Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail
The Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail (LGC) project will unlock additional train services to meet the growing travel demand between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and is a key infrastructure investment ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
This project will double the tracks from two to four between Kuraby and Beenleigh, deliver modern and accessible stations, remove level crossings, improve park ‘n’ ride facilities, and provide improved walking and cycling connections to stations along the 20km section of upgraded tracks.
Our CMW Geosciences team was engaged to plan, manage and deliver the initial geotechnical investigation program for the project.
Our involvement
Our team supported investigation delivery, including service location, traffic management, field supervision, laboratory testing and factual reporting.
Scope comprised 50x boreholes (to 32m), 62x large-diameter shallow boreholes, 24x CPTu tests, Panda testing, geophysical surveys, and groundwater installations to support bridges, stations, formations, soft soil zones and pavements.
The team carried out investigations in highly challenging conditions within a densely populated brownfield / existing rail corridor environment, which included significant complexities such as:
- Tight access location within the rail corridor that included Overhead Line Equipment (OHLE) and associated exclusion zones
- Tight working programs within Scheduled Corridor Access Scheme (SCAS) shutdowns, whilst interacting with other QR working parties
- Crossing existing rail formation with geotechnical plant
- Managing contaminated waste
- Drilling in and around creek crossings and alluvial channels which flooded at minimal weather events
- Managing environmental impact in sensitive areas
- Undertaking night shift works on heavily trafficked arterial and council roads around numerous train stations / school zones
What we achieved
Our CMW Geosciences team worked closely with the design and construction contractors to carry out several geophysical surveys at key design junctures. This reduced delays to the program while providing a high quality of data used to commence critical design work.
Our in-house geophysics team was critical in planning the geophysical configuration and methods to ensure the data acquisition could enable the design work at key locations in lieu of intrusive investigation methods.
Works were executed within the active Queensland Rail corridor, frequently during track closures, requiring precise programming to maximise productivity without compromising safety or data quality.
Our team’s ability to integrate multidisciplinary investigations, manage multi-agency interfaces, and to deliver staged factual outputs provided critical design inputs and de-risked subsequent construction phases.
These outcomes demonstrate the team’s transferable capability to larger, program-critical rail infrastructure projects.
