Mernda Line Extension

Australia

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Project Overview

The Mernda Line Extension was a greenfield project to extend the South Morang train line 7km to Mernda in Melbourne’s north. It included 3 new stations, 5 grade separations of road and rail and a stabling yard. The project was managed by the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) and TBH was involved with the LXRA from the Conceptualisation phase through to Delivery.

TBH’s Role

Throughout the Development and Delivery phases of the project, TBH was responsible for developing and status updating the Master Program for these works including design, planning and environmental approvals, land acquisition, procurement, construction and commissioning. During the Development phase TBH was instrumental in guiding the project towards the most cost effective, pracitable design. TBH provided:

Constructability reviews which had a strong influence over the reference design. Based on TBH’s recommendation an elevated railway design was chosen over an railway with excavated cuttings.
Analysis of options with respect to time, cost and passenger experience for bus interchange and carparking for Mernda Station.
A risk-adjusted regulatory approvals program showing the best outcome for each land acquisition option.
Schedule Risk Assessment using Monte Carlo analysis to provide the contingency to apply to contract milestones.
Tender programs reviews and recommendations based on the most practicable, cost-effective program.
Staged land access dates to the D&C contractor to proactively avoid any extension of time claims.
Innovative communication of project information using Sharepoint to facilitate sharing documentation, site progress photos, site diaries and safety information.

The TBH Difference

TBH’s constructability review provided the LXRA with powerful insight into the advantages of using an elevated rail instead of using cuttings and grade separations. Options analyses for the location of bus interchanges and car parking resulted in in placing the carparking 500m closer to Mernda station than previously designed with a significantly improved customer experience. TBH developed and agreed a realistic baseline program, guided by its constructability reviews and risk assessment and this set the project up to achieve completion one month ahead of schedule.

To find out more about TBH’s Planning & Scheduling experience, please visit the Planning & Scheduling page.