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

  • Substantial motorway expansion projects planned in Bavaria
    February 2, 2017
    The budget for Germany’s Motorway Directorate for Northern Bavaria will remain at around €520 million for 2017, according to media reports. For many years the budget for the Autobahndirektion Nordbayern (ADNB) was pegged between €320-380 million. This changed last year when it was boosted to €520 million, noted the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Substantial work is planned on the A3 and A6 motorways and on bridges. The 94km on the A3 between Aschaffenburg and Würzburg will be widened to six lanes by 2
  • Balfor Beatty selling Parsons Brinckerhoff to WSP Global
    September 5, 2014
    Balfour Beatty is selling its Parsons Brinckerhoff business to WSP Global for US$1.3525 billion (£820 million). Part of the agreement is that $110 million (£67 million) being retained within Parsons Brinckerhoff. With the acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff, WSP becomes one of the world’s largest professional services firms. The deal increases WSP’s presence across global emerging markets in Asia and Australasia as well as providing opportunities in the UK market, where Parsons Brinckerhoff is well-establis
  • Polish project causes further legal headaches
    February 28, 2012
    The long tale of woe concerning Poland's troubled A2 highway project looks set to continue with the latest developments in the case.
  • Detroit-Windsor Tunnel crossing gets new customs facilities
    February 17, 2015
    The governments of Canada and the province of Ontario officially opened a new customs plaza at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, one of the busiest road crossings between the United States and Canada. The Canadian federal government provided US$8 and the province added $20 million for the project that is part of security improvements and to speed up people processing facilities on the Canadian side of the tunnel. Among the upgrades are new vehicle access lanes, new buildings for the Canada Border Services Agency