Good afternoon everyone,

I hope everyone is managing to stay cool today, our works have been heated off today as the temperatures have soared, so it should at least make for a quieter in afternoon.

Below is an update on the works planned for next week. Just a reminder that next Monday is an RDO, so we won’t be back on site until next Tuesday

Station Roof Works

Last weeks forecast of excavators starting up on the station roof section at 400 St Kilda Road was a little premature, the design approval for the taller screens attached to the jersey barriers was delayed, meaning the works couldn’t start. These higher screens are to protect those walking directly past the works, so we couldn’t kick off until they were approved and installed. You can expect to see (and hear) the excavators in action from Tuesday.

Albert Road Reserve Station Entrance

The piling around the permitter of the new Albert Station reserve is now complete – this is the last time you’ll see a piling rig on the construction site, as this is the final pile required on the job. Though they’re not the most disruptive piece of equipment on the job, I’m sure everyone will be happy to know that the last pile is in the ground.  Next week will see the top of the piles trimmed back at the northern end of the station works, while excavation will ramp up in the remainder of the station entrance footprint.

Conduit Installation – Albert Road North

While the Albert Reserve Station Entrance is making great progress, the same can’t be said for the conduit works along Albert Road North. The preliminary excavation has uncovered a number of different old services and connections in places that they aren’t supposed to be. This has required a bit of reshuffling for these works and the conduit location.  We’re expecting that these works will wrap up by the end of next week, instead of finishing this week as expected.

Parking Removal – Albert Road North

As a result of the delay to the conduit works, the removal of the central median parking down near Kings Way has also been pushed back. Originally scheduled to be closed off next week, we’re instead looking at closing this parking during the week commencing 27 February.

The mid-point zebra crossing in Albert Road will also close at this time, with a new zebra crossing point installed at the base of Albert Reserve.

St Kilda Road median works

Down at the southern end of site, the blinding layer of concrete for the first of the chiller plant structures has been poured, and formwork is underway for the base slab. Preparation works are underway for the blinding layer in the second location further to the south.  The trees that were to be removed in the median up near Toorak Road were taken down last week. Wildlife checks were conducted on each tree prior to its removal. We originally notified that three trees would be removed, but the team determined that the third tree could remain until later this year as works wouldn’t be required in the immediate future. Any tree removal is delayed until absolutely required to facilitate construction.

The tree removal means that we’ll commence works to build the inner road lane of St Kilda between Bromby Street and Toorak Road (southbound)

No major changes up at the northern end of St Kilda Road, the team are continuing preparations to lay the first of the asphalt for the St Kilda Road centre carriageway between Park Street and Dorcas Street.

Station box construction

No new major milestones to report from inside the station box – we did promise a photo of the track running through the station, which didn’t get attached. It’s now attached showing the tracks running through eastbound section of the station. The west is also underway and making good progress along the tunnels. Once the track slab is installed and the new track affixed, the team make their way along the tracks concreting the track slab into place.

Shrine Entrance

The shrine entrance construction is also continuing with excavation activities as reported last week. Nothing new to report and no new activities expected next week other than excavation.

Park Street under bore

The under bore drill arrived on site last week and made short work of boring underneath St Kilda Road, work will now commence to tie the connection into the existing network. Once this is complete, CitiPower will come and make the final connections, this is expected in late March. The completion of the bore means that the work crews will now switch their attention to the legacy works between Park Street and Albert Road. Next week the kerb and drainage works will start, with the footpath works to follow in the coming weeks.

Thanks, Rob and Christian

The v noisy jack hammering will not happen before Tuesday… They need to sort out fence and lighting first, plus RDO on Monday

Thanks to all who helped – especially Jane and Pete

The hard work is done but still room for some creative input

Come down at 230pm to chat to your neighbours and have some fun.

 

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