melbourne.

The West Gate Tunnel Project will provide an estimated $11 billion boost to the Victorian economy, creating 6000 new jobs.

Construction of the Benalla precast facility is due to commence in March 2018, and it will be fully operational from October 2018.

With a railway siding constructed right into the casting plant at Benalla.

New Rail Siding For Benalla Precast Concrete Facility
25 September 2018

Work has started on a huge rail siding to service the new precast concrete facility being built in Benalla.

Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan joined Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes to visit the worksite today, that will soon start producing precast concrete for the Andrews Labor Government’s West Gate Tunnel.

A new 700 metre siding will be created from the existing rail line to provide direct access to the precast facility.

New rail track will also be built – connected to the nearby freight line – so the concrete segments can be loaded directly from the precast facility on to freight trains and transported to Melbourne.

About 20 metre of new track has been laid and the existing train line is being upgraded ahead of the commissioning of the new siding in late 2018.

Construction is well underway on a new $60 million precast concrete facility in Benalla in readiness for concrete production.

The facility will initially provide over 65,000 concrete products for the massive West Gate Tunnel Project.

Excavators are currently levelling the site and the steel frames are going up for the three large sheds to be built on the site.

The precast facility will include a concrete batching plant, the large sheds for precast concrete production, offices, precast product storage, maintenance areas, a precast rail siding and 300 car parking spaces for workers.

The precast facility will be the largest of its kind in Victoria, capable of producing over 1,500 tonnes of concrete product per day at peak capacity.

The precast facility will create 400 jobs and will help ensure regional communities can benefit from the many opportunities created by the state’s booming infrastructure sector.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Roads and Road Safety Luke Donnellan

“It’s fantastic to see the progress being made on this, the largest precast concrete facility of its kind in Victoria.”

“Building the new rail siding means that we can get concrete products from Benalla to Melbourne via the existing rail network, avoiding heavy vehicle traffic and associated road impacts.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes

“This is a massive investment in Benalla and we are already seeing jobs being created for local people with construction well underway.”

“This facility nearly didn’t happen due to the Liberal and National parties’ opposition to the project, I’m proud that my home town of Benalla and people throughout the north east share in the benefits of the Andrews Labor Government’s West Gate Tunnel.”

But by October 2020 their messaging had changed.

By having the concrete segment facility in Benalla, it ensured that regional Victoria benefited from our state’s infrastructure boom – creating jobs and providing a boost to the local economy.

The facility is supplying a variety of precast concrete products for the West Gate Tunnel Project and was selected due to its proximity to local quarries, its production capability and the easy access to Melbourne via transport networks . These products come in a range of sizes, shapes and weights.

A number of precast segments are not suitable to transport by freight train and will be delivered to West Gate Tunnel work sites by truck, using approved truck routes. The project team is exploring which precast segments are suitable to transport to Melbourne via rail. We’ll keep you updated through these channels as things progress.

The rail siding is clearly visible in the aerial view on Google Maps.

Google Maps

But as fas as I know, the rail siding at the Benalla precast yard has never been used by trains, and none of the precast segements have been transported by rail – however the cement used to make the segments did get moved by rail to Benalla station.

Footnote: some videos

Building the concrete precast facility at Benalla.

And flying over the completed yard.

Test fitting tunnel lining segments.

Delivering precast segments to the West Gate Tunnel work site.

Assembling the bridge columns.

And an animation showing how the bridge builder above Footscray Road works.

Footnote: other recent projects

The concrete segments for the Metro Tunnel were cast at a yard at Ravenhall, only 30 kilometres from their final destination.

While the precast concrete for the ‘Skyrail’ bridges were initially cast 50 kilometres away at Pakenham, and are now cast 70 kilometres away at Kilmore.

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In the beginning

For many decades, precast concrete ‘Super T’ girders have been the goto design for new road and rail bridges.

With concrete poured into a steel mould, and steel reinforcing bar inserted, each beam is made offsite.

Trucked to the bridge site.

And lifted into place by crane.

Enter ‘Skyrail’

In 2016 it was announced that all nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong would be eliminated by the construction of an elevated railway line. However there was one problem – the rail corridor between Caulfield and Oakleigh was too narrow for conventional bridge building techniques.

The solution – a dedicated casting plant was established at Pakenham.

It all starts with a cage of steel reinforcing mesh.

Concrete is then poured, giving a short segment of bridge.

They are then trucked one by one to the assembly site at Murrumbeena station.

Where they are assembled into completed beams.

And lifted the top of the completed bridge.

Where they are collected by a straddle carrier.

To deliver them to their final home at the end of the bridge.

Between May 2017 and April 2018 a total of 174 bridge spans were delivered – each ranging from 280 to 420 tonnes, with the straddle carrier travelling more than 260km back and forth along the rail line.

Some breathless boasting

The use of the straddle carrier and gantry crane solution was seen as innovative.

The new skills, processes and protocols associated with this national first have entailed an extensive amount of behind the scenes activity, including a comprehensive training programme.

Simon explains: “We’ve trained approximately 300 workers to operate the carrier, gantry cranes and support beams, as well as cast and tension the spans that make up the rail deck. It’s not insignificant from an industry perspective as we will retain this knowledge in Australia along with a whole range of highly transferrable skills.”

But the rail viaducts at the Noble Park end of the project used conventional super T beams.

As did the viaduct at Clayton.

With the straddle carrier and gantry crane meeting an inglorious end dumped in a yard at Sandown Park racecourse.

The reason?

And the new hotness – U-Trough beams

By 2019 a new, much simpler design of rail viaduct had taken over – the U-Trough.

With cleaner lines, the design also reduced the total height of the final viaduct, by containing the rail track inside the bridge structure itself.

The first example was the Mernda line extension, and quickly followed by the level crossing removal at Skye Road on the Frankston line.

With the beams manufactured at the NVC Precast yard in Kilmore.

Google Maps

The plant having a 115 lineal metre radiant heat cured bed fitted with external vibrators, two 1800 tonne slow release stressing jacks, and two 80 tonne x 40 metre span portal gantry cranes covering a working area of 8000m2.

NVC Precast photo

As with all precast concrete, the rebar is the first step.

NVC Precast photo

With the resulting beams being stacked in the yard.

NVC Precast photo

Until they leave the site by road.

NVC Precast photo

Cranes are used to lift the beams from the truck, and into place to make a bridge.

Work able to be completed with minimal disruption to rail services.

Even on narrow sections of rail corridor, like that between Bell and Preston stations.

Some early projects used preassembled U-trough beams.

NVC Precast photo

Delivered via convoluted routes.

But other projects have seen them delivered in two halves, to reduce the total weight of the load.

The beams then tied together on site.

With concrete poured in place.

The list of LXRA projects that have used U-trough bridges is long and growing, including:

• Mernda Rail Extension
• Skye Road, Frankston
• Seaford Road and Carrum
• Abbots Road and Greens Road, Dandenong South
• Werribee Street, Werribee
• Toorak Road
• Reservoir
• Hallam
• Lilydale and Mooroolbark
• Coburg and Moreland
• Preston and Bell
• Deer Park

(And probably a few more that I’ve missed!)

Footnote: more on U-troughs

In September 2019 Roads & Infrastructure published a piece on U-troughs.

The Level Crossing Removal Project will see 75 level crossings throughout Melbourne removed by 2025 in order to increase safety, reduce travel times and better connect communities across the city.

So far 29 level crossings have been removed and completed across Melbourne, including one at Skye Road in Frankston.

For the first time in Australia, the Level Crossing Removal Authority, principle contractor, designers, engineers and NVC Precast worked together to deliver the elevated rail using prefabricated concrete U-Trough beams.

The design of the Skye Level Crossing Removal used 24 prefabricated concrete U-Trough beams, that were over 6 metre wide, 30 metres in length and weighing an impressive 280 tonnes to construct the rail bridge using Rapid On-Line Construction techniques. This reduced the rail occupation period and sped up the overall construction of the project for the benefit of the community.

NVC Precast were chosen to manufacture the U-Trough beams based on their experience in precast and the L-Beams used for elevated rail for level crossing removal.

NVC Precast were able to manufacture and store the beams at their precasting facility in Kilmore Victoria, coordinating delivery to arrive just in time to be erected on site.

The U-Trough beams were produced by stitching two precast concrete L-beams together which were between 25 and 31 metres long with masses up to 120 tonnes each, creating a single unit that weighted up to 280 tonnes.
The L-Beams were positioned to be stitched out in the yard.

The project involved extensive planning to create the forms and casting beds for the manufacture of the beams, the plant to transport them to site, and to create the infrastructure for the stitching and loading at the precast yard.

NVC Precast Construction Manager oversaw the casting of the L-Beams and the process for the stitching of the U Troughs which took four weeks to complete in April 2018.

NVC Precast manufacture up to four L-beams at a time casting 140 to 160 m3 to produce 12 L-Beams per week. To create a single segment U-Trough Beam, 50% of the L-Beams were rotated 180˚, matched positioned on pedestals for the joining stitch to be cast. The rotation and match positioning was achieved using GPS guided SPMT and 80 tonnes Portal Gantry Cranes for the final touches.

The U-Trough beams were stored at NVC Precast’s Kilmore site before transporting to site and final installation into the elevated rail viaduct.

NVC Precast had to ensure that the load out facility it constructed allowed for 2 No. 12 axle Platform trailers to be accurately positioned under the 280-tonne segments for loading and chaining down.

Mr. Bell says the recent redevelopment of the NVC Precast site has created plenty of storage area for both storage and ancillary works such as painting, attaching handrails, barrier rails and temporary walkways.
The U-Trough beams were positioned by stitching two precast concrete L-beams together.

“This allows us to work closely with our clients to provide both precast concrete elements and solutions to some of the common construction problems, such as working at heights,” Mr. Bell says.

“As you are working beside a live rail line, rail upgrade requires closing the rail line every time you want to install the beams, which causes major disruption to rail traffic. With the L beams joined as U troughs off site, you take all the construction activity related to splicing off site and do it when the rail is still open. Then you can close the rail for significantly shorter periods just to install the complete U trough beams.”

Mr. Bell says the U-trough is a very efficient design as the trains operate within the walls of the beams which provides a much lower profile and is more aesthetically pleasing elevated structure.

“The offsite fabrication of the U Trough beams for the Skye project was a great initiative by the main contractor and provided many benefits to the overall onsite construction process, through the benefits of both off site precast techniques allowing rapid installation, great quality control, a reduction in the overall construction footprint, and eliminated a lot of safety issues.”

And structural engineer Daniel Pang published a paper in 2021 on the use of U-trough viaducts on the Toorak Road Level Crossing Removal Project, and how they differed from the standardized design developed by the LXRA’s U-Trough Joint Design Group.

The Toorak Road Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) removed and replaced the existing level crossing with two U-Trough elevated rail viaducts. The design drew on what had been developed for previous LXRP designs but introduced refinements and accommodated the project specific features.

The primary objective with the development of the standard U-Trough was to accommodate the online construction requirements of the overall LXRP program of works throughout metropolitan Melbourne for which speed of construction along existing rail corridors is critical.

The alliances teams participating in the LXRP works had decided to adopt a U-Trough solution as opposed to previously developed and tested local market solutions such as Super T beams and box section. This decision was been based upon the fact that the U-Trough solution had gained acceptance from stakeholders and was regarded as satisfying the design, construction, operational and maintenance objectives of rail infrastructure.

The U-Trough solution provides many advantages over other systems such as Super-T and concrete box girder sections. This solution enables minimisation of the height difference from the soffit level to the top of track and hence provides a lower vertical grade separation height and minimises the required earthworks. In the event of derailment, the train will be contained within the structure, which provides a significant safety benefit.

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Let’s take a tour

The concrete houses on Leith Avenue are included on Heritage Overlay number HO020, and include twelve properties – eight houses at 1 to 15 Leith Avenue, and four houses at 51 – 57 Hampshire Road.

They are a short distance from the Sunshine grain silos.

A central reserve divides Leith Avenue.

The houses built to a common design.

Distinctive chimneys atop each one.

But each slightly different.

Four houses also front Hampshire Road.

Less notable than those on Leith Avenue.

But made of concrete all the same.

Six different house designs were used on the estate, with three of them surviving today.

Type 1 is block-fronted with a simple hipped roof. It has overhanging eaves at the centre of the facade, creating a window hood above the windows, resting on triangular timber brackets. Windows are paired six-over-one sashes in boxed (projecting) frames. These houses have decorative timber porches on the side elevation. Another distinctive feature of these houses is the narrow faceted cast-concrete chimneys.

Type 2 has a wide hipped-roof bay at the front with a recessed porch beneath it. The porch is lit by a windowlike opening on the facade. The windows of this type of house are set into moulded render surrounds.

There is one surviving house with a California Bungalow form (Type 3), on Hampshire Road. Its most distinctive feature is a half-timbered gable-roofed porch at the front. The porch is supported on three pairs of timber posts, which in turn rest on low rendered piers.

History of the estate

During the 1880s land boom, speculators carved up the land around the township then called ‘Braybrook Junction’.

From History of School 3113 Sunshine

But boom turned to bust, and the estate lay empty except for a handful of houses.

Enter industrialist H. V. McKay, and his Sunshine Harvester Works which moved to Braybrook Junction in 1906. Driven by either generosity or paternalism, McKay developed housing estates across Sunshine for his workers, the largest of which is now the suburb of Albion.

SLV photo H2016.33/103

But a smaller estate of twenty-six homes was built on Leith Avenue – nine either side of the central park, and two groups of four facing Hampshire Road.

Plan of subdivision vol 5042 fol 203

Set on a court constructed with concrete road, kerb and channel around an oblong central grassed median, construction commenced in 1924, financed by the State Savings Bank of Victoria, and designed by their chief architect Burridge Leith.

Concrete Cottages
Two Dozen for Sunshine

A scheme has recently been approved of by the State Savings Bank in regard to the building of concrete dwelling houses by a system of organisation, which will make the cost very little in excess of wood. The first of the cottages built in the State by this new system was erected in Brighton, and has proved a success, and arrangements have been made to erect about 26 such residences in Hampshire Road, Sunshine, for employees of the Harvester Works. The building of the houses is being financed by the State Savings Bank. The cost of the buildings will vary from about £650 to £800, and the bank accepts a 10 per cent deposit of the capital cost of land and building, the remainder, of course, being payable in weekly contributions over a term of years.

The use of concrete sped up the construction process.

House Built in a Day
Moulded Concrete Employed

Twenty-five houses are being built of “poured” concrete at Sunshine (Vic.) Some have been erected, the last establishing what is claimed as a world record for speedy construction; all the moulds were set and all the walls, interior and exterior “poured” and reinforced with steel in 28 hours.

This extremely rapid work, of course, means an immense saving in labour, costs, as the weekly bill for wages almost disappears. That a building produced in such an infinitesimal space of time can be practically everlasting seems to upset all previous notions of the value of slow and careful workmanship.

But in this case swift work means good work, as the rapid pouring of the concrete means that the whole of the walls will set together in one monolithic mass. This could not be achieved if the house were built up slowly in layers, causing joins in the walls and liability to cracking.

During the latter part of the winter a plant was constructed at Sunshine to conform to the new plans of the Monolyte houses designed by the chief architect of tho State Savings Bank and a start was made with the work, in connection with an extensive building contract on behalf of and under the supervision of the State Savings Bank. Houses are now being rapidly “poured” one after the other. The
usual time occupied by this system for the purpose of erecting the forms and work incidental thereto, including reinforcing, etc., is roughly five to six days, according to the size of the house to be built, while the pouring of the walls takes another six hours, thus making tho house ready for roofing within seven days.

On Monday of one week a start was made with a house of the series, and so well did tho team perform its work that tho whole of the forms were set up and the special steel reinforcing placed in position by Wednesday, thus occupying barely three days for this preliminary work. Pouring operations under the supervision of the inventor, Mr, S. B. Merchant, were commenced afterwards, and completed within four hours and ten minutes altogether, a most remarkably speedy and effective performance.

Thus with only 28 hours work (three and a half days) the whole walls, fireplaces and chimneys of a perfectly-constructed and reinforced house were completed, and the carpenters are soon busily proceeding with the erection of the roof. The moulds were again removed and re-erected ready for refilling with an other house, thus taking five days to strip from one job and rebuild another site requiring five hours or less to complete the second house within six days, and without any addition to the constant team employed on the works.

And was cheaper than timber.

Quick Concrete Houses

Sunshine is to be the scene of further pioneer work with poured concrete houses. A contract has been let by the Sunshine Harvester Company for the erection of a number of these structures in the harvester city.

Already one poured concrete house erected at Brighton has proved its stability as a liveable dwelling. The walls and roof were constructed in a week, and the Melbourne Savings Bank Commissioners, who viewed the work in progress were very favourably impressed by the achievement.

The houses now to be constructed at Sunshine will also he watched by the Savings Bank officials, who see in the system a possible means of rapid construction of artisans’ homes of a more durable quality than the timber houses now in favour. It is hoped that by rapid construction concrete houses can be turned out in large quantities at very little more than the present cost of wood construction and considerably cheaper than brick.

A concrete building completed within a fortnight is a distinctly advantageous asset over brick or timber dwelling that takes three to five months to construct. Every week gain means money in the owner’s pocket, as it saves interest and rent. The concrete dwelling also saves money every year in the matter of maintenance, as it does not require painting or structural repairs. This point appeals strongly to the Savings Bank Commissioners, who are mindful of the fact that they carry mortgages over many thousands of timber houses for periods of twenty-one years, and that those are all to some extent “wasting assets”.

At Sunshine cement and sand are available for concrete construction, but in the past the houses there were built of timber. Once the value of the concrete house is proved it is likely that Sunshine will gradually develop into a concrete city.

With the estate completed by 1926.

The Daily Mail Brisbane, 3 January 1926

A decade later in 1935, the estate was considered a stand out in the area.

Provision by the shire council of concrete footpaths in most of the streets of Sunshine should be an incentive for householders to keep in proper condition the narrow strip of space between the concrete and the kerb. Appeals have from time to time been made by council officers in the columns of the “Advocate,” but these have only been partially heeded.

A journey through the locality past the school fails to create much enthusiasm. One thoroughfare – Leith Avenue – presents a row of neat dwellings and footpaths well tended,:but further down Hampshire Road things are not so good except for one or two isolated places which show up to distinct advantage.

But a decade later it was looking a little worse for wear.

A sub-committee of the Braybrook Council is to consider if anything can be done to place the reserves in Leith Avenue, Sunshine, in order. Cr. Drayton, the mover of the motion, said that the condition of these reserves had been a bone of contention for years.

But where did the other half go?

As originally built, there were houses on both sides of Leith Avenue.

1945 Department of Lands and Survey photo map

Visible in the 1966 edition 1 Melway.

Map 40, Melway Edition 1

But today the entire north side is part of the neighbouring Sunshine Primary School and Sunshine Secondary College.

Google Earth 2020

Some of the blocks still exist on their own land title.

VicPlan data

And on the ground, the remains of driveways can be seen along Leith Avenue.

The reason? A Public Acquisition Overlay covers the land – PAO6 on the Brimbank Planning Scheme – favouring the Department of Education, for an ‘education centre’.

Brimbank Planning Scheme – map 12PAO

The adjoining Sunshine School 3113 was established in 1891, with the current brick building officially opened in 1931.

In 1913 the Sunshine Technical School opened next door, followed in 1938 by the Sunshine Girls Technical School, and expanded in 1941.

And the houses on the north side of Leith Avenue?

Charles Daniel Photograph, SLV H2016.33/102

They were progressively acquired by the State Government, including:

• 10 Leith Avenue in March 1975 for $9,750,
• 6 Leith Avenue in July 1976 for $28,000, and
• 59 Hampshire Road in August 1981 for $40,000.

And a Graham Street footnote

Remember Graham Street South? Turns out the block bounded by Graham Street and Derby Road was once covered by houses, but a Public Acquisition Overlay has seen it replaced by empty land.

Charles Daniel Photograph, SLV H2016.33/102

Properties acquired include:

• 137 Derby Road in July 1975 for $22,500,
• 139 Derby Road in February 1976 for $25,000,
• 141 Derby Road in March 1976 for $27,000,
• 143 Derby Road in September 1976 for $27,000,
• 63 Graham Street in August 1984 for $35,000, and
• 67 Graham Street in September 1976 for $29,000.

But this empty land will never see a school built on it – plans to build a new school were launched in 2006 but it was shelved in 2010. Finally in 2015 it was announced that Sunshine College would be upgraded at a cost of $10 million, but consolidated onto the West and North campuses, with the Ardeer and Senior campuses closed.

Sources

• Brimbank Heritage Design Guidelines: HO20 – Concrete Housing Estate, Sunshine
• Victorian Heritage Database: Concrete Housing Estate Precinct

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