A new landmark bridges has opened in the Western Australian capital, with Keller company Austral Construction playing a pivotal role in its development. Project Manager Josh Male tells us about the geotechnical, logistical and environmental challenges the team overcame to finish on time and with millimetre precision.
As the sun set over McCallum Park just before Christmas, thousands of Perth residents gathered to celebrate the opening of the city’s latest landmark, the Boorloo Bridges. As well as music, fireworks and a visit from Santa Claus, over 17,000 LEDs incorporated into the bridge’s stay cables put on a spectacular light show.
The A$100 million pedestrian and cycle bridges form part of the kilometre long crossing, and winds its way snakelike over the Swan River, connecting Victoria Park and the city’s central business district.
Such a high-profile, publicly funded project has naturally attracted a lot of attention, so the development consortium behind it was keen to have the best people on the job to ensure its smooth delivery.
As experts in marine construction, Austral was selected to install the bridge’s 18 foundation piles, along with temporary works, pile caps and bridge deck segments.
A well-planned operation
“The geotechnical conditions in the river were very challenging,” explains Josh Male, Project Manager. “We had around 20m of soft riverbed that offered no lateral support, followed by very hard rock.
“Each of the 1.2m diameter piles were 35m long and had to be installed using specialised piling hammers. The operation had to be conducted from two barges, including our Pilbara 100-tonne jack-up barge.”
For many projects, the barges can be floated into position, but because of how the Swan River narrowed in places, the barges had to be delivered piece by piece, travelling by road in over a hundred trucks before being meticulously assembled.
Pinpoint accuracy
Working from the jack-up barge, Austral’s expert crew had to firmly restrain each pile before carefully guiding them as they were installed, ensuring each one was no more than 50mm out of line.
That tight limit was important because once the piles were finished, Austral had to fit them with 50-tonne caps before filling with concrete using massive boom pumps. The caps were installed from Austral’s MB2448 floating barge which, subject to wind and waves, added an extra challenge to job.
“One of the most important aspects was ensuring we protected the environment at all times,” adds Josh. “Using a floating barge meant we didn’t disturb the sea bed outside of the piling area and we had to ensure no spillages with the concrete. Our approach to limiting our impact was one of the key reasons we were awarded the project.”
Heavy lifting
To accelerate the programme, the Austral
team set up temporary works at the same time as the piles. These were designed to support the bridge decking. Once the piling was completed, several decking modules weighing between 50 and 70 tonnes were safely lifted, positioned and welded into place.
After starting on site in October 2023, the Austral team successfully completed their scope in May 2024.
“The quality throughout from the team has been outstanding and the client was very happy that everything they asked for was completed to expectation, on time and with no accidents,” says Josh. “There aren’t many companies that can combine the expertise and specialist equipment we have to deliver a project like this. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to play a part in what is an iconic new structure for the city of Perth.”

Boorloo Bridges, Perth WA
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Projects Archive – Austral Construction