Cost Engineering

Great Western Highway Upgrade, Lawson

MacDonald International was engaged by the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA) to act as Independent Estimators on the Great Western Highway Upgrade at Lawson in the Blue Mountains. The works include the realignment and widening to a four lane divided road between Honour Avenue, Lawson and Ferguson Avenue, Hazelbrook. The works involved significant retaining walls, stormwater drainage and detention basins, widening of the San Jose Bridge over the rail line, realignment of approximately 600m of rail line, earthworks, pavements and roadside furniture.

Minimbah Bank Third Road

MacDonald International was engaged by ARTC to develop a detailed probabilistic risk based cost estimate for the Minimbah Bank Third Road Project. Minimbah Bank is located 10km south of Singleton on the Main North Line. The project included the construction of approximately 11km of third rail adjacent the two existing rails and includes earthworks, drainage, three new rail bridges, realignment of the Golden Highway, Range Road and parts of the New England Highway.

Kwinana Freeway, WA

Main Roads Western Australia engaged MacDonald International to prepare a strategic estimate and constructability review for the widening of the Kwinana Freeway to 3 lanes between Roe and Leach Highways in Perth. Generally the project includes widening the existing highway including earthworks, pavement, stormwater drainage and significant traffic management.

Tiger Brennan Drive

MacDonald International was engaged as Independent Estimators by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, NT. The Project involves construction of a new section of Tiger Brennan Drive from the existing T intersection at Berrimah Road to the Stuart Highway a length of approximately 7km. The works provide for pavement, earthworks and drainage and includes a grade separated overpass at the intersection of Tiger Brennan Drive and Stuart Highway.

Te Rapa Bypass, Hamilton NZ

New Zealand Transport Agency commissioned MacDonald International to undertake an Independent Estimate of the construction costs for the Te Rapa Bypass Project. The project consists of the construction of a four lane bypass beginning at Avalon Drive and finishing at the SH1 at the future Ngaruawahia Bypass project. Some of the more significant elements of the design include construction of earthworks for a four lane bypass using approximately 1.4million cubic metres of imported fill material, construction of numerous bridges over both rail line and local roads, significant ground improvement works and construction of a grade-separated interchange at the southern end of the project to tie into Gilchrist Street.

Ipswich Motorway, Department of Transport and Main Roads QLD ( QDTMR)

Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads - (Formerly QLD Department of Main Roads ) commissioned MacDonald International to act as the Independent Estimator and to undertake an independent cost estimate and associated risk quantification of the designs prepared by the Safelink Alliance for the Upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway (Wacol to Darra). The central purpose of our role was to verify the Target Cost Estimate (TCE) prepared by the Alliance team. The project involved construction of 5km of multi-lane dual carriageway motorway both new lanes and upgrades to existing lanes and significant bridge structures including grade separated interchange at Centenary Highway.

Design & Project Management

Shoal Springs Resort, Worrigee

Decentralised Demountables approached MacDonald International to undertake a structural re-design of their proposed 46 room Hotel & Resort development in Worrigee, New South Wales. They were concerned that the original design was not in their best interests.

MacDonald International re-designed the ground floor slab, suspended slab system to the first floor, structural steelwork, masonry construction, and retaining walls.

The result of the re-design led to significant cost savings for the client in the construction of the development through the use of innovative solutions and technology available in the construction industry.

Osbourne House

MacDonald International provided turnkey Project Management to Uniting Care for the provision of a new 55 bed Aging in Place facility (to be integrated into 4 existing buildings), the upgrade of existing facilities and the provision of substantial community and administrative areas.

The project required development of a concept and detailed design with development and other authority approvals within an extremely tight timeframe of 6 months from project inception. Despite the demands the design team was assembled, designs developed and detailed, approvals obtained and the procurement of a contractor within the required timeframe.

The contract was let under a guaranteed maximum price contract specifically written for the project. The procurement and contract form then led to savings of many millions of dollars for the client.

The greatest success of the project wasn’t time and money though; it was the management of the project so as to keep approximately 200 other existing residents and staff happy and secure whilst undertaking such a significant redevelopment; and whilst they remained in full occupation.

Cronulla Rail Duplication Project

John Holland requested assistance from MacDonald International in preparing a detailed and complex construction program for the tender for the duplication of a rail line from Cronulla to Sutherland.

The tender was successful.

The value of the project was many hundreds of millions of dollars and included:
* The installation of 7.5km of new rail, including all earthworks, drainage and services relocation.
* Re-construction and refurbishment of 4 railway stations
* Construction and/or widening of 8 bridges including both over and under the proposed rail line.
* Construction of various retaining walls, including spreadfoot cantilever, king post and pile, bored pile and soil nails.
* Installation of all signaling infrastructure an overhead wiring.
* The construction program had to consider the constraints of working in close proximity to live rail and the limited time provided for live rail shutdowns in order to complete the project.

‘Glen Ayre’ Dairy, Numbaa

A valued client purchased a dairy that had served the farm at Numbaa for many years. Our client wanted to improve the operational capability and functionality of the dairy by re-developing the structure into a purpose built dairy.

MacDonald International prepared the structural details for the re-development works which included a new milking pit, cattle yard, wash down areas, office area, mezzanine floor, and crèche. The existing steel frame for the dairy was augmented to increase the height of the structure, and increase the span of the steel frame to accommodate the new dairy layout whilst maintaining the existing structure and minimizing costs and disruption.

Wandandian Subdivision

A valued client came to MacDonald International requesting assistance with the subdivision of a portion of his farm at Wandandian. The subdivision of the portion of the farm was to consist of 5 lots with a minimum area of 2 ha per lot.

MacDonald International project managed the design of the subdivision, which included items such as arranging a survey of the site, and flora and fauna assessment by subconsultants.

In preparing design documents, we completed a review of environmental factors, flood modeling for the site, prepared wastewater management and bushfire assessment reports, prepared services layout plans, vegetation management plans, and preliminary road and drainage plans.

The proposed subdivision was to occur adjacent to a wetland. This environmentally sensitive ecosystem required best management practices to be adopted into the design phase to minimise any impact on the ecosystem, and to demonstrate to statutory authorities that the proposed subdivision would not upset the natural balance of the ecosystem.

Upon completion of the design components, MacDonald International lodged a development application for the subdivision to Shoalhaven City Council, and obtained for the client development approval for the subdivision.