Marr Contracting on the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge

Marr Contracting has been awarded the subcontract to deliver specialised heavy lifting crane services on the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge project in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

At a length of 460m, the bridge will be among the longest span cable stay pedestrian bridges in the world and a must-visit destination in Brisbane.

Following a detailed procurement process, Brisbane City Council awarded the contract to design and construct the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge to Connect Brisbane, led by BESIX Watpac, in June 2021.

Connect Brisbane consists of bridge design, engineering and construction specialists including Rizzani de Eccher, WSP, Dissing + Weitling, Blight Rayner, Aspect Studios, Right Angle Studios and Rowland.

With experience spanning global and local projects, Marr was engaged by Connect Brisbane early in the design phase to develop a lifting strategy that supported their preferred construction methodology.

According to BESIX Watpac Project Director, Tim Deere, “Our in-house engineering team was instrumental in identifying this crane at tender phase as the preferred lifting solution for the project. After comparing barge crane and tower crane options, the team confirmed the M2480D was the most suitable crane in the Australian market capable of lifting the fully assembled mast head.”

Marr’s experience working on the construction of the 318m towers on Turkey’s 1915Çanakkale Bridge, Perth’s signature Matagarup Bridge, and Dubai’s landmark Water Canal Bridges provided Connect Brisbane with a frame of reference for addressing the challenges of constructing the 83m tall mast of the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge.

Located in Brisbane’s busy river, the key challenge was how to construct the bridge mast while minimising potential impacts on the public ferries and private vessels that use the Brisbane River daily.

Working with Marr’s Brisbane-based engineers, Robert Bird Group, Marr developed a solution using an M2480D Heavy Lift Luffing (HLL) tower crane with a 64m long boom installed on a platform in the middle of Brisbane River. The heaviest lift the tower crane will undertake for the project is 180t and will be the 28m tall pre-fabricated steel masthead.

“Reaping the benefits of modularised construction with fewer, heavy lifts is not only helping to deliver a safer, more productive site; but also allowing our client to share the economic benefit delivered by the project by engaging more South East Queensland businesses away from the workfront,” said Marr’s Managing Director, Simon Marr.

Marr’s scope of work will include more than 10 major lifts and general construction lifting requirements over a period of 12 months. Marr’s M2480D arrived onsite in January, has been erected and commissioned, and completed its first lift – a 25m by 25m wide working platform.

Construction of the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge started in late 2021 and is anticipated to be completed in 2024.

With a standard lift capacity of 330t at a 15m radius, the M2480D will lift 100t to a 45m radius with around 130m of hook height and no support ties.

Unlike conventional crawler cranes or truck cranes, the M2480D is fully rated to operate in wind speeds up to 20m/s, which is more than double that of crawler cranes – which along with its superior operating speed, allows far higher levels of productivity.

Time Lapse Video courtesy of BESIX Watpac and Brisbane City Council.

Source Marr Contracting