At McConnell Dowell, we are a proven civil, marine and rail contractor with a reputation for delivering seamless project outcomes for clients.

With our specialist skills in rail design and construction, and a primary focus on rail safety, we provide a comprehensive rail track construction and maintenance capability to exceed client expectations.  Our trackwork capability includes  sleeper renewals, track laying,  rerailing, welding and destressing, station and platform and rail tunnelling capability.

Our technical expertise is matched by intuitive relationship management skills and our capacity to perform works under various contract types including joint venture, alliance, early contractor involvement, public private partnership, design and construct and construct only contracts.   

SAFETY ACCREDITATION

We are a fully accredited Rolling Stock Operator and are able to run our rail plant on all railways across the both Victoria and South Australia to do construction and maintenance work.

We have the right safety structure in place to deliver rail in a live rail environment.

Accreditation also reduces our costs for rail construction and maintenance projects, allowing us to route our plant on the rail between jobs, which reduces the number of crane movements and transport costs, while providing more economical programming of rail maintenance and construction projects for our clients.

FINANCIAL STRENGTH

We have a strong balance sheet to support our project delivery independent of global financial conditions and we’ve made a significant investment in establishing an Australian based rail fleet including a tamper, regulator, flashbutt welder, Hi-Rail excavators and Hi-Rail vehicles.

We also draw on the heavy rail plant and experience of our South African based sister company Lennings Rail to undertake very large rail projects.

PLANT & EQUIPMENT

At McConnell Dowell Rail, we own an extensive fleet of specialist plant and equipment. We also maintain strong relationships with major equipment suppliers; leading to shorter lead times and cost savings for specialist equipment.

• Pandrol Jackson 6700SJ Production Tamper

The Pandrol Jackson 6700S is a squeeze-type tamper designed for track lifting, lining and switch/production tamping at moderate rates. Production rates of 20+ sleepers per minute can be achieved, depending on track quality.
This brand new tamper uses the state of the art Jupiter control system and is gauge convertible across standard and broad gauge networks.

• Toyota Landcruiser with Hi-Rail attachments
  

The Toyota Landcruiser features Hi-Rail (on-rail) capability and can operate within the standard and broad gauge network. Added safety includes the speed limiting function plus a vigilance and data logging system.

• BE-AD-GC Ballast Regulator
  

Our new Ballast Regulator is capable of reclaiming ballast disturbed by tie renewals prior to track surfacing operations, or performing ballast dressing and final brooming of the track.

The machine is gauge convertible across standard and broad gauge and can work within the ARTC Narrow Non Electrified Clearance Diagram.

• Excavator with Hi-Rail Attachments

ZX170-3 gauge convertible (broad/standard) wheeled excavators.  They are Hi-Rail machines with attachments including: Rail threader, Platypus for sleeper replacement, Octopus 6 sleeper lifter/layer, Trailer and Ballast Broom.  Standard and broad gauge convertible;  ARTC Narrow Electrified Clearance Diagram diagram compatible.

• Flashbutt Welder
  

We have purchased a state of the art Philmore Doosan Mounted Holland Flashbutt Welder.  It is an all terrain machine that is capable of completing 4 welds per hour. A state of the art excavator style welder, it is standard and broad gauge convertible and can operate within the ARTC Narrow non Electrified Clearance Diagram.

RECENT PROJECTS

• Glenelg Tram Overpass, South Australia for the Department of Transport, Energy & Infrastructure

The contract scope of work for the Glenelg Tram Overpass project includes the design and construction of a grade separation for the Glenelg tramline over the very busy South Rd in Adelaide.

This includes the erection of all new tram trackwork and overheads; a new elevated tram stop; two lifts; extensive urban design; and temporary tram tracks including a new temporary crossing of South Road at road level while the bridge works are being constructed.

McConnell Dowell used its in house track laying capability to undertake the task.

The Overpass is now fully operational.

• BlueScope Rail Maintenance
  

While adhering to strict safety measures that BlueScope Steel mandates, McConnell Dowell has been able to perform rail maintenance tasks such as timber renewals and rail replacement at BlueScope Steel’s Western Port facility in Hastings, Victoria.

• Bakewell Underpass, South Australia for the Department of Transport, Energy & Infrastructure

Working with DTEI on South Australia’s first Early Contractor Involvement project McConnell Dowell’s team developed an award winning design for the replacement of the 80 year old Bakewell Bridge with an underpass.

The design included two traffic lanes in each direction separated by a median; on-road bicycle lanes; and a wide shared-use path on the southern side. Two bridges span the underpass carrying road and rail traffic, and also cater for pedestrians and cyclists.

The major challenge for the project team was to build the underpass while continuing to allow trains to operate virtually uninterrupted. To achieve this, McConnell Dowell’s engineers developed an “offline” construction method. The 3,000 tonne railway bridge was built alongside the rail tracks and slid into place over a weekend. This method avoided many months of significant construction disruption and delays for rail commuters.

• North Melbourne Station Redevelopment, Victoria, Australia for the Department of Transport

Around two million people currently use North Melbourne Station each year and the introduction of extra services to meet demand is expected to double this number in the future.

To cater for this growth the station is being upgraded to improve passenger comfort, safety and amenity. Works include a new station building; a new concourse extending over the city end of the station, connecting a new entrance to all six platforms via lifts, escalators and stairs; new passenger information displays; canopies over platforms for weather protection; resurfaced platforms; and additional closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

McConnell Dowell’s team developed an approach that allowed construction works to continue safely above active train lines and platforms.  A temporary canopy structure was developed which completely isolates the work face from commuters and train operations below facilitary uninterrupted rail operations while construction continued.