Good afternoon everyone,
Welcome to another weekly look ahead of what is happening out in the Domain Precinct next week.
A good week this week despite some wet weather earlier in the week. The team somehow managed to squeeze in a concrete pour on Tuesday in front of the Hallmark in between showers, this meant that we were able to get on with the paving install in this area. Meanwhile, the chiller plant structures at the southern end of site also saw the first of their precast concrete walls get installed last week, and they were quickly followed by the remainder this week.
Just a reminder that next Monday is an RDO, so we’ll resume on Tuesday morning.
- Station Roof Works and Bowen Lane Utility Works
The pedestrian detour down Bowen Lane came into effect this week and following the saw cutting, next week will see excavation and non-destructive digging to identify service locations. The works to tie the station roof into the d-wall are also progressing well, the cleanout of the last section of exposed roof is nearly complete and next week we’ll see the steel fixers on site, doing what steel fixers do best. We’ll soon see the area concreted, waterproofed and backfilled. Longer term we’ll install the final drainage run back across the top of the completed box towards Bowen Crescent (residents of the Botanica who use the basement carpark will be pleased to hear that the team had the foresight to install the drainage underneath the new temporary driveway before we put cars back on it – which means one less carpark closure)
- Albert Road Reserve Station entrance
With the first section of the concrete ground slab poured in the Albert Road Reserve station entry, things are looking decidedly less muddy at the base of the entrance. If you happen to have a view over the site, you’d see that there has still been some excavator activity in the box this week, this is to finalise a number of pits within the station entrance. The focus from here is to finalise the shotcreting of the walls (spraying concrete), and it won’t be long before the steel fixing for the base slab is underway.
- Albert Road North construction
Works in the Albert Road area are in full swing and the team are progressively making their way from east to west. The first completed section of bluestone was the driveway at 1 Albert Road, which was opened just in time for some garage door repairs, the pavers are making their way down past the Ramsay Clinic. Elsewhere on the site the focus remains on the installation of the drainage lines along Albert Road – not incredibly exciting but very important to manage future rain events.
- St Kilda Road median works – South
The back end of next week will see the parking removed in front of the Royce Hotel (Previously advertised for the 15 May – but now happening at the end of shift on the 25 May) Once we’ve taken this parking, we’ll asphalt over the existing bluestone in the gutter, turning it into a temporary bike lane, and shifting the traffic lane towards the kerb. This will give us the room we need to start constructing the inner traffic lane of St Kilda Road. As I’ve flagged previously, we’ll need to remove one tree in front of the Royce Hotel – and we’ll have the space to do this once we’ve shifted the traffic over. We had originally notified for this tree removal last year, but after a review, we pushed it back to this year. As always, even when we’ve got an opportunity to remove a tree that has been approved for removal, we don’t do so until it’s absolutely necessary to continue. This tree will likely be removed in mid June
- St Kilda Road median works – North
We’re over half way along the installation of the new drainage run between Park Street and Dorcas Street. This drainage installation is a very similar process to the one that will take place between Toorak Road and Bowen Crescent in around August this year, with excavation of a long trench and installation of the new drainage pipes. Once we’ve got this drainage run complete, we’ll quickly follow with the installation of the new separated bike lanes.
Keep an eye in your email and letter boxes, as next week we’ll also put out a construction notice flagging some big changes to the traffic arrangements at Park Street, down to Dorcas Street. It will be a significant change, with the closure of Park Street access into St Kilda Road, the closure of the Park Street pedestrian crossing, and the closure of the pedestrian crossing over St Kilda Road at Park Street. I’m sorry to say that the dreaded detour down Park Street to Wells Street and back up again is back again. Thankfully this is the last of major works in this intersection, and once complete, we’ll have the left turn into both the centre carriageway and service lane reopened – as well as additional parking in the inner carriageway. We’re expecting these works to kick off in June and run for four weeks.
- Station box construction
After 2 week of saying there was not too much new happening in the station box, I promised that I’d sit down with one of our engineers working down in the station box and get the good word on what is happening downstairs. I’ve managed to pin someone down who’s response was ‘nothing too interesting’. Undeterred, I pressed for more detail and I can report that we’re well on the way to commissioning the new lifts and elevators, both from tram stop down to concourse level, and from concourse level down to platform level – as well as installing many of the architectural ceiling features on both platform and concourse level. I’ve included a photo today of the team installing one of the large yellow drum feature lights at platform level. Most interesting of all has been the nocturnal activities down on platform level. While we’ve been sleeping, the team are doing ongoing testing on the functionality of the platform screen doors that now line the platforms. Elsewhere underground there is a lot of work to finish off the back of house rooms in the station, with plastering and painting happening.
- Shrine Entrance
As I mentioned last week, we’ll soon see an extension of our hoarding within the shrine grounds, the reason for this is that the works within the Shrine entry are progressing well, and we’ll ultimately need the extra room to install the new canopy over the station stairs in the coming months. I promised a sneak peak of the new hoarding design, which I’ve now attached here below the map. Eagle eyed pundits may recognise it as a piece by artist Annie Davidson, that previously adorned the tram shelter at the intersection of Park Street and St Kilda Road. Their stay on these shelters was cut short by the removal of that tram stop and the commissioning of the new tram stop, they now get a new lease of life on the revised hoarding.
- Park Street to Albert Road
With the concrete pour that took place on Tuesday, the team should make short work of the bluestone laying in front of the Hallmark, this will be followed by some works to complete the retaining wall adjacent to the footpath. While it wont be next week, we’ll soon start work on the legac pedestrian connection up to the new tram stop – this connection point branches off just next to the Hallmarks service driveway and heads up towards St Kilda Road. It will be a little while before pedestrians are using it to get to the new tram stop though, as we’ve got some work still to be done this year to complete the median at the intersection of Albert Road and St Kilda Road.
Have a great weekend
Thanks, Rob
The Botanica 