KWINANA Freeway interchanges and extension, a construction project undertaken by Thiess in Western Australia, has won the national overall award for environmental excellence in the 2001 Case Earth Awards competition.
This project won category three for projects worth over $10 million.
Thiess took on this project under a $132m contract to design and construct an extension to the highway and replacement intersections.
The project involved the relocation of 16km of freeway, 12 flyover bridges and three rail tunnels and the duplication of 7km of Safety Bay Road.
The new works had to allow for the development of the southern metropolitan railway.
Construction works extended for 35km over rural and urban land, national parkland and wetlands and past an Aboriginal heritage site.
There are two other national environmental winners in the annual competition, which is an initiative of the Civil Contractors Federation and is sponsored by Case Equipment Sales.
Greendale Creek rehabilitation project in Sydney, undertaken by Athassel Excavations, has won category one for projects worth up to $2m.
The creek is the main tributary of Curl Curl Lagoon and it drains a 250ha catchment area which includes industrial and residential development and once included a waste disposal depot. In the past it became the second most degraded coastal lagoon in NSW.
Athassel has completed stage three of the rehabilitation of the creek. This work has helped to improve the water and habitat of the lagoon, providing a better environment for birds, fish and crustaceans, and a better recreation area for the public.
Lake Illawarra entrance improvement works in NSW, a project undertaken by Coastwide Civil, has won category two for projects worth from $2m to $10m.
Coastwide Civil constructed a permanent opening to Lake Illawarra near Wollongong.
This project included constructing an internal rock wall and an external sea wall through the surf to connect with Windang Island. It included installing a sand dune extending almost to the island, extending Warilla Beach through to the island, creating a shallow water way as a bird sanctuary, and constructing a sandstone wall, boat ramp and channel.
An emergency infrastructure rehabilitation project in East Timor, undertaken by Hazell Bros of Tasmania, has won the overall Case construction excellence award for 2001.