Australian-first for the Darlington Upgrade Project

Two new bridges for the Darlington Upgrade Project will be constructed ‘off-site’ and moved into position, in an Australian-first for a civil construction project of this scale.

Project consortium Gateway South has begun constructing the first of two 3000-tonne bridges which are part of the $620 million North-South Corridor project.

The 180m-long bridges are being built on land between the Southern Expressway and Main South Road, near Marion Road, over the next few months.

Once complete they will be transported using ‘self-propelled modular transporters’ and manoeuvred into place.

Construction of the bridge segments is providing work for local South Australian business Bowhill Engineering, which is fabricating 10 bridge segments at its River Murray workshop.

The first of the bridge segments will be delivered to the project site today, while the largest segment weighs 90 tonnes and measures approximately 40 metres long.

The innovative construction method will substantially reduce traffic impacts for the project.

Building these bridges off-site and moving them into position, will remove the need for multiple closures of parts of the Southern Expressway and Main South Road.