- The contract was awarded to Coleman Rail, a subsidiary of ACCIONA Geotech that is specialised in railway projects
ACCIONA, through Coleman Rail, a subsidiary of ACCIONA Geotech, and ACCIONA Construction Australia, has been selected — in consortium with Lend Lease — to design and build the Southern Program Alliance work package, a project to eliminate railway level crossings in the Australian state of Victoria. The project, for the Victoria Government's Level Crossing Removal Authority, will contribute to improving living standards in the areas southeast of Melbourne that straddle the Frankston railway line. The contract is worth 588 million Australian dollars (about 382 million euros).
The local community will benefit from the elimination of several level crossings in the Carrum and Seaford districts, a reconfiguration of the road network, more modern train stations with improved village areas, and the construction of a new train storage facility in Kananook.
Completion of the first phase of the project will revitalise Carrum Village, provide a safer separation between rail and road traffic, reduce road congestion and improve access to housing, shops and the local beach.
Another five level crossings in the area are scheduled to be eliminated in the next five years. Coleman Rail, a company specialised in the design and execution of railway and metro infrastructures, was designated in July this year as the single preferred proponent for the Ballarat Rail Line upgrade in Victoria, one of Australia's main rail projects. That was ACCIONA's first success in Australia following the acquisition of Geotech, the local engineering and construction group, and the creation of ACCIONA Geotech Holding to handle the Group's civil engineering work in Australia and New Zealand.
Experience in Australia
ACCIONA has been operating in Australia, where it is involved in Infrastructure (basically Construction and Water) and Energy projects, since 2002. ACCIONA Geotech is a leading infrastructure company that operates throughout Australia, with extensive experience in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of complex infrastructures and continuous investment in local projects.
In Construction, it built the Legacy Way tunnels in Brisbane, and is currently building the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, the Warrell Creek - Nambucca Heads section of the Pacific Highway, the Clarence River Bridge, and Sydney Light Rail.
In the area of Water, ACCIONA is a member of the consortia that designed, built and currently operate the Adelaide desalination plant and the Mundaring drinking water plant. Early this year, in partnership with Australian company Monadelphous, ACCIONA was awarded the contract to design, build and operate the extension of the Kawana waste water treatment plant in Queensland and, in partnership with BMD, it was awarded the contract to expand the Kingsborough waste water treatment plant in Tasmania, worth 39 million Australian dollars.
In the Energy area, ACCIONA has just commenced construction of the Mt. Gellibrand wind farm (132 MW). Mt Gellibrand will be ACCIONA Energy's fourth wind farm in Australia, following Cathedral Rocks (64 MW in South Australia), Waubra (192 MW in Victoria) and Gunning (46.5 MW in New South Wales). Australia, where ACCIONA has 302.5 MW, ranks fourth in ACCIONA's portfolio of wind assets, after Spain, the USA and Mexico. In addition to developing company-owned facilities, ACCIONA built and commissioned a photovoltaic plant near Canberra for third parties, with a rated capacity of 20 MW (24 MWp). http://www.acciona.com.au/