Webuild is a preferred bidder consortium to build a railway section in Australia

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (Artc) has appointed Regionerate Rail, a consortium owned by Plenary Group, Clough, Gs Engineering and Construction, Webuild and Service Stream, as the preferred bidder for the construction of the Gowrie-Kagaru railway section, a relevant section of the Inland project Rail, which will pass through Queensland, Australia. The contract has a total value of over 5 billion Australian dollars (3.27 billion euros) for the design and construction, of which approximately 1.3 billion euros in Webuild’s share. A note announces it. The Gowrie-Kagaru provides for the construction and modernization of 128km of railway section and is identified with the most complex section, due to the typology of geographies crossed, of the Ppp Inland Rail project, the 1,700km railway line that will connect Brisbane, in the state of Queensland, in Melbourne, in the state of Victoria. It is also planned to build a 6.2km tunnel to cross the Great Dividing Range which, in terms of diameter, will also be the largest fuel tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere. The contract, to be performed under the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) regime, also provides for a maintenance period for 25 years, following completion of the work. “Australia represents for us one of the most strategic markets on a global level, due to the potential it offers in the sector of sustainable mobility and renewable energy. The involvement of Webuild in Inland Rail, especially for the technically more complex component, is for us a source of great pride, because it tells the reputation that the Group has been able to build with its people day by day in the country, in one of the most challenging markets in the world from the point of view of the quality and skills required “, commented Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild. “As a Group, we have been in Australia since the 1970s, and we are gradually extending to various states, from Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and now Queensland. This new project, after the mega contract of North East Link a Melbourne is the result of the investments we have made in the country over the years, in which we want to consolidate over the long term to work as ‘Australians’ to support the challenges that customers must face in order to deliver quality sustainable infrastructure to communities “, concluded Salini. Also in Australia, in Perth, Webuild is completing the Forrestfield-Airport Link, for the rail link of the eastern suburbs with the city center. In Sydney, he built the bridge and viaduct for the skytrain, the heart of the Sydney Metro Northwest. In the Snowy Mountains, he is building Snowy 2.0, the largest hydroelectric project in the country. The contract for the Inland Rail project is also the second PPP for Webuild in Australia. In Melbourne, the Group, in consortium, has in fact signed the contract for the North East Link PPP Primary Package, the largest infrastructure project in the country. As a world leader in the transport sector, the note recalls, Webuild “boasts a track record that includes the construction of over 13,600km of subways and railway lines, more than 80,200km of roads, 946km of bridges and viaducts and over 2,300km of tunnels and underground works. Recent projects include high-speed / high-capacity railway lines to improve Italy’s connections with Austria, France and the rest of Europe. In Italy, the Terzo Valico dei Giovi-Nodo di Genova will enhance connections between the port of Genoa and the rest of Europe. United, the Group has signed the contract for the construction of the first true high-speed railway in the country, for the connection between Dallas and Houston “.