QR National completes GAP passing loop civil works
QR National Network Services has achieved another milestone on the $1.1 billion Goonyella to Abbot Point (GAP) expansion project, completing the track foundations for a 1.8 kilometre railway passing loop at Cockool.
The new rail loop, located 32 kilometres south of Collinsville, is required to support the increased demand for rail capacity when the 69 kilometre Northern Missing Link begins servicing the Bowen Basin coal mines early next year.
The GAP project will support a doubling of the coal export capacity through the port at Abbot Point to 50 million tonnes per annum.
QR National Network Services CEO Michael Carter said the CoalConnect Alliance had completed works on the railway passing loop in just four months, despite the extreme wet weather earlier in the year.
“The team had to overcome challenges getting equipment and materials to an isolated work site in unusually wet conditions, while ensuring the safety of the team,” Mr Carter said.
“Safety is our core value and I commend the team on the particular care taken while construction work took place adjacent to an operating rail line.”
The Cockool passing loop works are part of the GAP project, which is one of the most important rail infrastructure projects in Australia. GAP will provide vital rail connections to support the expansion of Central Queensland’s coal industry.
The GAP project, led by QR National, includes works by two civil alliances CoalConnect and Coal Stream, and two signalling alliances Synergy and Aspect 3.
CoalConnect comprises QR National, Leighton Contractors, GHD and Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd (KBR).