Welcome to another Saturday morning in the beautiful Domain precinct, below is a snapshot of what to expect next week out on site, plus some unexpected visitors in Albert Road this morning:

Unexpected Road Closure – Albert Road – Saturday 11 Feb

 

We’ve been informed that a private contractor has closed Albert Road at Kings Way this morning to set up a crane. These works are not related to Metro Tunnel and we were also caught by surprise by the setup. I’ve spoken to Council this morning who are sending someone down to investigate.

Overnight Works: Monday 13 Feb, Tuesday 14 Feb

 

Just a reminder that we’ll be doing some overnight works on Monday evening and Tuesday evening works next week. It is also likely they’ll continue into Wednesday evening, but not overnight.

CYP UPDATEWhile at face value it might look like the worst Valentines Day present ever from CYP, we have worked closely with Department of Transport to get approval to close St Kilda Road south bound during the day (re-opening for peak hour). This means that instead of six nights straight of conduit works, we can start on Monday at 7am and limit the works to two nights only.  It also means the initial road saws and NDD trucks can be carried out during the day, instead of kicking off at 10pm at night. The evening works should be less disruptive, however the NDD trucks are likely to be a consistent presence. Below is a link to the notice

Click to access MT-AZ-Overnight-conduit-installation-St-Kilda-Road-February-2023.pdf

Station Roof Works

 

Those who park in the bottom carpark at The Botanica would likely have had a chance to drive on the newly minted connection out to Bowen Lane. The entrance/exit is a little tighter than the previous incarnation (though some who have been in the building a while would recall driving under the scaffolding when we first constructed the station walls, this 2023 edition compares a little more favourably)  The reason for the squeezed entry is that it maximises the amount of works we can complete in this first stage, and minimises the time we have to spend when we complete the roof works that cut across the front of the driveway.

The excavators will roll in next week to start breaking back this wall, our apologies in advance for the noise from the hammers.

Albert Road Reserve Station Entrance

 

On Thursday afternoon we installed a new gate out to St Kilda Road, this should take some of the pressure off our Albert Road gate, which was taking the bulk of the traffic going in and out of Albert Reserve. There is also a new wheel grid installed to try to limit the amount of dirt being taken onto Albert Road. As always, the sweeper trucks and water cart will continue to patrol the area, especially as we have now commenced the initial excavation works.

 

Conduit Installation – Albert Road North

 

The first stage of the conduit installation is now complete and we’ve switched over to the northern edge of Albert Road. This will involve using NDD trucks and excavators to open up the road an progressively lay the conduits that will ultimately connect into the lighting along St Kilda Road, and power the Anzac Station, which is currently on temporary power supply.

 

St Kilda Road median works

 

At the northern end of St Kilda Road we’re preparing to lay the first of the asphalt for the St Kilda Road centre carriageway between Park Street and Dorcas Street. The first of this asphalt will likely go down in early March, its worth noting that the section of asphalt immediately adjacent to the tram tracks may need to be done out of hours, we’re currently looking at methodology, but it’s likely that some of this asphalting will need to be done when trams aren’t running.

At the southern end of site, the blinding works have now started for the first chiller plant location, and next week the formwork will commence for the chiller plants.

Next week will also see the removal of three trees within the St Kilda Road median, one directly in front of the Royce Hotel, and two further up towards Toorak Road. These tree removals are required for the future alignment of St Kilda Road and have all the relevant planning approvals. The trees are also in close proximity to St Kilda Road, so we’re going to undertake them while the St Kilda Road southbound lane is closed. It’s been a little while since we have removed a tree from within the St Kilda Road boulevard, as always, regardless of planning approvals we review every single tree removal to determine whether it can be retained – and we also delay any tree removal until as late in the construction program as possible. As I mentioned in a previous update, we’ll keep everyone updated on the timing for the planting of the new trees within the boulevard.

 

Station box construction

The construction on concourse level and platform level continues, the installation of track through Anzac Station is a sign of the great progress across the project, I’ve included a photo here today of the tracks running through the station.

 

Shrine Entrance

Nothing new to report at the Shrine entrance, excavation and loadout is continuing and will continue up until 10pm. If you happen to walk past the site on the Melbourne Grammar side and have a peek through the gate, the section that the team are excavating out spoil, is where the future stairs and escalators will pop up to surface level.

 

Park Street under bore

The under bore drill will arrive on site at Park Street next week to drill underneath St Kilda Road and make the final connection for the high voltage conduit. The drill itself will operate during normal construction hours.

 

Thanks, Rob and Christian

It feels a little squeezy going in, easier coming out

Making it this tight allows them to dig right up to that edge and that means our driveway will be out of action for less time later in the year.

As warned the access has changed today – still some workers there so be careful

Don’t forget next Sunday afternoon we’re having a ‘paint the barriers green’ afternoon.

Plan is to kick off at about 230pm

BYO wine and cheese – meet your neighbours

You won’t have to do painting – there are plenty of other onerous tasks like pouring drinks, cutting cheese. Maybe even traffic management, stopping pedestrians coming in contact with the wet paint.

Good afternoon everyone,

Hope everyone managed to find where you’d stashed away your winter coats today – hopefully next week we can get back to some warmer weather!

Just a reminder that it is an RDO on site next Monday, with work resuming on Tuesday, below is a snapshot of what to expect next week out on site:

Station Roof Works

The preparatory works are nearly done and next week will see the Botanica driveway on St Kilda Road diverted out to Bowen Lane to allow the start of demolition of the D-walls. This demolition will be followed by the sucker truck to clean out of the delayed concrete pour strip, and then concrete pour and waterproofing. The driveway switch is scheduled in for Wednesday 8 February. An excavator will start breaking back the wall immediately following the driveway switch. The team will likely use one excavator that will break out the wall, and periodically switch to loading a truck with the broken out material. The sucker truck will then follow later, but won’t be in this section next week.

Albert Road Reserve Station Entrance

The piling rig is making good progress around the perimeter of the new station entrance, 35 of the piles are now complete and the northern edge is almost done. As we mentioned last week, the piling rig itself will stop work at 6pm Monday to Friday, but the actual lowering of cages and pouring of concrete will likely run up until 10pm in the evening.

With the northern end nearly complete, initial excavation will commence early next week. The excavation in this area will go down 2m in depth to expose the piles, before work can start on a ‘capping beam’ across the top of the piles in this section, and ultimately form up a section of the entrance roof.

In order to pour the capping beam over the top of the piles, they need to be broken back to the exact required height. Unfortunately this requires the use of excavators with hammers. The team have reduced the amount of overpour on these piles to help minimise the time required to break them back to their required height. This breakout work is likely to commence the following week, and will only occur during standard working hours

Conduit Installation – Albert Road North

The first stage of the conduit installation kicked off this week with the opening up of Albert Road at the top end near the pedestrian crossing. This section is nearly complete and we’re expecting them to switch over to the northern edge of Albert Road early next week to start trenching and conduit laying along Albert Road North. As we mentioned the works will be staged across driveways to ensure that access is maintained. This will also require the team to temporarily occupy kerb-side parking spaces along this section as they make their way down the road, sucker trucks will be used to excavate the trench as works make their way down.

Albert Road legacy alignment construction

There won’t be much to report on the construction of the final alignment of Albert Road for a little while, as it is reliant on the completion of the conduit installation on Albert Road North.
We’ll have more news on these works as the conduit works progress.

St Kilda Road median Works

As mentioned last week, in the centre of St Kilda Road we’ve started works on the central median of St Kilda Road.

Similar to last week, in the northern end of site demolition of the existing asphalt and kerbs will continue in preparation for installation of drainage, conduits and pavement.

Down south, the last of the trenching works to connect services to connect to the future chiller plants will be finished by the end of next week. Service proving in this area is done and the sucker trucks will only be in use if there is rain and the trench requires a clean out. Excavation has also now begun for the base slabs for the chillers, by the back end of next week we’ll start blinding (a preliminary concrete layer) before we also start the formwork for the base slab of the chillers.

Station box construction

Underground there is a lot of good work being done. The framing for the platform screen doors are at the half way point of installation, while in a great sign of progress there is now track laid through Anzac Station on the eastern side of the platform, with the western side following next week.
Up on the concourse level the team are working under the canopy and behind the tram shelter hoarding to install the glass panels around the permitter of the oculus as well as the balustrades around the permitter. I’ve included today a photo of the balustrades being installed around. Steel framing and insulation is going on many of the back of house rooms at B1 as the station continues to take shape.

Shrine Entrance

Excavation at the Shrine entrance will be ongoing next week, as per last week, excavation and loadout will continue up until 10pm.

Park Street under bore

The Park Street under bore works are now underway with minor preparatory works to continue next week, before the under bore drill is setup the following week to bore underneath SKR and make the the final HV connection.

News from Rob Mair….

Generator

The team will be onsite tomorrow to erect the new cover for the generator. Depending on how quickly it goes up, there will be a period where it is uncovered.

There is a bit of rain forecast, so I’ve confirmed that they’ll be available on Saturday – so that in the event that it doesn’t get completely erected tomorrow, it won’t sit semi-complete over the weekend and into the RDO.

GB note – this is the sound I hear from my balcony

Driveway access

I’ve got a notice ready to go for the driveway switch (you will have seen that they sealed it today)

The switch is likely to happen Wednesday.

Just speaking to the guys now about sequencing it to minimise the time that the driveway is delayed, will still require some TC’s while it is happening.

GB Note – this is what will happen…

• The existing St Kilda Rd past Botanica will continue as is.
• The area in front of 390 St Kilda Rd will be ‘adjusted’ to allow a ‘driveway’ (Jan’s Way mark 2) about where the kerb is currently.
• To access the lower cark park from the south, you will go past our building down to Bowen Lane and effectively do a U turn along the new Jan’s Way. Then right into our driveway.
• You will also be able to come up Bowen Lane and turn right into Jan’s Way
• On exiting the driveway, you turn left onto Jan’s Way. At Bowen Lane you will be able to turn left. You MAY be able to turn right and merge onto St Kilda Rd. Waiting on safety checks

On Sunday week (Feb 12) we are planning a cheese and wine afternoon in the lobby and out the front of The Botanica. BYO everything of course.

The current plan is that we will paint the ugly barriers a nice shade of green. Paint and painting gear to be provided.

We may need some traffic management specialists to advise footpath traffic to take extra care – if anyone has been able to learn these skills from watching the CYP staff perform such duties that would be invaluable.

Details to come – save the arvo not sure of timing at the moment.

A few people noticed this comment from CYP the other day …

“Next week the team will break out the previous kerb line and footpath in front of 390 St Kilda Road to prepare a temporary road surface for the re-orientation of Botanica’s St Kilda Road driveway out towards Bowen Lane. By late next week the driveway should be switched onto this new alignment. “

What does it mean? CYP are drawing some diagrams but essentially it will something like this

• The existing St Kilda Rd past Botanica will continue as is.
• The area in front of 390 St Kilda Rd will be ‘adjusted’ to allow a ‘driveway’ (Jan’s Way mark 2) about where the kerb is currently.
• To access the lower cark park from the south, you will go past our building down to Bowen Lane and effectively do a U turn along the new Jan’s Way. Then right into our driveway.
• You will also be able to come up Bowen Lane and turn right into Jan’s Way
• On exiting the driveway, you turn left onto Jan’s Way. At Bowen Lane you will be able to turn left. You MAY be able to turn right and merge onto St Kilda Rd. Waiting on safety checks

This will occur late this week

I know that if you can only exit via Bowen Lane it means a crazy path to South Melbourne.

Don’t shoot the messenger

As you may have gathered, late last week the system that I use for the blog, developed a problem – it stopped emailing you.

At first I thought it was one person and maybe the email was in their spam. It was quickly apparent that it was multiple people, multiple internet providers and multiple email systems. So it was easy to say it was WordPress.

So that you don’t feel alone – let me tell you that the latest WordPress ‘audited’ numbers show that they have 830 million. I also discovered that they have ‘happiness engineers’ who fixed the problem