Victoria State Government has selected Spark consortium as a prefered bidder for the tunnelling package of the North East Link PPP project in Melbourne, Australia. The project will fix the missing link in Melbourne’s freeway network, cut travel times and free up local roads.

The consortium includes WeBuild (Salini-Impregilo), GS Engineering and Construction, CPB Contractors, China Construction Oceania, Ventia, Capella Capital, John Laing Investments, DIF and Pacific Partnerships. The selected bidder will be responsible for the construction of the twin three-lane tunnels and key interchanges.

The tunnelling package of North East Link will be delivered as a Public-Private Partnership. The authority will work with the Spark consortium to negotiate a final contract and finalise the concept design for North East Link, which details will be available to the local community before the end of 2021.

Once the tunnelling package is awarded, the project will go out to market for other key elements of North East Link, such as a massive overhaul of the Eastern Freeway, Melbourne’s first dedicated busway, the completion of the M80 Ring Road and 25 kilometres of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths. The megaproject will connect the M80 Ring Road to an upgraded Eastern Freeway, cutting travel times by 35 minutes and taking 15,00 trucks off local roads. 

This AUD15.8 billion (USD11.97 billion) project is jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian governments, with construction on the tunnelling package to begin after the contract award later this year.