Motorists in Perth’s southern suburbs will benefit from the $145 million Armadale Road dual carriageway project over Christmas, with works now expected for completion by December 20.
The project began construction in March 2018. It has converted the previous four-way signalled intersection into a four-lane bridge over Nicholson Road, with a roundabout underneath.
On December 20, two lanes of Armadale Road in each direction from Tapper Road to Anstey Road are expected to be open, along with the newly named Hugo Throssell VC Bridge.
Nicholson Road will then be reopened, under traffic management, with one lane in each direction.
The entire project, including landscaping and the principal shared path, is expected to be complete in late January.
The new bridge has been named the Hugo Throssell VC Bridge, after a Victoria Cross recipient and World War I hero.
Throssell was awarded the Victoria Cross for an action at Hill 60 on the 29-30 August 1915 where he was wounded twice.
He was the first Western Australian to be awarded a Victoria Cross during the First World War and is the only Australian light horseman to receive this honour.
The bridge structure and its approaches extend 500 metres in length, with its 424 panels reaching 8.5 metres high. 16 beams were used, weighing 122 tonnes each with a span of 32 metres in length. Each required two cranes to lift it into place.
The intersection is expected to see more than 30,000 vehicles daily, around 11 per cent of these will be heavy vehicles.
Between 2014-2018 the intersection saw 132 crashes.
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the duplication project was a boon for local jobs.
“The $145 million Armadale Road Upgrade project was one of my Government’s key election commitments and I’m pleased the dual carriageway is expected to be open before the end of the year,” Mr. McGowan said.
He said the new Hugo Throssell VC Bridge pays tribute to a remarkable Western Australian who received the Victoria Cross in 1915, for his acts of bravery during military action in World War I.
“Since becoming Premier I have always wanted to name something after Hugo Throssell VC – this is a fitting tribute to a great Western Australian.”
The bridge forms part of the larger Armadale Road Upgrade project that includes widening the 6.9-kilometre section from Tapper Road to Anstey Road; the last section of single carriageway on Armadale Road.
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