Skip to main content

Australia: Consortium ready to abandon Melbourne’s East West Link

The East West Connect consortium is set to abandon Melbourne’s East West Link contract in return for a payment of between US$400 million and $535 million, according to media reports. But the Victoria state government is challenging the claim by East West Connect whose partners include Lend Lease, Acciona, Capella Capital and Bouygues. Instead, the government wants East West to payback around $153 million which the consortium allegedly received when the toll road contract was signed, reported the Herald Sun
March 10, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSThe East West Connect consortium is set to abandon Melbourne’s East West Link contract in return for a payment of between US$400 million and $535 million, according to media reports.

But the Victoria state government is challenging the claim by East West Connect whose partners include Lend Lease, 976 Acciona, Capella Capital and 979 Bouygues.

Instead, the government wants East West to payback around $153 million which the consortium allegedly received when the toll road contract was signed, reported the Herald Sun newspaper.

The contract ran into trouble after a Victoria state election in November that saw a change in government. The incoming Labour Party administration of now premier Daniel Andrews brushed the deal aside, claiming it was null and void.

World Highways reported last October that the consortium signed a contract with the Victoria government to deliver the US$7 billion, but only after the High Court rejected an application for an injunction to defer the controversial deal.

The project's winning design incorporates two 4.4km three-lane tunnels between CityLink and Hoddle Street. The consortium reportedly had spent nearly $35 million on the project up to the signing of the deal. The contract also included a $436.69 million kill fee to protect the consortium from sovereign risk.

Also in October, World Highways reported that Hyder and 2693 Parsons Brinckerhoff had been appointed as the design team for East West Link. The two engineering and management consultancies created a 50/50 joint venture to provide detailed design and construction support services for the 6.6km Stage 1 work, which is the eastern section, of the project.

The toll road will form an 18km cross-city connection extending across Melbourne from the Eastern Freeway to the Western Ring Road.

Stage 1 will be a three-lane road connecting the Eastern Freeway and CityLink, the majority of which will be underground in twin tunnels. The project's winning design incorporates two 4.4km three-lane tunnels between CityLink and Hoddle Street.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Australian mega link route opens
    November 29, 2012
    Australia’s largest and most complex transport infrastructure project in the city of Brisbane has been officially opened to traffic. The first vehicles have now used the Airport Link, Northern Busway (Windsor to Kedron) and Airport Roundabout Upgrade projects, which together form an extensive US$5.85 billion transport project. The project in Australia’s third most populous city in the state of Queensland comprises a toll road and dedicated busway route, together involving almost 12km of tunnels (described
  • Bentley’s Be Inspired Awards highlight innovation in software use
    January 6, 2015
    Innovation, from design to on-site execution, is alive and well, thanks to a good helping of software application. David Arminas reports from software developer Bentley’s annual global conference, held this year in London Successful project delivery is increasingly about hard men and women using software to get the job done and this year’s global conference in London by US-based software developer Bentley highlighted some innovative - and startling - examples. As usual, the Year in Infrastructure 2014
  • Construction consortium captures key contract in Australia
    April 29, 2015
    The Pacific Complete consortium is the preferred Delivery Partner for the NSW Government’s Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway upgrade in Australia. The Pacific Complete consortium comprises Laing O’Rourke and Parsons Brinckerhoff. The A$4.3 billion highway upgrade is Australia’s largest regional infrastructure project. NSW Roads and Maritime Services will deliver the project using a Delivery Partner model similar to the approach used for the highly successful construction project for the London Olympic
  • Legal battle for Croatia’s Peljeski Bridge contract continues
    April 19, 2018
    Only days after Croatia rejected initial complaints, contractors Astaldi, Ictas and Strabag said that they will submit new complaints over the Peljeski bridge winning bid. Croatian media report that Turkey's Ictas, Italy's Astaldi and the Austrian company Strabag are planning to submit a new complaint to the Croatian High Court against a decision by the state procurement authority DKOM to reject their previous complaints. At issue is the awarding of the Peljeski bridge and access roads project to the