The sod has been turned on a Western Australian bridge project, marking the commencement of construction on the $136 million upgrade.
Mandurah Estuary Bridge Duplication is jointly funded by the Australian and Western Australian Governments, through equal contributions of $68 million, with work expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
The project includes a second two-lane bridge being built on the south site of the existing structure, designed to provide additional traffic lanes for the original bridge.
In addition to the new bridge, a four metre wide path will also be built to provide more accessible recreational activities from the structure, including fishing.
The bridge will be built using the incremental launch method with 15 concrete bridge segments being constructed on site.
More than 33,000 vehicles use the existing bridge daily. Western Australian Minister for Transport, Rita Saffioti, said the duplication will play an important role in easing congestion.
“The duplication of the bridge will reduce congestion, improve safety and bring about time savings for people who need to commute in and out of Mandurah.
“This bridge experiences high traffic volumes with around 33,000 vehicles per day due to the population growth in the Mandurah and Peel regions, so the duplication will address these issues.”
The Mandurah Estuary Bridge was constructed in the 1980s with the design leaving scope for future duplication, set to be completed next year.
Featured image: Concept map of the Mandurah Estuary Bridge Duplication. Image credit: Roads Australia.
