Civil Engineering

Burchills Engineering Solutions (Burchills) were engaged by Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) as the lead consultant for planning and detailed design, including approvals for new $300m, 150-hectare, sports precinct to undertake the detailed design of all stages of the Toowoomba Regional Sports Precinct (TRSP).

The Toowoomba Region Sports Precinct (TRSP) will be located on a site in Charlton next to the Toowoomba Bypass and adjacent to the Toowoomba Connection Road.

The TRSP development, as envisioned by the Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC), encompasses a multi-sports facility situated between Gowrie Junction Road, Toowoomba Connection Road, and the Toowoomba Bypass.

The facility will address the growing demand for sport and recreation facilities and help attract state and national sporting events to our Region. It will provide a mix of high-quality fields and amenities for a variety of outdoor sporting activities and a district-level recreation park.

The project is being progressed in general accordance with the 2020 Toowoomba Region Sports Precinct Master Plan. The project is on track to complete detailed design by the beginning of 2026 and the precinct will be opened in stages over the following decade.

The 2020 Toowoomba Region Sports Precinct Master Plan is expected to cost $215 million.

Burchills have been engaged. Engineering scope covers access roads, earthworks including mass haul assessment, drainage, services and associated infrastructure.

The Breakwater development is located in Robina on the Gold Coast QLD. The masterplan envisages a lakeside community with over 2000 dwellings that includes the construction of large lakes that are well integrated into the natural landscape and responsive to the extensive constraints.

The project has adopted an innovative approach to designing a new residential community on the Gold Coast, presenting a consolidated and clear vision for the future Breakwater Robina community that capitalises on its position alongside the City of Gold Coast’s Principal Activity Centre of Robina.
The site sits on the largest floodplain in the Gold Coast Local Government Area, influenced by the Nerang River as well as multiple creek systems.

The site has multiple constraints including but not limited to extensive flooding, major earthworks including mass hauls, poor soils (marine clays), groundwater, localised overland flow, protected vegetation, acid sulphate soils, existing services that are at capacity, as well as sensitive neighbouring communities (school, hospital, residences, etc,).

Due to the number of constraints, and due to our extensive experience in dealing with multi-discipline projects, Burchills was appointed Lead Engineer for the project. We have successfully worked through solutions for the management of each constraint with various approval agencies, and multiple stakeholders, to form an overall development strategy that is cognisant to how each issue affects the other.

The management of these issues have also flowed through to construction. Earthworks for the site comprised over 2,000,000m3 of material across 100 hectares. Burchills was able to lead the development design process to overcome the ultimate design challenges, and also solve constructability issues associated with interdependent constraints during design and planning phases.

In response to the forecast demand for open space and parkland, City of Gold Coast acquired 240 hectares of low-lying land at the centre of the cities urban footprint between Nerang, Robina, Mudgeeraba and Clear Island Waters to provide current and future city residents and visitors with generous and diverse recreational opportunities in a central location on the Gold Coast.

Burchills Engineering Solutions and AECOM have partnered to prepare the Master Plan for the truly world class iconic open space Greenheart Parklands project for City of Gold Coast. The design team was hand selected to provide best-for project outcomes and bring a balance of broad design thinking underpinned by detailed local knowledge and technical fluency.

Burchills scope of consultancy services includes input to the development of the Master Plan for Gold Coast Central Park, design report recommendations and production of design plans for Civil Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Traffic Engineering, Environment and Ecology. The key technical aspects of the Master Plan design include:

• Geotechnical conditions on the subject site was a significant constraint that needed to be explored, with the available soil on site (marine clays) generally unsuitable for structural fill unless the proper soil improvement strategies were employed.
• The proposed Greenheart parklands is situated on the Guragunba Floodplain surrounded by primarily existing residential development. The floodplain is sensitive to hydraulic changes and therefore significant flood impact assessment works were undertaken to ensure that the development did not cause adverse hydraulic conditions external to the subject site.
• Integration with the proposed Green Heart wetlands project was a key requirement of the project, that sees the water sensitive urban design asset integrated within the park complex. Pedestrian routes and viewing platforms were recommended to enhance the amenity of the wetland system.
• Intersection modelling and transport planning considering a road network link between Stadium Drive, being the main access point, and Gilgai Road and investigation of an alternative secondary connection from Robina Parkway.
• Trasport modelling includes assessment of the change in traffic flows associated with the development on operational capacity and road safety at the locations based on design years, growth forecasts, committed development utilising the City of Gold Coast Strategic Transport Multi Modal Model (GCSTM-MM).
• Burchills transport also advice included Vehicular Access Strategy including Car Parking, Active Transport Strategy, Public Transport Strategy, Water Transport Strategy and Event Management.

Burchills were engaged by AVID Property Group (Formerly Villaworld) to provide a preliminary engineering and to be considered as part of their acquisition of land, to create and expand the proposed development in Eggersdorf. This analysis outlined the surrounding sites suitable for the expansion of the proposed development, relating to civil engineering design parameters and site constraints. The acquisition of number of land parcels resulted to 180 residential allotments. Burchills were engaged to complete the following:

• Feasibility Analysis;
• Conceptual Stormwater management Plan including
• Regional Trunk Sewer Pump Station and Rising Main Detention Basins;
• Preliminary designs & estimates;
• Reginal Water and Sewer network Analysis;
• Detailed Civil Design for OPW applications; and
• Contract Administration & Supervision.

Stages 1 & 2 have been designed and OPW approval obtained. Construction to anticipated to commence in July 2021.Stage 3 is currently under design.

Burchills were engaged to undertake a feasibility study for the provision of a shared use pathway along the former vacant rail corridor. This rail trail will begin at the existing Mt Morgan train station located in Railway Parade, Mt Morgan and has two potential finish locations in Kabra or Gracemere townships.

The scope of work included investigation, assessment and design of the 20+km rail trail through an rural environment, key deliverables are similar to this project and included:

• Project Inception
• Site Investigations
• Feasibility Study and Business Case
• Concept Design.

The project involved the co-ordination and delivery of a number of similar disciplines including:

• Rail Trail Design
• Civil and Structural Engineering
• Flooding and Hydraulics
• Environmental
• Landscape and urban design
• Land use planning
• Cultural Heritage
• Consultation with stakeholders
• Economics and Tourism.

Burchills were recently engaged by Coffs Harbour City Council to undertake design for the Solitary Island Way intersection and associated works. The purpose of the services is to provide a cost-effective for the works enabling construction to commence as soon as possible. The scope includes site investigation, survey, geotechnical investigation, design and specification, modelling, environmental review, cost estimates and seek relevant agency approvals to enable the completed design and specification package to be tendered for construction.

The proposed road works include:

• Solitary Island Way intersection upgrade
• Water, sewer, electrical and communication infrastructure upgrades
• Cycleway and footpaths
• Drainage upgrades
• Other ancillary works. 

Burchills are completing the engineering planning, design and supervision for the project which includes significant revetment walls, mooring facilities and improvements to the foreshore area.

Southport Yacht Club is developing a superyacht facility adjacent to Jack Gordon Park, Southport. The $7m project includes a major berthing facility for vessels up to 60m in length along with upgrades to the foreshore and existing parklands.

The project is part of the State Governments $60 million investment in The Spit master plan, which supports job-creating projects that will boost tourism opportunities and improve public amenity for the whole community. The new berth will allow the SYC to cater for more, and larger boats, which opens up the Gold Coast to some of the world’s largest and most luxurious yachts.

Burchills were engaged by Yass Valley Council to complete a Feasability Assessment for the The Yass Valley Rail Trail. The proposed shared pedestrian and bicycle path is planned to be constructed along the disused Yass Tramway corridor between the Great Southern Railway (Yass Junction Railway Station) and Yass Township and will run for approximately 4.5 km.

The Rail Trail route includes a heritage listed steel bridge built in 1892 across the Yass River, and the route ends at the Yass Railway Museum (also heritage listed) near the centre of Yass.

Yass Valley Council required the assessment to be completed for the rail trail to confirm the feasibility of the project based on a range of social, economic, and environmental factors.