Modern Transport Gateway to Western Sydney

Location:	Parramatta, NSW
Country:	Australia
Builder:	Construction: Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC)
Fabricator:	Adua Engineering
Products Used:	AS/NZS 3678 - 400 XLERPLATE®

An important new project in Parramatta will provide commuters with a clean and modern transport gateway to Western Sydney, with the help of local steel fabrication firm, Adua Engineering, and XLERPLATE®.

The new Parramatta Transport Interchange and upgrade of Parramatta Railway Station are currently under construction by Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC). Due for completion by 2006, this project is being undertaken to meet future passenger demand and more efficiently integrate rail services with other transport modes.

The works currently underway will improve the capacity and amenity of the existing Parramatta Station and will include the extension of existing platforms, widening of the existing western concourse, the provision of additional escalators and lifts, the construction of extra weather protection and construction of an underground concourse across Argyle Street.

An important part of the upgrade is the RailCorp works which included the construction of two underbridges at the city end of Parramatta Station. The bridges will ultimately become the ceiling of a bus underpass that will connect Argyle Street directly with Station and Hassall Streets. Adua Engineering fabricated and installed all the structural steel for the two bridges.

"It was a challenging job for us," says Craig Hogarth, Adua Engineering's Contract Manager. "The deadline was very tight. The first bridge was fabricated, delivered to site, and erected within seven weeks of the material being delivered to our workshop, and the second bridge was erected three weeks after that. It was essentially a ten week project."

Founded over 30 years ago, Adua Engineering specialises in medium to heavy steel fabrication, mainly for bridge work and large infrastructure projects. "Our main focus is our customers," says Craig. "We have a good client base, which is very loyal. We've maintained this relationship by working in partnership with our clients, as well as with our sub-contractors and suppliers. In the long run, we get jobs done on time and within budget, and that's what makes our clients happy."

"We take a meticulous approach to quality," he adds. "We are an RTA approved steel company, we have our own quality system. We also invest time and effort in research and development, particularly relating to welding processes."

This commitment to quality and client satisfaction, combined with an excellent reputation and proven expertise, made Adua Engineering a logical choice for the Parramatta Station bridge fabrication. The bridges, a 19 metre bridge across the suburban line, and a 25 metre bridge across the main line, comprise of four massive girders, each three metres high, 0.75 metres wide, and ranging from 19 to 25 metres in length.

"Being involved in the project at an early stage meant BlueScope Steel was able to assist the bridge design team as to the availability of XLERPLATE® in longer lengths and higher strength grades. BlueScope Steel was able to produce long lengths to reduce the number of full plate thickness slice welds, rather than three standard 9 metre plates to make up beam length of 23 metres. The XLERPLATE® used on this project was of a higher strength resulting in a reduced plate thickness," says Allan Church, BlueScope Steel Sales Representative.

Weighing approximately 26 to 36 tonnes each, the girders were fabricated from 260 tonnes of XLERPLATE®, a brand of high quality hot rolled plate from BlueScope Steel. Adua also fabricated 15 cross girders for the project, which measured 10.8 metres long, and each weighed eight tonnes.

"We used 400 grade XLERPLATE® in thicknesses of 50 mm and 32 mm," says Craig."The majority of the XLERPLATE® was processed by one of BlueScope Steel's distributors, and then delivered to our Riverstone workshop, where the bridge components were fabricated."

"The job went very smoothly, although it was also quite demanding. Some of the XLERPLATE® was in long lengths in order to reduce welding time and increase efficiency. These long lengths had to be processed in our own workshop. In addition, the entire job was welded to AS 1554.5, a much more stringent welding code than in conventional jobs."

"The welding component of the job was huge," continues Craig. "We put on a night shift for a short time, in order to meet the deadline. These factors, in combination with the extremely tight deadline, made for a challenging project."

Prior to fabrication, Adua redrafted the design drawings to dxf files, which were used by OneSteel to profile all stiffeners, gussets, webs, and flanges. The components were then delivered to Adua. "As part of our quality system, all the components are marked with individual serial numbers, so at any one time during the job, we knew the origin of the item," says Craig. "We then set up jigs for cross girders, butt-welded the flanges and webs, and assembled the large girders."

After fabrication, the girders were delivered to local St Mary's paint shop, RED Abrasive Blasting and Protective Coatings, where they were painted and blasted to Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC) specifications. "At RED, we conducted a trial assembly of the whole bridge, including concrete panels, to ensure that there would be no problems on the day. Once the trial assembly had been completed, the top coat was applied," says Craig.

After the successful trial assembly, the girders were delivered to Parramatta Station and erected."The job has gone very successfully," says Craig. "The communication with BlueScope Steel was excellent, which made it easy to keep track of the steel."

In addition to excellent communication, Craig says that the flexibility and quality offered by BlueScope Steel are the reasons why Adua Engineering uses XLERPLATE®. "I would always prefer to use XLERPLATE® from BlueScope Steel," he says. "There is a lot more flexibility in ordering different lengths of plate, longer lengths equal less welding and contributes to the efficiency of our fabrication process. And the quality of the steel is consistently good."