Smithfield Bypass Project Stage 1, Cairns
In short: East Coast Traffic Control assigned extensive traffic management services to Smithfield Bypass Stage 1 in Cairns, a $350 million Department of Transport and Main Roads project delivered by the Highways Constructions and ALBEM Constructions joint venture. The works built a new 3.8 kilometre two-lane, bi-directional road bypassing the Captain Cook Highway to the east.
- Client
- Highways Constructions and ALBEM Constructions joint venture
- Road authority
- Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR)
- Location
- Captain Cook Highway, Smithfield to Yorkeys Knob, Cairns QLD
What the job involved
Smithfield Bypass Stage 1 built a new 3.8 kilometre two-lane, bi-directional road to the east of the Captain Cook Highway (CCH) on Cairns' northern beaches. It runs between the existing Yorkeys Knob roundabout in the south, upgraded to a four-way intersection, and the McGregor Road roundabout in the north, which was grade separated.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads contracted the $350 million project to the Highways Constructions and ALBEM Constructions joint venture. ECTC's Cairns depot supplied the traffic management across the project.
The challenge
The Captain Cook Highway is the only road north from Cairns to the beaches, Palm Cove and Port Douglas, so the project could not simply close it. Tie-ins at both ends were on live, high-volume intersections, and the grade separation at McGregor Road and the new four-way at Yorkeys Knob both had to be staged around traffic that kept flowing.
A project this size also runs for years, through wet seasons, with the traffic setup needing to match each construction stage.
What ECTC did
We assigned extensive traffic management resources to the project from Cairns: traffic management for the staged intersection works and the bypass construction. Local crews meant the joint venture could call on people who knew the road and the traffic patterns on it.
The project remains a reference job for our Far North Queensland team.
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