Labor’s major infrastructure projects hit with construction issues leading Opposition to question planning

Two of Labor’s major infrastructure projects have been hit with construction issues, leading to questions from the Opposition over when they will open. Works have begun to fix problems on both the Bunbury Outer Ring Road and the upgrades to the Armadale Line. Construction on the Armadale line project has been hampered by the discovery of misaligned portion of the raised rail near Armadale station. The project, which has seen the line shut until the middle of next year, includes the extension of rail to Byford and the closure of several level crossings along the Armadale line. But the error has raised concerns about when the line will be reopened. “During routine inspections on the Armadale Station viaduct, a slight misalignment with the elastomeric bearing pad that sits on the headstock at the underside of the viaduct beam was identified,” a Metronet spokeswoman said. “A safe and workable solution, requiring some bearings to be replaced has been implemented and work is continuing on the Byford Rail Extension project. “The Armadale Line remains on track to reopen in the middle of next year.” On the Bunbury road project — named Wilman Wadandi Highway and due to open on December 16 — 20km of lanes had to be ripped up due to drainage issues. “Due to the areas high water table and an extremely wet winter, some sections of the road have been undergoing remediation in recent weeks due to impacts from subterranean water,” a Main Roads spokesperson said. “The remediation work will be completed shortly and is not expected to impact the opening date. “These works include additional protections to prevent this impact in the future. “This type of engineering challenge is not unusual for a major road project of this size, and defect liability conditions are automatically built into contracts to protect taxpayers from additional project costs.” Liberal leader Libby Mettam slammed the issues, and raised questions about the scheduled opening dates for the projects. “This Government is incapable of delivering any project on time or on budget,” she said. “Reports of engineering issues, along with this Government’s appalling track record raises serious concerns we’re going to see yet more delays on the opening of the Armadale Line and the Bunbury ring road.” A State Government spokesman said both projects remained on track to open as scheduled. “The issues relating to the bearing pads have been resolved, with some beams needing to be removed and reinstalled,” he said. “On a project as a complex as this, engineering challenges are not unusual.”