A shortlist of three contractors vying for the design and construction contract for the New England Highway bypass of Singleton has been released.
The 8 km bypass project involves building a new section of highway west of Singleton across a floodplain, starting near Newington Lane and rejoining the New England Highway north of McDougalls Hill, according to Transport for NSW.
Acciona Constructions Australia, John Holland, and Fulton Hogan Construction, are the shortlisted bidders for the $700 million NSW contract. It is anticipated that the successful contractor will be announced soon as early works are expected to start at the beginning of next year.
The project will see motorists bypass five sets of traffic lights in the Singleton CBD, with the area a notorious bottleneck. This section of the highway carries around 26,000 vehicles, including more than 3700 freight vehicles through Singleton each day. Around 15,000 of these are expected to use the bypass once it is complete.
The New England Highway is part of the inland Sydney to Brisbane National Land Transport Network and the primary route connecting the Upper Hunter with Maitland and Newcastle north of Sydney, with traffic volumes predicted to increase in the next 25 years.
The Singleton bypass project is scheduled for completion late in 2026.
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.