2,400 Less Pipes for Yelgun to Chinderah

Project Name       Yelgun to Chinderah Freeway
Location                Pacific Highway from Yelgun to Chinderah, NSW
Client                    Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW.
Designer               SMEC
Contractor            Abigroup Contractors Pty Ltd
Project Cost         $348m
Completion Date  August 2002

James Hardie Products Used
15km of class 2 FRC™ rubber ring jointed pipe, Supertite™ suspended pipe, and headwalls.

The largest single project of the $2.2 billion Pacific Highway Upgrade Program in NSW, involved the design, construction, and maintenance of the 28.5km of road between Yelgun to Chinderah, on the north coast of NSW. Abigroup Contractors Pty Limited was awarded the contract and completed the four lane carriageway, 39 bridges, 11 overbridges, and fauna overpasses and underpasses, four months ahead of schedule.

A collaborative approach between Abigroup, SMEC, and James Hardie resulted in all longitudinal stormwater drainage being satisfied by class 2 FRC™ pipe. This specification allowed for the significant construction loads experienced on major highway construction. The resilience of the FRC™ pipes has been demonstrated in this project, and a camera inspection of 15 kilometres of pipe was conducted and there were no signs of cracking.

Significant cost savings and efficiencies were also achieved by using the 4 metre lengths of FRC™ pipe instead of 2.4m lengths of steel reinforced concrete pipe; a total of 2,400 less pipes were required to be installed. Paul Wallbridge from Abigroup Contractors Pty Limited comments,” FRC pipes were able to be delivered on the ground at the worksite in secure, neat bundles in a fraction of the time it takes to deliver SRC pipes.”

FRC™ pipes were the ideal solution for the Yelgun to Chinderah bypass, with the combination of impressive construction load performance, significant cost savings, durability in aggressive soil environments, and the ability to handle differential settlement.

“As surface drainage was specified as being Class 2, the choice of FRC™ pipes over SRC pipes reduced the risk of construction loading damage as FRC™ pipes give an inherently greater construction loading capacity.”   Paul Wallbridge, Abigroup Contractors Pty Limited