Assessment Of The Cross River Rail And Brisbane Metro Transit Projects

Project Needs

The Queensland government has proposed a high quality project which is aimed at constructing the cross river rail which is focused to operate between Dutton park and Bowen hills, the two main suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland and Australia.  The rain will help in the reduction of congestion in the Brisbane city rail through the provision of the new north-south rail connection cutting across the Brisbane’s river.  Queensland government is focusing on making a high quality project which brings about a competitive advantage in the global economy.  The government’s interest on the project began in 2006 whereby they focused on the structure of the rain and determined the impact on the rain on the economy of the country.  The project was estimated to take about $800m, to be effectively completed.   The government was named the cross river rail which was determined to commence early 2018.  It was determined to be a five year project which would be completed in 2023.

Cross river rail came up as a response to the approval of development of the year 2011.  The increase in population has had an impact in the growth of the cross river rail.  Additionally, the general increase in job markets due to investments and industrialization has also contributed to this development.  This growth increased the demand of people to go in and out of Brisbane’s CBD.  The demand of the transport is anticipated to increase as a result of continued increase in population and economic developments by the year 2030.  This new demand will necessitate the construction of a new rail of 10.2 km and a consequent of 5.9 twin tail tunnel which would run through Brisbane’s CBD to Dutton Park in the south to Bowen’s hills in the north.  This project would necessitate the addition of more stations in the underground tunnel.  The station would be located at Boggo road, Woolloongabba, Roman Street and Dutton Park. The project is estimated to use a total of $1,887 million, which is a costly project.  The benefits of the project have to be clearly outlined and the appropriate considerations put into practice before the project commences.  Rail patronage is one of the major considerations in the case of this new construction.  It mainly focuses on the economic growth of a particular country and what benefits the construction of the rail will bring to the economy.  This includes the facilitation of goods transportation to the required destinations.  The construction of the rail should bring directly proportional benefits to the cost of construction.  The increase in population is also another major determinant of the construction.  The benefit of the rain to the users is also another consideration before the construction.  The construction of the rail should bring a positive impact to the users such as facilitating fast movement from one location to another.  The fast movement also translated to increased output by the users which improve on the general country’s economy.  The facilitation of access to resources and other opportunities improve on personal income of an individual translating to the benefit of having the rail constructed.  This project also has a benefit of growth projections.  It occurs during the comparison of a country’s internal developments towards achieving their strategic goals.  This improves on the inter-country trade as well as support in highly costly projects.  Additionally, proper timing for the project is a highly considerable aspect.  It should go in-line with the set dated so as to be able to achieve the required targets in developments. 

Project Lifecycle

The project lifecycle is also an essential and vital aspect which is appraised in this assessment. The examination on this aspect mainly illustrated as per the below discussions on the various subsections.

In initial planning of the project mainly incorporates the various design works, procureemnst of materials as well as the overall erection of the structures.

The project integrated a number of multi-stage processes in line with the overall procurement process. First stage of the procurement mainly entailed the registration of the various companies. The process mainly denoted as the Expressions of Interest or (EOIs) and this took place on 19 September 2017. The registration lasted for a while and thereafter closed on the 27^th September, 2017. Furthermore, the successful registrants were later on invited for the immense participation on the EOIs phase. This took place between the 29^th September, 2017 up-to 17^th November, 2017. Some of the companies which succeeded to the next level incorporated the River City Alliance which had GHD, Laing O’Rourke, SYSTRA Scott Lister and Aurecon. Also, Unity Alliance incorporated organizations such as the CPB Contractors, Jacobs Group, UGL Engineering, and AECOM (Hickman, Hall, & Banister, 2013).

The detailed design for the project mainly illustrated using various figures as indicated below

                                         

                   Figure showing the detailed design at the Boggo Road (Kellermann, Schöbel, Kundela, & Thieken, 2015)

                                           

                              Figure Showing the Aerial View of the Cross Road (Yen, Tseng, Chiou, Lan, Mulley, & Burke, 2015)

This project proposal mainly entails the construction of a makeable 10.2 kilometers Cross River Rail project. The project is expected to cover various areas which include Bowen Hills and the Dutton Park. Also, the project often designed to accommodate 5.9 kilometers twin tunnel dug and builds underground. The rail line is expected to connect the pertinent existing Queensland Rail network as well as the Breakfast Creek Bridge. The connection of the points mainly estimated at the south of Dutton Park station as well as at north part of the Breakfast Creek Bridge respectively. Furthermore, the assessment established that this project also include other design specifications. Some of the design specifications established from the project include building of four new underground and decisive stations. The construction is expected to take place at the Albert Street, Boggo Road, Roma Street and Woolloongabba. The develpmnt and the extension of the project mainly illustrated as indicated in the figure below (Leriche, Oudani, Cabani, Hoblos, Mouzna, Boukachour, & Alaoui, 2015).

                                                     

                                 Figure Illustrating the Extension and Overall View of the Project (Markewicz, 2013, October)

Initial Planning

All the essential elements in line with the proponent of this project mainly analyzed and evaluated in line with the packaging as well as the procurements options. The analysis on the delivery mainly conducted in conformance with the set standards for the Queensland Government’s Project Assessment Framework. Also, the assessment grounded on the Building Queensland practices and guidelines. From the assessment it was established that it is important to disaggregate the project into makeable four phases in line with the separate packages. Some of the key and vital separate packages include surface works, tunneling, early as well as enabling works and station development. For the purposes of delivery the below set preferred models of delivery in line with the various set criteria were appraised and recommended (Mulley, Ma, Clifton, Yen, & Burke, 2016).

• Application of competitive delivery alliance models for the overall surface works
• Proposals made for the utilization of the Public Private Partnership for handling the station development and tunneling
• There is need to adopt hybrid system for the supply of the track a well as the rail systems

Notably, the project is regarded as progressive as far as the ETCS advance system is concerned. Therefore, it is worth noting that significant amount of the overall design works have been completed as far as the project is concerned. Thus, various design risks in line with this project has been reduced significantly.  The assessment therefore, proposes that there is need to have a solution which has to be grounded on the construct and design approach and this should aim at ensuring that there is optimal delivery remedy for the packages. Also, there is need to adopt alliance to curb live rails from the parametric interface risk (Soltani, Tanko, Burke, & Farid, 2015).

All the operation and the maintenance of the project must conform to the set standards in due course. Also, it is important to have the project engineer checking on the manual regarding the maintenance on a regular basis and advising on the various design criteria and relay works.

The retirement concept in line with the project is essential and must be considered in the design analysis as well as in line with project duration.

There is the need to conduct the research with aim of ensuring that both the both construction compliance with the set standards and conformances with the design specifications. Furthermore, the research also stretches on the economic viability of the project as well as the project sustainability.

The civil engineering system mainly illustrated as indicated below

                                                 

                                                      Figure Showing the Cross-Section (Hu, Dai, Yan, & Liu, 2014)

This project requires Joint Corporation from both the government and the public as a whole.it is also important to have a team with lead technical expert to supervise the overall proces.

The project values and the overall importance are not only important for this evaluation but equally important. In essence, the magnitude of such values cannot be underestimated since they have essential benefits to the project as a whole. Thus, the project values mainly discussed in various subsections as indicated in the analysis below (Ye, Ni, & Yin, 2013).

Procurement

The assessment established that the project has a makeable benefit-cost ratio as far as the economic evaluation is concerned. The benefit cost ratio for the project mainly estimated at a value of atleast1.4.  The project value in line with the net present values estimated at a cost of at least $1877 million regarding the economic report evaluation of 2016. Also, this incorporated the 7% real discount rate which relates to the $2015 and the makeable P50 cost estimate. The analysis also established that there are different imminent economic benefits which the project often denoted with as this is marked at $1,209 million grounded on the application of the present value with an overall discount of 7% in terms of rates. However, the report evaluation established that above present values mainly established and demarcated on the basis of the transport modeling and the land use forecast (Xu, & Yeh, 2013).

However, the elements used have superseded the overall update and therefore does not conform to the set standards.it is therefore, essential and fundamental that a more decisive concept and approach be put into practice to curb the problem in due course. However, the adjustments the parametric aligns need to follow some format to ensure that impacts does not bring some inconsistence in line with  WEBs estimate for the makeable November 2016 update. The economic analysis for project in line with the November 2016 update mainly illustrated as indicated in the figure below (Tang, Yi, Yang, & Cheng, 2014).

                                             

                                     Figure Showing the Overall Cost Breakdown and Benefits (Vogler, & Wardill, 2016)

Furthermore, on the funding of the overall project, the assessor proposed that the government should cheap in and assists in the implementation of the project. The total proposed capital which the assessor expected the government to release for the project is $5.4billion (Currie, & Burke, 2013, October).

                                                   

                                                    Figure Showing the Funding and the Capital Costs (Wardill, 2017)

There are various social impacts which this project has in due course and these are also essential ingredients which one need to consider in the process. First and foremost, the project will bring forth a positive impact to the government.  This is mainly dedicated in the improvement of the internal trade developments as well as the external trade competition.  The rail will facilitate the faster movement of people from one location to another through the CBD.  This rail development will also encourage investors to do venture in the locations that are being served by the rail.  This will result into the general economy growth of the country.  Faster movement of people will also help in the improvement of emergency responses.   Additionally, the rail will help in the reduction of congestion on the roads as people struggle to get into the CBD (Clifton, & Mulley, 2018).

Design

The project focuses on minimizing energy consumption through the reduction of energy demand.  Single truck tunnels are designed which are made to be narrow enough rather than the double diameter tunnel which require a wider diameter and as a result higher energy consumption. Single truck tunnels helps in the reduction of the required gradient and as a result the energy needed in the construction of the tunnels is highly reduced.  This improves on the sustainability of the project.  The reduced gradient level therefore helps in the outcome of shallow stations and this can be implemented in the Gabba and Boggo road stations.  Pressure management is important in the project.  This is applied to the internal track to avoid the dangers that may be caused by high pressure which is not proportional to its environment.  Air flow is a major consideration in the management of pressure in the rain construction project. Underground stations should have conditioning efficiency which will help in the minimal use of water from external sources rather incorporating the water from their natural sources without causing a major interference in the natural setup of the water table (Xie, & Ng, 2013).

Regulations should also be put in place to avoid flooding which may cause damage to the rail. Water treatment and waterproofing should be put into consideration to avoid the leakage of contaminated water as a result of the construction activities.  This treatment facilitates the adherence to the political regulations of a particular country regarding to water pollution. Prefabricated segments should be used for the tunnel boring machine.  It helps in the reduction of water seepage into the site during the construction.  When water seeps into the tunnel, it calls for extra activity of siphoning or pumping the water out of the tunnel which is a costly exercise.  The prefabricated machines therefore help in the reduction of sipping rate.  The figure below shows the reviews on sustainability plans and the phase which one need to incorporate the project (Weston, Roberts, Yeo, & Stewart, 2015).

                                                   

                                   Figure illustrating the sustainability plan and phases (Woodburn, Browne, & Allen, 2015)

According to Williams (2016) political stunt have affected the operation and the overall project in the meantime.in fact, the assessment noted that some of the governmental officials are opposed to the construction of the project. They claim that the project is expensive and will not bring much revenue to the native citizens (Amir, Khan, Rasul, Sharma, & Akram 2013).

This project is comparable with other design projects since it entails various appraisals ranging from the design, industrial, site specific as well as construction risks. Also, it deals with both private public partnership and the building codes and practices.

Conclusions and Informed Recommendation

Conclusions

The cross river rail came up as a response to the internal and external development of the country.  This brought the need for the construction of the rail will help in the reduction of traffic as people strive to enter into the CBD.  The high demand is caused by the increase in the general population in the country as well as the development caused by industrialization as well as growth of trade. 

Development

Various aspects have to be put into consideration for the purpose of enhancing quality of the construction.  Appropriate governance should also be ensured in the running of the project to enhance quality.  The government should also give the requirements that the construction should meet in terms of materials to be used as well as the accepted procedures of construction.  The country should also conduct statistics on the general developments in the country that lead to the need of rail and other transport fertilities so as to take action in advance to avoid congestion and delayed developments which may draw back the country’s economy.

The assessor and the proponent of this work would like to acknowledge the Queensland Government, consultants, the non-governmental organizations and the technical engineers.

Reference

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