Special low carbon sleepers continue to be installed on the North East Link Program in Victoria ahead of major construction and tunnel work that will start mid-March.
Low Carbon Content (LCC) concrete sleepers have already been installed in the Macleod station area where existing wooden sleepers were replaced. The LCC sleepers were developed by Austrak in collaboration with Cement Australia, a valued Gold Member of the Concrete Institute of Australia. Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) is working alongside North East Link and is already on board to use the innovative concrete sleepers.
“The sleepers have a 25-30% lower carbon footprint than standard concrete sleepers,” the state government explained. “Almost 500 LCC sleepers were installed [late in 2022] and this is the first time such sleepers have been used on the MTM rail network.”
The LCC sleepers initiative is part of the North East Link project’s goal to hit its emission reduction targets.
The Victoria Government has advised that six weeks of major construction will be undertaken from 16 March to the end of April to complete works on the new stations at Greensborough and Montmorency. In addition, 3.5 km of new rail track duplications will be carried out.
Prior to this, works in early March will be done including upgrades of tracks, signalling and equipment will be done in preparation for the future extension o the rail tunnel beneath the Greensborough Highway.
About the author
Desi Corbett
Desi is the Editor of Concrete in Australia and at the helm of our magazine for 8 years. She was behind the Institute's weekly news bulletins from 2016-2021 and is now writing our focused news items. Desi has been an engineering news and features journalist/editor across all disciplines since 2013 - part of a 30-year career writing for a wide range of industries.