Bids have been received from CPB Contractors and McConnell Dowell Constructors, which started a competitive early contractor involvement (ECI) design process in December 2020. They have been working with the Tasmanian government to develop their designs and tender for the project.
The Tasmanian government is scheduled to engage its preferred tenderer by the end of the year.
“The new Bridgewater Bridge is one of the biggest projects in Tasmanian history, with two of Australia’s biggest construction companies to use their specialist knowledge and expertise to design a bridge that will deliver the best outcomes for Tasmania,” said minister for infrastructure and transport Michael Ferguson.
The new bridge will have an increased size and load capacity and a higher speed limit than the current structure.
Reference designs were released last year (link opens in new tab).
Major construction is scheduled to start in mid-2022. Work to date has focused on site investigations, including detailed geotechnical and survey work, environmental investigations and heritage assessments to inform a major project impact statement (MPIS).
The MPIS will be submitted soon and will include a period of public exhibition later this year, with planning approval expected to be received early next year.
The new bridge is due to open to traffic by the end of 2024.
