JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for the Olympics
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk
Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics Infrastructure
The Honourable Dr Steven Miles
Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Mark Bailey
The mezzanine of the underground Woolloongabba station is taking shape, using a sophisticated method of construction never before seen anywhere in the world.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk inspected progress on site today congratulating the Cross River Rail team on the engineering marvel.
“The Cross River Rail mega project funded entirely by my government is a testament to the skill of Queensland’s workforce,” the Premier said.
“Construction of the mezzanine level in this manner has never been done before and requires to the millimetre precision from the 50 strong team working underground right now.
“Once complete, Queensland’s first underground train line will revolutionise transport through the South East and open up opportunities to connect from coast to coast.
“And where we are standing is where sporting fans from around the world will take the journey through the mezzanine to get to and from The Gabba on game days, or to the main stadium for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“It was my government who backed this project knowing the thousands of good jobs and better services this will deliver for Queenslanders now and into the future.”
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said massive concrete beams were being installed with millimetre accuracy at the project’s Woolloongabba site to create the future station’s mezzanine level.
“Anything made up of 180 concrete beams – each weighing up to 70 tonnes – would be considered impressive in its own right,” Mr Miles said.
“But what makes this phase of station construction so remarkable is the way the beams are installed.
“After being assembled, the concrete beams are lowered into the station box, moved into position and then turned 90 degrees in the air inside the cavern, before being fitted into place.
“The margin of error within the cavern for this delicate manoeuvre is mere millimetres.
“It’s the engineering equivalent of keyhole surgery, or a ship in a bottle.”
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said more than 450 individually cast concrete segments have been made and are being delivered to site to construct the mezzanine using a mobile gantry from inside a cavern, demonstrating just how mammoth a task it is to build.
“A total of 7,700 good jobs will be supported over the life of the mega project – that’s good news for the Queensland economy and for local suppliers,” he said.
Originally published by the Queensland Government HERE.
