AAP
A joint venture including Leighton Holdings Ltd has been selected as the preferred designer and builder for a $698 million upgrade project on the Pacific Highway in NSW.
Leighton Contractors and private contractor Fulton Hogan were named by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) as the preferred proponent for the Sapphire to Woolgoolga project on the state's mid-north coast on Wednesday.
The joint venture partners will now work with the RTA to finalise the commercial arrangements for the project and execute the project deed in the next few weeks, which will determine the project's value for Leighton.
Construction is expected to start in the second half of calendar 2010 and take about three years.
"Our experience on other Pacific Highway alliance projects now underway at Ballina and Kempsey means we are ideally placed to work with Fulton Hogan to achieve best value for money and excellent results on the Sapphire to Woolgoolga upgrade," Leighton Contractors general manager of NSW/ACT construction Peter Handel said.
The Woolgoolga upgrade will involve the construction of dual lane carriageways, five new interchanges, 30 bridges or similar structures and roads for local traffic and five new interchanges.
