The largest road project in the history of the Australian state of Queensland opened to traffic last month, giving residents of the city of Toowoomba relief from heavy trucks grinding through town on the old highway.
Costing €1.1bn to build, the 41km Toowoomba Bypass toll dual carriageway skirts the city to the north, freeing truckers from 18 sets of traffic lights. Its signature 800-metre-long viaduct helps cut gradients in the mountainous terrain from 10% to 6.5%.
The bypass was financed, designed and built by the Nexus consortium, made up of Ferrovial subsidiary Cintra Infrastructure, Plenary Group and Acciona Concessions. Ferrovial’s company Broadspectrum will operate and maintain the bypass for 25 years.
Attending the inauguration in September, Australia’s deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister Michael McCormack said the bypass forms "a strategic link within Australia’s National Freight Network", said Ferrovial.Â
According to Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, nearly half of all exports from the Port of Brisbane pass through Toowoomba.
The Nexus consortium was picked in July 2015, with construction beginning the following year.Â
This was the first road concession contract awarded to Ferrovial in Australia.
Photograph: The Toowoomba Bypass’s signature 800-metre-long viaduct (Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads)
