Tender open for Rockhampton Ring Road

queensland, Rockhampton Ring Road,

November 22, 2021

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Pre-qualified contractors are invited to tender on the much-anticipated, $1.065 billion, Rockhampton Ring Road project.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said the start of the tendering process signalled construction was firmly on the horizon.

“After almost four years of planning and design, the Rockhampton Ring Road is one step closer with construction tendering underway,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“Investing in this key infrastructure project will support the region’s economy by improving freight efficiency, flood resilience and the capacity of the Bruce Highway, as well as improving road safety.

“This project will also connect to completed local infrastructure projects, including the Yeppen North and Yeppen South projects, Capricorn Highway Rockhampton to Gracemere Duplication and the Rockhampton Northern Access Upgrade, as well as supporting jobs and regional communities.”

Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey said the construction of the Rockhampton Ring Road would boost the Central Queensland economy and transform the regional road network.

“The Palaszczuk Government is delivering big for Central Queensland, through our record $27.5 billion roads and transport plan,” Mr Bailey said.

“Of this, nearly $1.8 billion in projects is being delivered in the Fitzroy and Central West districts.

“The Rockhampton Ring Road is the biggest infrastructure project to be delivered in the region and will support about 783 long-term jobs in the area.

“Today is a major milestone with the construction tendering process starting as well as a targeted industry briefing to inform major construction companies of the scope and delivery strategy.

“Due to its size and complexity, the project will be delivered in two packages.

“Tendering will be a multi-stage process and will see Transport and Main Roads collaborate with potential proponents to ensure the best outcomes for the project and community.

“It is expected the successful contractors will be appointed in mid to late 2022.”

Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry said the region needs major projects like the Rockhampton Ring Road to support employment as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The start of the construction tendering process provides local businesses with some certainty around what to expect and when,” Ms Landry said.

“A local contractor industry briefing was held in Rockhampton in August to inform local contractors and suppliers about the work opportunities. More than 160 participants attended that briefing, which tells us there is both strong interest and strong levels of local capability.”

Member for Rockhampton Barry O’Rourke said the project’s sheer scale was expected to offer up challenges in its delivery.

“This project will deliver 17.4 kilometres of new road, including six kilometres of bridges, to be built through the Fitzroy River floodplain,” Mr O’Rourke said.

“Construction contractors will need to manage multiple connections with other highways, local roads and private properties, as well as ensuring connectivity to the city of Rockhampton.

“I’m confident this tendering process will secure construction contractors capable of managing these challenging conditions.”

Member for Keppel Brittany Lauga said a local contractor industry briefing was held in Rockhampton in August to inform local contractors and suppliers about the work opportunities.

“More than 160 participants attended that briefing, which tells us there is both strong interest and strong levels of local capability,” she said.

“An industry register has been established in partnership with the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning to enable local contractors and suppliers to register an expression of interest in providing services.

“This information will be shared with the successful construction contractors appointed to deliver the Rockhampton Ring Road.”

The Rockhampton Ring Road project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments, with the Australian Government contributing $852 million and the Queensland Government contributing $213 million.

Further details are available at www.tmr.qld.gov.au/RockhamptonRingRoad

View the full media release here

© Copyright, Commonwealth of Australia

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$1b Rockhampton Ring Road concepts unveiled

QLD Transport and Roads Investment Program

About Rockhampton Ring Road

A new 14.7km ring road will be delivered with a total of 17.4km of new road being constructed.

The ring road will link the Bruce Highway through Rockhampton, extending from the Capricorn Highway (Nelson Street) to Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road/Bruce Highway intersection and will include a new crossing of the Fitzroy River at Pink Lily.

The Bruce Highway is Queensland’s major north-south freight and commuter corridor, connecting coastal population centres from Brisbane to Cairns over 1,677km. 

The existing Bruce Highway through Rockhampton is one of the last remaining pinch points between Brisbane and Cairns, with 19 sets of traffic signals to navigate.

Traffic volumes on the Bruce Highway in Central Queensland range from 2,600 vehicles per day in rural sections to 35,000 vehicles per day in urban centres.

The Bruce Highway is a key heavy vehicle route with an average of about 2,640 heavy vehicles travelling through Rockhampton daily.

Key features

• New crossing of the Fitzroy River.
• Reduced congestion and improved safety through the city by providing an alternative route for heavy vehicles.
• Improved connectivity to key facilities, services and precincts within the Rockhampton region.
• Continued access to the road network during major flooding.

Current status

Planning for the Rockhampton Ring Road is complete with the business case for the road construction project assessed by Infrastructure Australia.The detailed design phase has started. Jacobs SMEC Design Joint Venture has been appointed to deliver the detailed design.A series of public information sessions were held from May until June 2021, where the design for the project was available. Community members had the opportunity to share their views at these sessions. The detailed design phase will review the concept design and consider feedback received from the community, industry and stakeholders.

Detailed design

The detailed design phase will refine the concept design in consideration of traffic efficiency, improved safety, increased resilience to flooding, improved connectivity and accessibility, and environment and cultural heritage. A key task in this phase is to review and refine the options for the 4 new connections into Rockhampton city. These connections are proposed at the Capricorn Highway, West Rockhampton, Alexandra Street and Bruce Highway/Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road.

Intersection options identified in the planning phase are now being optimised to ensure the Rockhampton Ring Road supports traffic efficiency and local road connectivity, while also considering broader community impacts like noise and visual amenity.

The design

The Rockhampton Ring Road extends from the Capricorn Highway in the south to Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road in the north and contains both rural and urban sections of road. The design proposes a combination of a 2 and 4-lane highway determined by future traffic requirements.  

The Rockhampton Ring Road will improve connectivity to Rockhampton by increasing the number of access points to the city. The design for the Rockhampton Ring Road has been developed to provide a high-level of flood immunity, similar to a 1 in 100 year flood event and equivalent to 9.86m on the Rockhampton flood gauge in the Fitzroy River (a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability).

The design includes a number of features such as bridges and culverts at key locations along the Rockhampton Ring Road to manage water flow. The concept design includes more than 6km of bridging to maintain existing flow-paths, where possible, and minimise the impacts of changes in anticipated flood levels as far as practicable.  

Last updated: 17 November 2021

Source: © The State of Queensland (Department of Transport and Main Roads) 2010–2020

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