Crafers Highway

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

The hills behind Adelaide are a central focus of the life of the city.  Any decision to improve road transport through the area was likely to prove a complex and sensitive matter.

Maunsell worked with the client and the community throughout the project, taking a key role in engineering, environmental and consultation processes.  Maunsell also developed a construction contract packaging strategy for the client to allow 30,000 vehicles per day through the site during construction.

The 8.3 km addition to the highway improved a section of existing road, constructed new roads through steep terrain and included the building of twin-tube tunnels.  State of the art systems monitor and manage environment, traffic flow and communications in the tunnels.  The Transport SA communications network was adapted to integrate its traffic control centre with the main tunnel switchroom.

Maunsell undertook geotechnical investigations for earthworks and tunnel construction including excavation of a pilot tunnel.

The design detailed all highway design, interchanges and signalised intersections, bridgeworks, hydrology and drainage, sedimentation basins and stormwater detention.

Art was a significant ingredient of the scheme with design and artwork for the gateway statement and artistic lighting of bridges and cut faces.