BarChip Reinforced Caverns win Australia’s Top Construction Award.

The John Holland, CPB Contractors, Ghella Joint Venture has won the 2022 Australian Construction Achievement Award for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest Tunnel & Station Excavation Works. A big congratulations to everyone involved!

BarChip fibre reinforced shotcrete was used for the ground support solutions in the underground stations and mined tunnels. Like many aspects of the project, this was one of the first uses of synthetic fibre reinforcement in the cavern support of a commuter rail line in Australia (the BarChip reinforced Melbourne Metro being the other). In addition to overcoming complex engineering and logistical challenges, the project team achieved the highest ever ISC Infrastructure Sustainability rating. This rating was helped with the selection of BarChip, which delivers significantly reductions in carbon footprint when compared to traditional steel reinforcement.

BarChip is now an established presence in the Australian tunnelling industry. Since the first use in the St Helena Bypass (the first road tunnel in Australia to use synthetic fibre in cavern support), BarChip has now been used in the North Strathfield Rail Underpass, Sydney Metro, Melbourne Metro and Cross River Rail. BarChip is also reinforcing the track slab works in the Forrestfield-Airport Link, Parramatta light rail and Sydney Metro. With the inclusion of BarChip in the Cross-River Rail mined tunnel sections, BarChip has now been used to reinforce the shotcrete tunnel linings in commuter rail tunnels, commuter road tunnels, freight rail tunnels and pedestrian tunnels in Australia.

Thank you for trusting BarChip in this iconic Australian project.

Sydney Metro Martin Place Cavern Support