Above: Looking northbound on the Woolgoogla bypass, NSW.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Warren Truss, and NSW Minister for Roads and Ports, Duncan Gay, joined the Leighton Fulton Hogan Joint Venture (LFHJV) and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) in December to open the Woolgoolga Bypass 10km northern section of the 25km Sapphire to Woolgoolga upgrade to traffic before the busy holiday season.

“It was satisfying to see the opening of the Pacific Highway – Sapphire to Woolgoolga northern section before Christmas,” said Peter Kessler, Fulton Hogan’s Chief Operating Officer for Construction in Australia. “Our customer, RMS, was delighted to open the bypass before Christmas and congratulated the significant efforts of our Project Director Andrew McRae and his team for making up 25% of program time in the calendar year.”

The next major milestone for the project is to switch the traffic to a full dual carriageway south along the remaining 15km corridor.

“Currently all the traffic is travelling on one side of the Pacific Highway,” explains Andrew McRae, Project Director. “Once the concrete paving is complete we can switch traffic to the dual carriageway which will take the busy traffic away from the local road network and commence asphalt works under traffic control.”

The LFHJV is contracted to design and construct the 25 kilometre Sapphire to Woolgoolga Pacific Highway upgrade. Works on this $850m project commenced in August 2010 and are due to be completed in the second half of 2014.

Learn more about the Sapphire to Woolgoolga Upgrade here.