Adelaide’s north-south road corridor is a vital route for the region’s motorists and freight heading to key transit hubs. Rising congestion problems, low travel speeds and low productivity were triggers to the redevelopment of this route.

The Torrens Road to Torrens River Project, also known as T2T, forms a crucial part of the north-south corridor. This section marks one of the busiest sections of what is a major Adelaide north-south corridor for traffic. It will be a 4 km non-stop section of road, providing significant travel time savings for commuters and freight.

Aurecon and its Alliance partners, CPB Contractors and York Civil, were appointed by the Australian and South Australian Governments to develop innovative design, and cost-effective, construction methodologies for the T2T project.

It will decrease travel times and ease traffic congestion for north-south and east-west traffic by providing a non-stop motorway to replace this highly congested section of South Road between Torrens Road and the River Torrens.

Innovative, cost-effective design

The Alliance developed preliminary design and construction methodologies and a cost-effective and innovative design. The innovative design methodology was developed for the retention systems to the lowered road (a total of 3 km). This method, while recognising research into the behaviour of Adelaide's unsaturated clays, resulted in a highly competitive design solution for the soil nailed slopes.

The total scope of the project includes:

A 3 km section of lowered non-stop roadway
Parallel surface (at-grade) roads along the length of the lowered motorway to connect local roads and arterial roads to South Road
An overpass of the Outer Harbor rail line
Three major road bridges, a pedestrian bridge and a services bridge over the lowered road
Various intersection upgrades
Improved cycling and pedestrian facilities
Landscaping and noise barriers
Major services relocation and accommodation, including HV power, sewer, telecommunications and gas

Giving community a voice

A significant amount of consultation and liaison between nearby residents, designers and urban planners was needed to get the right balance of solutions for acoustic comfort.

A great deal of consideration also went into the noise impact on residences and businesses in close proximity to South Road. Walls between 2.4 and 3.5 m in height were erected to reduce the sound pollution from operational road noise. Residents were consulted individually to agree on appropriate acoustic modifications that could be made to each property.

This aspect contributed to the project achieving a 'Leading' As Built IS Rating – the first infrastructure project in South Australia to do so. The rating recognises the economic, social and environmental benefits of the project that considers the full asset lifecycle, including operation and decommissioning.

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