New contract awarded in Section D Bruce Highway upgrade

The second major construction contract for the final Bruce Highway Cooroy to Curra, Section D project has been awarded to CPB Contractors, Federal Member for Wide Bay and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Llew O’Brien announced today.

“This $289 million Contract 2 is a significant step forward on the final stage of the Bruce Highway Section D project.” Mr O’Brien said.

“It follows the awarding of Contract 1 to Bielby Holdings and BMD Constructions joint venture in August last year.”

Mr O’Brien said CPB Contractors would deliver 18 kilometres of four-lane dual carriageway between Veteran and Curra, including realignments and upgrades to five local roads and 19 new bridges, with work expected to begin this year.

“A new interchange will also be constructed at Curra connecting the new section to the existing Bruce Highway north of Gympie,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Section D is a critically important project that will improve flood immunity and freight efficiency, create local jobs in construction, open up Wide Bay’s economy, and help Queensland’s recovery from COVID-19,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Most importantly, this four-lane divided highway is a world-class design with high safety standards that will save lives on our section of the national highway.

“This is a project that was hard fought for by so many people in Gympie and in Maryborough and right across the Wide Bay region and we all look forward to the benefits it will bring.”

The Contract 2 works will require about 200,000 tonnes of asphalt, feature a 17.5km concrete barrier, a 17km wire rope barrier, and 35km of fauna fencing.

A fleet of large earthmoving equipment will be required to move an estimated 2.2 million cubic metres of earth, enough to fill Suncorp Stadium 11 times.

The combined length of Contract 2 bridges is 1150 metres, which is about three laps of an Olympic athletic track.

CPB Contractors, which also carried out works on Section C of the Bruce Highway upgrade, has committed to working with local businesses to create local jobs.

In total, the Cooroy to Curra Section D upgrade project is expected to support approximately 576 direct jobs.

Contract 2 works are expected to be completed at the same time as the first contract in 2024 subject to weather and conditions.

The $289 million Cooroy to Curra Section D Contract 2 is jointly funded with the Australian Government contributing 80 per cent and the Queensland Government 20 per cent of the project costs.