Aecom to design $430m Australian ring road

Aecom is to provide detailed design work on the US$430m Mackay Ring Road Stage 1 development in Queensland, northeast Australia.  

Stage one will involve construction of a 11.3-km, two-lane rural highway bypass and 14 new bridges including local road overpasses and major waterway crossings. 

The project is part of a larger US$6.5bn upgrade of the 1,700km Bruce Highway. 

Warren Truss, Australian Deputy Prime Minister, said: "Mackay is one of Queensland’s fastest growing regions and this project will improve the local road network and ease congestion and safety issues. 

"When completed, the Mackay Ring Road will reduce the amount of heavy vehicles carrying hazardous loads through built-up areas and improve efficiency and safety on the highway."  

Mark Bailey, Queensland Minister for Main Roads and Road Safety, said the project has been in development for three years, and is expected to take two years to finalise plans. 

Bailey said: "Local residents, businesses and visitors to Mackay will be the beneficiaries of a better, more efficient road network. Importantly, this project will generate more than 600 direct jobs for workers at a time when jobs and job security are more important than ever." 

Construction for Stage 1 is expected to begin in 2017 and take about two and a half years to complete. 

Photograph: A sign on the Bruce Highway (Phil Whitehouse/Wikimedia Commons)