The Airport Link is a tunnelled,
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
grade, toll road in the northern suburbs of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It connects the
Brisbane central business district
Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the ...
and the
Clem Jones Tunnel
The M7 Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7), known during its development as the North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT), is a A$3.2 billion motorway grade toll road under the Brisbane River, between Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills in Brisbane, Queensland. T ...
to the East-West Arterial Road which leads to the
Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passeng ...
. It was built in conjunction with the
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
to Kedron section of the
Northern Busway in approximately the same corridor.
The Airport Link and busway project involves of tunnelling including the road (6.7 km of twin tunnels), busway tunnels and connecting ramps, as well as 25 bridges and result in over of new road. The Airport Link was Australia's longest road tunnel until the opening of the
M8 in Sydney.
The estimated construction cost of the Airport Link is $4.8 billion.
The toll for the full length is $5.30 for a car.
Construction of the Airport Link, Northern Busway and Airport Roundabout Upgrade projects were scheduled for completion in mid-2012.
Following a preview walk on 15 July 2012 and final safety approvals, the Airport Link opened to the public at 11.55 pm on 24 July 2012.
Contract and controversy
The contract was awarded to the
consortium
A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
BrisConnections, composed of
Macquarie Group
Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia' ...
,
Thiess and
John Holland, beating two other consortia (North Connect and Northern Motorway). BrisConnections was announced as the preferred bidder on 19 May 2008, and the final contract was awarded on 2 June 2008.
Conducted as a
public-private partnership (PPP), the financial aspects of the Airport Link project has been mired in controversy from the outset. Macquarie Group charged $110 million in fees for the financial engineering which used the equity from private investors to raise the necessary debt and planned to pay investor distributions from capital, an arrangement which resembles a
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
and has been ridiculed as the "
dead parrot
The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a Sketch comedy, sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' about a non-existent species of parrot, called a "Norwegian Blue". A sati ...
model", after the famous Monty Python comedy sketch. Former Queensland Premier
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...
enjoyed a free holiday at the Sydney mansion of Thiess director
Ros Kelly
Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments ...
just before the contract was awarded. Former Labor ministers
Terry Mackenroth
Terence Michael Mackenroth (16 July 1949 – 30 April 2018) was an Australian politician from Queensland, who was a member of the Labor Party. He served almost 28 years with a notable parliamentary service history and a number of ministerial r ...
and
Con Sciacca
Concetto Antonio Sciacca (13 June 1947 – 21 June 2017) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party and member of the Australian House of Representatives from July 1987 to March 1996 and again from October 1998 to October 2004 ...
were paid a "success fee", (as government relations advisors) believed to be about $500,000, by BrisConnections after the consortium won the tender.
BrisConnections was listed as a
unit trust
A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed.
A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...
on the
Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
(ASX) via a $1.2 billion
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
(IPO) of installment receipts (or
stapled securities) on 31 July 2008 (). This was the largest IPO in Australia in 2008 and the most disastrous. The value of initial $1 installments fell by 60 per cent on the first day of trading, and by late November had collapsed to 0.1c, the lowest possible price on the ASX. The dramatic price slide was largely due to the leverage risk associated with stapled securities. Among the institutional investors was the
Queensland Investment Corporation
QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation) is a Government owned investment company owned by the Queensland Government. It was founded on 1 July 1991 pursuant to the ''Queensland Investment Corporation Act 1991'' to serve the long-term investment r ...
(QIC), which invested $25 million. The chairman of QIC is
Trevor Rowe
Trevor Cyril Rowe, , is an Australian businessman, and has held numerous executive positions in the public and private sectors. In his current position is as non-executive chairman of Rothschild Australia after stepping out of the executive cha ...
, who is also the Chairman of BrisConnections and was awarded
Member of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in 2004 "for service to the investment banking sector and as a contributor to the formulation of public policy ... and to the community."
It is believed that some of this negative market sentiment was in response to the traffic forecasts contained within the Product Disclosure Statement lodged by BrisConnections. The EIS previously lodged by government showed traffic forecasts in 2012 of 95,000 vehicles per day, rising to 120,000 motorists by 2026. The Product Disclosure Statement prepared by PBA provides forecast of 193,000 vehicles in 2012 rising to 291,000 vehicles by 2026.
![Kalinga Park, airport link construction site](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Kalinga_Park%2C_airport_link_construction_site.JPG)
During the early period of the BrisConnections listing most of the securities were owned by institutional investors, however as the price collapsed many of these institutions divested their now worthless stock, including Macquarie Group. Most of these shares were taken up by retail investors who were unaware that two further $1 installments on the stapled securities were owing and faced financial ruin as a result. BrisConnections has threatened to sue these investors in order to raise the capital necessary to continue the project, while reducing dividends by 99 per cent. There are no further installments owning which means there are no further obligations on shareholders attached to the units.
While promoting BrisConnections at their media event in April 2009, Premier Anna Bligh denied any responsibility for the fate of the "Mum and Dad" investors saying, "''it is not the role of the Queensland Government to underwrite private investment decisions made by people who were seeking to make a profit investing in the stock market''". At this time, the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...
(ASIC) belatedly sought to act on behalf of investors and to seek an independent report of BrisConnections' finances. BrisConnections was nearly wound up in April 2009 after the private company of one investor,
Nicholas Bolton, requisitioned a general meeting of members of the managing company. However, on the date of the meeting the proxies attached to Bolton's shares were exercised to against the resolutions, Bolton's company having earlier sold the proxy rights for $4.5 million to
Thiess-
John Holland Group
The John Holland Group is an infrastructure, building, rail and transport business operating in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Melbourne, it is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction.
History
The company was founded in ...
and the contractor for the Airport Link project. Therefore, the special resolution fell short of the required 75% vote to pass and BrisConnections was allowed to continue operating under its current form.
In May, 70% (278 million) of outstanding shares
defaulted on the second $1 instalment payment. Some shareholders transferred their shares off market to false identities, such as
Humphrey B. Bear
''Humphrey B. Bear'' is a fictional character first created in an Australian children's television series called ''Here's Humphrey'', which first went to air in 1965. Its fictional character namesake is an icon of Australian children's televis ...
, in order to avoid payment. An auction of shares in default failed to attract a bidder. In June, BrisConnections commenced legal action to recover the unpaid moneys. With Brisconnections launching legal claims against defaulting investors, controversial businessman
Jim Byrnes postured as a champion of small investors. The controversy featured prominently in Brisbane newspapers: The name 'BrisConnections' was played upon as a 'con', the project and ensuing farce being dubbed by the media as 'BrisCon'. In October, BrisConnections notified ASX it would stop pursuing defaulting investors.
By early December 2009, the share price of the second $1 installments had collapsed to 0.1c. With little other interest in the "
toxic
Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...
" stock at this time, the chief executive officer, Ray Wilson, paid $10 for 5,000 shares. Two other directors of BrisConnections also purchased share parcels of a similar size, helping to raise the share price to 0.5c by mid-December, however the share price had again collapsed to 0.1c by year's end.
On 13 November 2012, BrisConnections was suspended from trading indefinitely, to pursue talks with lenders. On 19 February 2013, BrisConnections go into voluntary administration owing more than the value of the asset The board called in McGrathNicol as administrators and PPB Advisory as receivers for the $3.5 billion debt owed to a syndicate of banks led by
ANZ
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
** ...
. Other banks in the syndicate include: BNP Paribas, United Overseas Bank, KBC Finance Ireland, Societe Generale, UniCredit, BOS International, Depfa Bank, DZ Bank, and Allied Irish Banks.
In November 2015,
Transurban Queensland (of which Transurban owns 62.5%) announced the acquisition of BrisConnections and AirportlinkM7. The acquisition was finalised in April 2016.
Construction
![12-07-15 Airportlink Opening - Fortitude Valley On Ramp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/12-07-15_Airportlink_Opening_-_Fortitude_Valley_On_Ramp.jpg)
The tunnel opened to the public at 11.55 pm on Tuesday, 24 July 2012.
Milestones
*19 May 2008 - State government announced BrisConnections as the preferred bidder for Airport Link
*November 2008 - Official start to project construction
*December 2008 - Drill and blast excavation commenced at Bowen Hills, construction of cut and cover structure at Toombul (Kalinga Park) commences
*March 2009 - First roadheader commenced tunnelling at Truro Street site (mid tunnel point) in Windsor
*April 2009 - Roadheader tunnelling commenced at Federation Street site in Bowen Hills
*May 2009 - 24-hour tunnelling operations commence across the project
*June 2009 - Roadheader tunnelling commences in Kedron
*November 2009 - First
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
(TBM) arrives from Germany for assembly
*March 2010 - Completion of both cut and cover structure and Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) launch box at Toombul,
of tunnels were already dug and 13 roadheader machines (each 18.2 m in diameter and weigh ) in use on tunnels. In the months that followed this rose to 16 roadheader machines.
*18 June 2010 - First mined tunnel breakthrough between Bowen Hills and Lutwyche. Transport Minister Rachael Nolan witnessed the occasion.
*Mid 2010 - First TBM commences tunnelling from Toombul while second TBM arrives from Germany
*Mid 2010 - Second TBM commences tunnelling from Toombul heading west toward Lutwyche
*Early 2011 - Northern Busway tunnelling complete
*Early 2011 - TBMs removed from tunnel shaft at Chalk Street in Lutwyche
*Late 2011 - Airport Roundabout Upgrade complete
*15 July 2012 - Construction complete and public preview walk
*24 July 2012, 11.55 pm - Airport Link opens to public after final safety certification
History
![12-07-15 Airportlink Opening - Southbound](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/12-07-15_Airportlink_Opening_-_Southbound.jpg)
On 17 June 2009, CNI requested that the Coordinator-General evaluate a proposed change to the Airport Link project under section 35C of the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971. Due to the discovery during the first half of 2009 of less than favourable ground conditions in the vicinity of the Kedron ramps, BrisConnections proposed the establishment of a new worksite on vacant land at Rose Street, Wooloowin, between Kent and Park Roads to facilitate improved construction access to the mainline tunnels. A shaft 15 metres in diameter and 42 metres deep would be constructed to launch two of the project’s ‘roadheader’ excavation machines. It is anticipated that the worksite would be in use for up to 29 months, including backfilling and rehabilitation.
In August 2009 the main earthmoving contractor TF Group went into receivership, owing subcontractors as much as $2.8 million. A group of these subcontractors threatened to blockade the project until their outstanding debts were paid.
[Mark Solomons (22 August 2009)]
Truckies threaten road block
''Courier-Mail''. Queensland Newspapers.
On 15 July 2012, the tunnel was opened to registered visitors for a preview walk
named the "Bridge and Tunnel Experience".
Tolls
It was estimated the toll charge per trip would be $4.90 for the entire length between Bowen Hills and Toombul, and $3.75 between Kedron and Toombul, when full tolling commenced in November 2013.
These tolls were set at $4.00 and $3.00 respectively in 2006 and are being increased in line with Brisbane CPI.
The tolls were phased in between July 2012 and November 2013, with an initial one-month toll free period for all users, a further 2 months toll-free for account holders, then followed b
introductory tolls
The tolls are collected via a 'free-flow tolling system', an electronic tolling system based on overhead gantries reading a tag fitted inside vehicles or by taking a photograph of number plates, avoiding the need for vehicles to slow or stop. Motocycles do not need a tag and do not incur a number-plate matching fee. The
Linkt
Linkt is Transurban's e-TAG tolling brand in Australia. Linkt first replaced the Roam Express brand in Sydney in 2017, followed by the go via brand in Queensland in May 2018, and then the Citylink brand (tolling system only) in Melbourne in J ...
system is used. Any other Australian toll road tag will work on the Airport Link toll road.
The motorway has 2 sets of gantries, one set at the southern and another at the northern end. Vehicles entering or exiting midway at Kedron to or from Toombul will therefore only pass one gantry and will pay a partial toll. Vehicles passing both sets of gantries are charged the full toll.
Patronage
Traffic forecaster
Arup, acting for BrisConnections, had predicted 135,000 vehicles a day will use the road one month after its opening. They forecast that it would climb to 160,000 vehicles per day by July 2015 and 291,000 vehicles per day by 2026.
However another forecaster, Veitch Lister Consulting, estimated that traffic would rise to 91,600 vehicles per day by October 2012 but would fall to 70,300 by April 2013 when introductory tolls are introduced and to 53,900 after November 2013 when the full toll becomes effective.
During its first week of operation the tunnel was used by an average 77,320 vehicles each day.
The toll road remained free during its ramp up phase. Average daily patronage for August 2012 was 81,470, with average weekday traffic of 85,862.
This has led some analysts to conclude that its days as a publicly listed company are limited.
In February 2013, when Airport Link went into receivership, the average daily traffic using the road was 47,802 vehicles.
Safety
Brisconnections, the operator of the tunnel, claim the tunnel is the safest in Australia.
A speed limit of 80 km/h along the main tunnel motorway and 60 km/h on exit and entry ramps has been set. Variable message signs 120 metres apart within the tunnel are used to convey important information. Six fixed speed cameras in 10 possible locations are in operation. There are 500 CCTV cameras, which can be viewed on 46 individually controlled monitors in the control room. An underground loudspeaker system is available if needed. Micro-heat detectors are able to measure temperature every six minutes and fire sprinklers that can deliver 600 millimetres an hour of water, are claimed to be able to put out a major fire in minutes. There is a 24-hour control room at Kedron with two operators and a supervisor.
See also
*
Airport Link, Sydney
The Airport Link (also known as the Airport Line or New Southern Railway) is a railway line in Australia connecting Sydney Airport to the Central Business District and the south-western suburbs of Sydney. With the exception of Wolli Creek, ...
*
Road transport in Brisbane
The road transport in Brisbane, Australia, consists of a network of highways, freeways and motorways. Some motorways have Road pricing, tolls applied.
Brisbane is a car dependent city. In 2006, within the South East Queensland region, 83% of ...
*
South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program
The South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2010–2031 (SEQIPP) is produced by the Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning and outlines estimated infrastructure investment across South East Queensland Australia to 2031. ...
*
TransApex
TransApex is a road transport plan devised by Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman in the early 2000s to connect existing motorways and major arterial roads with new transport links and divert cross-city traffic out of the Brisbane CBD. The plan i ...
Notes
External links
Official siteBCC project siteTransLink project site for Northern BuswayForum- AirportLink Forum
{{Road infrastructure in Brisbane
Buildings and structures in Brisbane
Toll roads in Australia
Toll tunnels in Australia
Tunnels in Queensland
Roads in Brisbane
Tunnels completed in 2012
Transport infrastructure completed in 2012
Road tunnels in Australia