Lendlease were appointed to design and construct a 154-hectare solar farm for the University of Queensland just north or Warwick. As part of their scope, they engaged GenEng Solutions to design a main-roads intersection at the corner of Freestone Road and Robinson Road for the main entrance into the Solar Farm.
We also delivered a safety risk assessment of the existing road link on a lower-order road to improve safety for construction vehicles and road users during and after construction, and to meet Council development conditions. Coming out of this assessment we provided design advice for safety upgrades that were in keeping with the lower-order nature of the road.
Challenges
As there was a steep grade on the road leading to the new intersection, design challenges to overcome included sight distance to the intersection, safe operating of the intersection for heavy vehicles and powerlines.
Approach
To address these challenges, we designed a realignment of Robinson Road using large batters to raise the road thereby creating better sight distance to the intersection and providing a better alignment for trucks to stop and take off from. All designs were in accordance with TMR standards and council development conditions and produced a TMR pavement design (which involved geotechnical testing and survey). This necessitated close liaison with TMR for design advice.
Our scope for this project was completed on budget, and all our design recommendations were adopted by the client.
Banner photo copyright University of Queensland