It’s been a huge year as we went from plans on a page to shovels in the ground.
What’s been happening
Now that barriers and fencing are in place marking out our work areas, we’ve started stripping top soil and moving dirt around to build the upgraded intersection of Yan Yean, Bridge Inn and Doctors Gully roads.
In November, we selected McConnell Dowell as our preferred delivery partner to build the upgrade between Orchard Road and Kurrak Road. We’re now working together to refine the design of this section of the project to deliver the best possible outcomes for the community.
Through this process, we’ll identify where we can protect more trees, include new safety features for residents and drivers, and reduce the amount of land needed to build all the new lanes and paths. While we do this, we make sure that we’re considering all our Environmental Performance Requirements along the way.
What’s coming up
From Friday 19 December our crews will take a break over the holiday season, coming back from Tuesday 13 January to continue construction. In the new year, we’ll start to install new drainage for the intersection, remove trees, and move both underground and above ground utilities like power, water and telecommunications out of the way of the new lanes and paths.
We’re looking forward to sharing our design between Orchard Road and Kurrak Road early in the new year. Stay tuned for opportunities to meet the team when we’re out and about by signing up for email updates.
How we’ll build the new upgrade
When we build new roads, we dig down deep below the finished surface of the road and build back up with layers of different types of crushed rock that won’t sink or swell in different weather conditions. Then, we place layers of asphalt over these rock layers to build the road surface that will bear the vehicles that drive through the area every day.
Many of the pipes and cables that deliver essential services such as water, power and gas to your home are found next to the road and need to be moved before we start building the layers of the road. We work with service providers to plan their new location and move them in a way that minimises disruptions to you.
In some cases, like for telecommunications that provide internet and phone services to your home, we can install new tubes underground, and run new cables through the tubing before we connect them up at either end to the existing systems. If we need services to cross existing roads, or pass under the root zones of valued trees, we’ll use trenchless technology such as miniature boring machines.
When we work close to trees, we can also use techniques to ensure that root systems are not damaged, such as hydroexcavation.
This involves using high-pressure streams of water to expose tree roots and soften the soil, allowing it to be sucked up into a vacuum truck and creating the space needed to install new pipes.
Take care over the break as we look forward to more progress on a safer Yan Yean Road in 2026.
