Building Brisbane’s Black Hole (The Proposed Repository for Rate Payers Money)

2,500,000 cubic metres of spoil (rock, dirt, sludge) is expected to move out by road to the Brisbane Airport or land under Port of Brisbane control at Lytton to be used as compression fill on dredged filled land to enable future development of those sites.

During the initial extraction phase up to 150 trucks per day will be entering and leaving the Bowen Hills work site - this will build up to 400 trucks per day at Bowen Hills portal alone. The other portals at East Brisbane and Woolloongabba will also have large truck movements to remove spoil as their entrances are opened up using a road header.

The pollution created at Bowen Hills by exiting heavy vehicles is calculated to be equivalent to an extra 4000 cars exhaust.

Then you must take into account the many workers, engineers, visitors, inspectors, international visitors, experts and 00’s of delivery trucks movements as prestressed concrete sections are delivered on a daily basis.

Were you in one of those buildings affected by the blasting for the Inner City Bypass?

Well we understand that the tunnel boring machine process may cause worse vibrations and blasting has not been ruled out.

Brisbane City Council (BCC) admits that during the 4 years of the construction activity – the vast majority of the spoil out and material in – will occur at the Bowen Hills ‘northern end.

BCC keeps saying that while they are negotiating with Queensland Rail to remove the spoil by rail to the Brisbane Airport we are advised that no progress has been made to date (13 October 2004) so we can only assume the worst-case scenario. That is the north-side residents and commuters will have to endure higher noise, vibration and dust pollution levels as large construction trucks move in and out of the site 24 hours a day for up to 4 years.

Kingsford Smith Drive is already at capacity in peak hours and becoming even more congested as each new industry starts up in the Australia Trade Coast. The Brisbane Airport is developing their land outside of Brisbane City Council control and we expect that with the proposed major shopping centre, golf course and other planned projects take place the congestion along Kingsford Smith Drive will only become worse.

A 1993 Department of Premier, Economic & Trade Development Report contained information that Kingsford Smith Drive would need to be upgraded to come the congestion in (then) 6 to 15 years. It is already 11 years since this report was completed and it has not been upgraded and yet it is supposed to cope with the extra heavy trucks removing spoil from the NSBT.

During this time we will also experience the duplication of the Gateway Bridge, upgraded Gateway Road the building of a new Gateway Road to the east with a large flyover of Airport Drive and the Air Train elevated rail track.

We cannot tell you much about the much needed Ipswich Road upgrade nor the Brisbane Urban Corridor through Upper Mt Gravatt but the Gateway Motorway between Mt Gravatt – Capalaba Road and Nudgee Road in the north is to be upgraded to six lanes.

The Rivermouth Action Group Inc
1 November 2004