Preparing for major construction

The Victorian Government is removing the level crossing at Ferguson Street, Williamstown by lowering the rail line under the road. The project will make way for a new North Williamstown Station and an upgraded precinct for the community to enjoy.

We will dig a trench 750m long, 17m wide and as deep as 7m. Digging this trench will involve removing up to 50,000 cubic metres of dirt, clay and basalt rock between Newport Station and Williamstown Beach Station.

Because of the high-strength basalt rock in the area, the works will cause noise. The construction will also create dust and vibration.

What causes noise and vibration?

The main sources of noise and vibration are:

• excavation and rock breaking
• drilling deep into the ground, known as piling
• heavy machinery, generators and power tools.

Managing noise and vibration impacts

The level of noise and vibration felt depends on the ground conditions where the works are taking place and the distance between your property and the works.

Our project team plan construction activities to avoid damage to property and to minimise the impacts of vibration as much as possible. Free property condition reports will also be offered for any buildings close to the works at the level crossing prior to works commencing.

Noise monitoring will also take place at different locations in the project area prior to construction to understand how we can minimise impact. This noise monitoring will continue during works so that we can assess the impact to residents and implement further mitigation measures where necessary.

How we manage noise

To minimise noise impacts, we will:

• schedule works during the daytime as much as possible, generally from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 7am to 3pm Saturdays. Note: works will occur 24 hours a day when trains are not running in late 2021
• use muffled reversing alarms on our vehicles and machines where it’s safe to do so
• have temporary noise barriers at the site of noisy works
• offer temporary respite or relocation to residents who we're significantly impacting.

If at any time our works significantly disturb you, we encourage you to contact us to discuss what options are available.

How we minimise dust and dirt

To minimise dust from our activities, we will:

• use water trucks to regularly wet down the site
• cover truck loads and stockpiles
• reduce the speed of construction vehicles moving through the local area
• use steel grids at site exit points to reduce mud being dragged onto the roads
• clean the roads around the site with street-sweepers.

How we monitor dust

Dust monitors will be installed around the project site to measure air quality and weather conditions at regular intervals. This will help to ensure we have adequate dust controls in place throughout our works.

Keeping you informed

Our project team will keep you informed of construction activities that involve high levels of noise or vibration.

We will do this through regular door knocks (COVID restriction dependent), works alerts, email updates and details on our website.

Contacting the team

We strongly encourage anyone highly impacted by the effects of noise, vibration or dust from our works to reach out to our project team. Our team can discuss with you how we can help minimise the impact and put potential mitigations in place.

You can call us 24/7 on 1800 105 105 or email contact@levelcrossings.vic.gov.au