Around 3,000 retaining wall piles have been completed on the METRONET Yanchep Rail Extension Project. To give you some idea of the scale of this, if we stacked them end-to-end they would span 45 kilometres – more than the distance between Perth and Alkimos!

At the peak of installation, seven piling rigs were operating onsite to drill the vertical holes that accommodate the steel cages and concrete, which form the completed column or pile. More than 40,000 cubic metres of concrete have been poured to construct the piles.

With retaining wall piling nearing completion, teams will be constructing the capping beams to hold the row of piles in place to form the retaining walls. Over 1,100 tonnes of steel reinforcement will be used for the capping beams before another 6,100 cubic metres of concrete is poured to construct the beams themselves. 

Material is then gradually excavated to expose sections of retaining wall and concrete is sprayed onto the walls to form a flat surface – a process known as shotcreting. When completed, the walls will stretch from just below the existing ground level to the new rail level to enable rail installation. 

Project Manager Stephen Nicolay couldn’t be prouder of his team for delivering this milestone. 

“It’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication from everyone, and reaching this milestone means we are one step closer to installing track and rail equipment,” Stephen said.