The joint venture of Leighton, Dragados and Samsung has been selected as the preferred contractor to design and construct Sydney’s $5 billion New M5 Motorway. The New M5 tunnel, Stage 2 of WestConnex, Australia’s largest integrated transport and urban revitalisation project, is being delivered by Sydney Motorway Corporation (SMC), on behalf of the NSW Government.

The New M5 will run via tunnel from the existing M5 East at Kingsgrove to a new interchange at St Peters, improving east‐west corridor access between the Sydney CBD, Port Botany and Sydney Airport area and the South West.

The project will deliver 9 km of two‐lane twin tunnels with a capacity to operate three lanes in the future, motorway to motorway connections to the King Georges Road Interchange Upgrade at Beverly Hills, and a new interchange at St Peters. The twin tunnels will have a height of 5.3 m, reducing the risk of over-height truck incidents.

Subject to completion of the project’s approval process, major works are expected to commence in mid‐2016 and the New M5 tunnel is scheduled to open to traffic in late 2019. WestConnex is being delivered in three stages, with final completion scheduled for 2023. Visit http://www.westconnex.com.au/  and http://www.leightoncontractors.com.au/. 38/15.