Good afternoon everyone,

Welcome to our Friday look-ahead for construction activities in and around Anzac Station next week.

Overnight Works:

The rain last night means that the asphalting that was to happen on Thursday night couldn’t go ahead and will now happen tonight Friday 31 May
We’ll be working from the Toorak road tram stop heading north towards Bowen Lane.

If time permits, while the asphalt crews are out on site, we’ll also asphalt the bike lane adjacent to the Albert Road Station entrance – we’ll also look to asphalt the path on Domain Road adjacent to Melbourne Grammar, which should see the path reopen early next week.

Works next week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

This week we poured the concrete for the stairs that are adjacent to the Albert Road Reserve station entrance (next to the Windsor Oak in the park) as well as the concrete base directly next to the entry.  No surprise that next week is pavers, pavers and more pavers – with the crews working their way along. We expect to see a mid-week concrete pour on the forecourt, followed by – you guessed it. More pavers.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

Because we can’t get enough of paving, next week we’ll pour the first part of concrete slab around the station entrance on the Shrine of Remembrance side to be closely followed by bluestone paving.

A heads up that we’ll also start demolishing the hardstand where the big white covered canopy was, this will be using excavators with hammers, as will allow works to commence on the footpath on this eastern side and the landscaping  leading up to the Shrine grounds

Out on Domain Road, the tram platform base is complete with works to start next week on the tram platform structure.

Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Demolition

Nothing new at EHO, with the breakout of the hard-stand continuing this week, we’ll also continue the removal the substation from Edmund Herring Oval. This will be taken away in parts, and as mentioned previously, at least one of these parts is an oversized load – which means it will need to be removed from site after-hours to comply with VicRoads requirements. No set date on this at the moment, but I’ll advise when this is happening.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road
The fresh new look for the central island is now in place, adding a nice touch of greenery to the area. Following tonight’s asphalting, we’ll have the green light for City of Melbourne to come through and plant the trees within the central median. Tree planting on the western side will be carried out by City of Port Phillip, we’ll advise when we have some dates for this planting.

Footpath RectificationStarting next Monday we’ll be in front of The Botanica during the day to rectify some low-points in the footpath asphalt. While we do this, pedestrian traffic will be temporarily diverted into the bike lane. Once we finish these works, we’ll be able to open the bike lane and open the St Kilda Road on-street parking in front of Botanica (400 St Kilda Road)

Friday Flashback

For today’s Friday Flashback we are heading to the intersection of Bowen Lane and St Kilda Road, where in March 2019, our clam shell excavator was digging the 20m deep diaphragm walls that form the station box.

Have a great weekend

Thanks, Rob

This digger was there yesterday but gone today – click on the link below to find out HOW

Garden adjustment.mp4

Good morning everyone,

Welcome to a Monday look-ahead for construction activities in and around Anzac Station.

Overnight Works:

Last week was a bit quieter than expected after the decisions was made to delay the asphalting of the left turn lane from St Kilda Road into Domain Road. This was due to the kerbing  area not being quite ready. The rest of the asphalting scope was still completed though.

This week we’ll focus on the northbound lane of St Kilda Road, more specifically asphalting the section between the Toorak Road Tram stop and Bowen Lane. The sequence of events is roughly:

• Monday night: Barrier setup on southern side of Kings Way (to support the daytime shift to remove a temporary crossover in the median)
• Tuesday/Wednesday: Final kerb installation, removal of temporary fencing adjacent to the tram tracks and planting of vegetation (Note: Planting crews to work in all areas)
• Thursday Night: Asphalting
• Friday Night: Contingency

Works this week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

This week we’ll install the bus shelter adjacent to the road, while around the station entrance the sea of bluestone continues to make its way through the area, we’ll have another pour for a concrete sub-base this week to allow the bluestone team to continue their good work.  We’re also progressing well on the formwork for the new stairs that will sit just to the west of the station entry. These will provide a link down to the Albert Reserve and the South African Soldiers’ Memorial. Speaking of the Memorial, this week we’ll continue the work on the central obelisk.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

We’re in the final stages of commissioning the electrical and plumbing around the forecourt area, this will including the installation and connection of the utility cabinets on this side of St Kilda Road (similar to those already installed on the Albert Road Side). The forecourt retaining wall is also nearing completion.

Over on Domain Road we’re getting in the asphalt for the footpath, which means it should re-opening very soon.

Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Demolition

The breakout of the hard-stand on Edmund Herring Oval continues this week, we’ll also remove the substation from Edmund Herring Oval. This will be taken away in parts, and as mentioned previously, at least one of these parts is an oversized load – which means it will need to be removed from site after-hours to comply with VicRoads requirements. No set date on this at the moment, but I’ll advise when this is happening.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road
The fresh new look for the central island didn’t happen late last week as forecast, but we’ll definitely see the planting going in this week. We’ll also be putting in the final sections of the kerbing this week adjacent to the chiller plant.

Monday Memory Lane

This weeks Monday Memory Lane takes us way back to August 2020, when two operational lanes of St Kilda Road and Anzac Tram Stop were just drawings on a plan.
Here we can see the preparation for the concrete pour of the station roof slab, immediately adjacent to Melbourne Grammar School.

Good afternoon everyone,

It’s time again for our weekly look ahead for all things construction related in the Domain precinct.
A reminder that next week is an RDO – enjoy the peace and quiet before we return to site again next Tuesday.

Overnight Works:

• Next week we’re kicking off the works on the southbound lane of St Kilda Road. The focus will be on asphalting the section of road that will be the future left turn lane from St Kilda Road into Domain Road. While we’ve got the asphalters out and about, we’ll get them to do a few other smaller sections around site – including the bike lane adjacent to the Albert Road Reserve entrance
• The following week we’ll switch our focus to the Northbound lane – asphalting the section between the Toorak Road Tram stop and Bowen Lane. This will also mean we remove the traffic barriers on the centre island median.

I’ve attached the construction notice here for anyone who may have missed it.

I’d love to confidently state that this will be the last of our overnight works – but from past experience there are always little bits and pieces that we need to do to finish the job, so I won’t make such a bold statement.
However – this is the last big section of asphalting that we have to do – a welcome piece of news I’m sure!

Works this week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

We’ll be removing scaffolding around the lift shaft next week allowing us to get in and do the last little bits of waterproofing and backfilling around the lifts. Over at the South African Soldiers’ Memorial, construction is going well, next week the team will be working on the central obelisk.  Next week we’ll also be doing some paving around the future bus stop on this side of the road, and finishing off some of the drainage installation .

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

The electrical and plumbing connections into the station are now complete, so we’ll install the services cabinet on this side of the road (starting with the concrete foundations) The retaining wall will also resume construction now that the in ground services are complete through this area.

The crane I promised last week will now arrive next week to remove the builders lift down to the concourse level. This will trigger the removal of a lot of the white covered walkways in and around site.
Out on Domain Road we’ve installed the footings for the tram poles, while the granular base is down for the new tram stop, and we expect to be laying concrete next week for the stop.

Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Demolition

The hammers are out in force at the moment breaking up the surface of Edmund Herring Oval. They’ve made some good progress and will be back again next week to resume. There will be a day or so respite when we switch over to loading out the broken up concrete to remove from site.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road
Expect to see a real change in scenery through this area next week, as we’re looking at laying grass mid-week. Later in the week we’ll also see the low level planting going in – and we’ll also take the opportunity to remove the plants in front of Botanica that haven’t fared so well and replace them with fresh stock.

Friday Flashback

With the Shrine entrance making great progress, todays flashback takes us way back to October 2020, when we were excavating down to the concourse level for the Shrine entrance, adjacent to the old acoustic shed. Rest assured the door you can see in the side of the shed was sealed off from the inside!

Have a great weekend,

Thanks, Rob

I’m not sure who did this hack job to the beautiful trees in Bromby St but it does make it easier for The Royce Hotel to open and close their blinds.

Not happy.

This has just come through – it says that the centre planting will happen in week commencing March 27….I’m guessing that is May 27. In other words two more weeks of dirt shuffling to make sure it is nice and compact….Gary

——-

Good morning everyone,

Welcome back to the weekly update for Anzac Station and the surrounds. See below for an update on what is happening around the site.

I hope everyone had a great weekend – and celebrated mums yesterday!

Overnight Works:

As I mentioned previously, the next major set of works will be:

• Closure of the southbound lane of St Kilda Road to asphalt the left turn lane from St Kilda Road into Domain Road.
  (Tentatively set down for week of 21 May to 24 May)
• Closure of the northbound lane of St Kilda Road to asphalt the inner lane between Toorak Road tram stop and Bowen Lane (+ completion of the bike lane adjacent to Albert Road Reserve station entrance)
  (Tentatively set down for week of 27 May to 31 June)
• The only other activity happening overnight will be the removal of the power substation from Edmund Herring Oval. As it is classified as an oversized load by VicRoads, it will need to be taken from site in the middle of the night.  No date confirmed as yet, but we’d expect it to happen the week after next at the earliest. It’s up at Edmund Herring Oval, so I wouldn’t anticipate any disruption.

Works this week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

The South African Soldiers’ Memorial is now ticking along with the careful installation of the heritage stones.

Works are starting on the future bus stop in front of the entrance, while elsewhere we are busy getting stuff in the ground, whether it be footings for light poles, or cables to service the station. The aim is to keep our pavers rolling continuously from north to south. We’ve poured a fresh section of concrete where they’ll lay fresh bluestone pavers. Perhaps not this week, but more likely next week, we’ll start the formwork for the wide set of stairs that lead from the concourse down towards SASM.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

Last week we poured concrete for a section in front of the new passenger lift, it seems like an odd little spot to start the concrete, but the reason is that this lift will serve a short stint as a builders lift to take materials down to the station. This allows us to remove the existing construction lift from the station. You’ll see next week a crane in place to remove this lift, the penetration will then be covered over and backfilled.

This signals a quite a bit of change for this area, with the removal of the white covered walkways and the start of works to reinstate the footpath and landscaping on the Shrine of Remembrance side of St Kilda Road.  Elsewhere, Domain Road works continue with the start of construction of the new dual purpose tram stops on Domain Road.

Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Demolition

The hammers have started on Edmund Herring Oval as we break out the surface area. It’s a bit of a juggle as we move things around and progressively break out the surface. We expect that this will be a 3-4 week program of breakout works.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road

The top soil is progressively being laid through this area, with planting to follow shortly after. As mentioned above, we’ll be looking to remove the traffic barriers in thew eek commencing the 27 March – so the landscaping and low-level planting through this section will need to be complete by then. City of Melbourne have confirmed that they will come through in June and plant trees through this centre island.

Thanks, Rob

Monday Flashback

Today’s photo takes us back to June 2019, as we had begun our excavation of the station box at the northern end.

Good afternoon everyone,

Welcome back to the weekly update after a brief hiatus over the ANZAC Day long weekend.

See below for an update on what is happening around the site – and a reminder that next Monday is an RDO on site with no works happening.

Overnight Works:

No overnight works planned for next week. The next major set of works will likely be the following week when we will look to remove the remaining concrete barriers and temporary fencing adjacent to the tram corridor to the south of the tram platform.

This will be followed later in the month by the final asphalting of sections of St Kilda Road including the northbound lane between Toorak Road and Bowen Lane – as well as southbound, with the left turn from St Kilda Road into Domain Road. We might also knock over the bike lane adjacent to the Albert Road Reserve entrance while we’ve got hot asphalt on site.

Works next week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

The South African Soldiers’ Memorial now has a scaffold around it as the team start to install blocks further up the monument.

Adjacent to the monument the ground preparation works are continuing around the perimeter of the station. We’ve laid some of the new bluestone pavers adjacent to the future bike lane and the cabinets hosting the station services. The last of the waterproofing around the public lift shaft is done and concreted over. Just adjacent to the service goods lift shaft, we’ve nearly completed the steelwork for a small bit of formwork for the final structure of the station. We’ll be aiming to pour this as early as tomorrow, or if not, Tuesday next week.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

The Shrine entrance works are also progressing well, the drainage and service connections are making their way into the ground, while on Domain Road the bulk of the new tram poles are in, which means next week we’ll start work on the foundations for the new tram platform in Domain Road.

Edmund Herring Oval Demolition

Further up Domain Road we’ve started to remove infrastructure from Edmund Herring Oval. This week it commenced with the removal of some of the storage sheds. On Tuesday next week we’ll commence the breakout of the concrete surface that supported the tunnelling, and has more recently been home to the storage area for the project construction.

We’ll be using hammer attachments on large excavators, which will generate loud noise.

Centre Island – St Kilda Road

Landscaping has now commenced in the southern area with the laying of topsoil through the area, this will be followed by irrigation installation and before the end of the month we’ll see low level planting through this area.
As mentioned in the opening of this update, we’ll then remove all the traffic barriers and temporary fencing through this area.
The tree planting will be in a similar timeframe – City of Melbourne are procuring and planting trees through the middle area of St Kilda Road, I’ll provide some information on these dates once confirmed.

Have a wonderful weekend

Thanks, Rob

Friday Flashback

With Edmund Herring Oval demolition works commencing this week, today we’ve featured a flashback to 2019, when the site was being prepared to handle the spoil removed from the tunnel boring machines. (To the left of the photo is Domain Road)

There was an article in the Age yesterday about house / apartment fires caused by batteries.

Some of you can read the full story here (needs a subscription) https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-ticking-time-bomb-family-s-plea-on-battery-fires-after-their-home-is-charred-pets-gone-20240424-p5fm81.html

Some parts of the story….

Their story is one of a growing number of lithium-ion battery fires in Victoria.

These energy-dense, rechargeable batteries are in dozens of everyday appliances including laptops, phones, power tools, stick vacuum cleaners, portable speakers, e-cigarettes and, notably, e-bikes and scooters.

Authorities say the No.1 rule is to avoid buying a device with a rechargeable battery unless it comes from a reputable brand and seller.

The ACCC estimates that by 2026, the average household will have 33 devices powered by lithium-ion batteries.

The consumer regulator was alarmed last year that a national voluntary survey of more than 4000 Australians found 54 per cent of respondents used aftermarket chargers, 39 per cent did not know how to correctly dispose of lithium-ion batteries, and many respondents said they would leave devices unattended while charging.

Fischer says Fire Rescue Victoria is particularly concerned about the growing risks for people living in apartments where dwellings typically have one entrance and are more likely to have people storing e-bikes and scooters in smaller spaces.

For those of you worried about Electric vehicles, here is a short video by an independent organisation.

CYP Update

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week.
Below is an update on the works for next week – as well as a quick update on some of our rectification and handover processes.

A reminder that next week is a short working week, we’ll be on site Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. While Thursday is ANZAC Day and there are no works on Friday or Saturday.

Overnight Works:

Tram Adjacent Works

Next week we’ve got works scheduled for Monday and Tuesday night adjacent to the southern ventilation shafts and chiller plant. These are works that are right next to the tram tracks, and as such we’ll need to complete them after the last tram goes through. We’ll also install the final sections of the pedestrian tactiles adjacent to the tram stop on the south eastern side.  The tactile work will require the use of a saw to cut out the sections where the tactiles are installed – We’ll try to do this as early as possible in the sections where we aren’t adjacent to the tram tracks.

Works next week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance  (Works until 1am)

It’s more of the same at the station entrance next week, as the ground preparation continues and the bluestone pavers are installed adjacent to the entrance. There are some final underground services being installed, while the last of the waterproofing around the lift shafts is underway. As mentioned last week, we’ll have some formwork underway adjacent to the lift shaft as well.

South African Soldiers’ Memorial construction is now making some great progress. As we move up the structure we’ll erect scaffolding to allow us to continue reconstructing the memorial stone by stone.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road (Works until 1am)

As promised last week, the retaining wall around the Shrine forecourt has made better progress, it will be much of the same next week with drainage installation.
We’ve continued to lay tracks up Domain Road this week, with concrete poured into place as the team head eastward up Domain Road. All going well, track installation will be finished tomorrow. Tram poles will be installed next week.

The footpath adjacent to Melbourne Grammar is open at the Wadhurst entrance end, but the progress is slower at the western end near St Kilda Road.
Still working our way through a few issues, and unfortunately I don’t have a forecast opening date just yet. We’re pushing to get it reopened as soon as we can.

Station Box

It’s been a while since I’ve given an update from the crew below ground. The team are busy installing signage, paving finishing off steps, and generally making the area look like a shiny new station.

I think it’s better served as a photo than an update – so attached below is a photo of the new entrance gates to the station – inside those wooden boxes are the new myki gates, getting ready for commuters to tap on and head down to the new station platform.  Rest assured the final gate placing will have a bit more room between them – that configuration would be a bit of  tight squeeze!

Centre Island – St Kilda Road

Southern Area:

As mentioned above, the end of the Chiller Plant works means that the team can get in next week and finish off the drainage adjacent to the tram stop, as well as the tree plots adjacent to the ventilation shafts and chiller plant.

Tree Planting

St Kilda Road Median

Once the tree pits are available adjacent to the southern ventilation and chiller plant – City of Melbourne will come through and plant trees through this area.  There are currently discussions happening later this afternoon about access and timing for the planting in the median. I’ll have the outcome and plan in next weeks update, but we expect to see trees through the area in early May.

Albert Road

Similarly, there are some new trees earmarked for the Albert Road area, City of Port Phillip have advised that they are planning on plating within the next couple of weeks – I’ll provide some more detail once i’ve heard more, but you can expect to see new trees popping up around the precinct soon, in what will be a very welcome addition.

Rectification Works – Planting

As I mentioned last week, as we finish areas of the job, we conduct a walk-through the site to identify any areas that need rectification prior to us completing the job. One critical part of this is the planting. As many local residents would have noticed, a number of our areas of planting have not taken as well as we’d like. Rest assured we’re very much aware of the plants that haven’t taken to their new homes and we are absolutely going to replace them.

The vast majority of planting on the project will become the responsibility of the local council once we’re finished (City of Melbourne and City of Port Phillip) We’re currently in discussions with both councils about handing over areas of the project where we’ve largely finished our work. We’ve got a list of things that we’re fixing prior to handing these areas over – and once we’ve struck an agreement on this handover – we’ll replace any dead plants and hand it over the respective parks team for each council, who will no doubt have greener thumbs than ours!

Have a wonderful weekend

Thanks, Rob

Friday Flashback

A quick flashback to where we were 12 months ago – with the excavation of the Albert Road entrance well and truly underway – ready to connect into the concourse.