Three Local-Government Slipform Paving Projects (Dec 1984)

Until recently; the most common method of concrete pavement construction in Local-Government areas utilised steel or timber sideforms, and manually hauled vibrating screeds. This method continues to be ideal for many projects. Slipform road construction was introduced to Australia in 1979, but until 1983 its use was limited to major roadworks. There are now seven such machines in Australia, four are capable of paving an entire carriageway (equal to three standard travelling lanes) in one pass, one is capable of either single- or dual-lane construction and two are single lane pavers. Over the last year, the two single-lane pavers have been used on three Local-Government reconstruction pro- jects in the Sydney area, and a fourth is to be carried out towards the end of 1984. This article provides an outline of the three completed projects — in the City of Blacktown and Municipality of Holroyd in the western part of the Sydney region, and Sutherland Shire to the south. The one in Blacktown represented the first use of slipform concrete road construction by Local Government in Australia.