Bruce Highway (Cooroy to Curra) Section D

The $1.162 billion Section D: Woondum to Curra project is a new 26km, 4-lane divided highway between the existing Bruce Highway interchange at Woondum, south of Gympie and Curra.

Visualisation video of final design

Video Transcript

Benefits

• Increases traffic flow
• Increases capacity
• Improves safety
• Improves flood immunity
• Reduces travel time
• Contributes to economy
• Contributes to regional growth

Key features

• Improved traffic flow, as the new highway avoids 53 intersections (including 9 signalised intersections) and 106 property accesses which contributed to safety and congestion issues on the old Bruce Highway.
• Improved safety and capacity through the separation of long-distance traffic from local traffic. This has reduced traffic volumes on the highway travelling through Gympie.
• Greatly reduced head-on crashes by providing a divided 4-lane highway.
• Significantly improved flood immunity compared with the old Bruce Highway, which has traditionally experienced frequent closures in the Gympie CBD and north and south of Gympie due to flooding.
• Improved travel times by having the new highway posted at 110km/h (the old Bruce Highway is 80km/h and 60km/h through Gympie).

Funding

This project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments. Investment ID 686965

Current status

The Gympie Bypass was delivered in 2 major construction contracts:

• Contract 1: Woondum interchange to Sandy Creek Road (Bielby Holdings and BMD Group Joint Venture)
• Contract 2: Sandy Creek Road to Curra (CPB Contractors)

There are 42 bridges at 23 locations along the Gympie Bypass. More than 6 million cubic metres of earth was moved from cuts to fill areas. This raised the new section of highway to a level that has increased flood immunity to withstand a 1-in-100-year flood event.

Major construction began in October 2020, with the new highway opening to traffic on 16 October 2024. 

Woondum interchange looking north (existing Bruce Highway on left - new Bruce Highway under construction on right)

Six Mile Creek bridges

Deep Creek bridges

New Flood Road interchange

 

An all-movements interchange at Flood Road caters for locals and industry, enabling heavy vehicles to access commercial and industrial areas east and west of the new highway.

New Gympie interchange

An all movements interchange at Gympie Connection Road caters for commuters travelling to Gympie or the Cooloola Coast from the new highway. Traffic signals are located at each exit ramp and entry ramp intersection with Gympie Connection Road to manage safe flow of traffic between the new highway and the local road network.

New Curra interchange

An all movements interchange just north of Curra connects the new 4-lane highway with the existing 2-lane Bruce Highway. The interchange is north of the existing Harvey Siding Road and Bruce Highway intersection. It has local connections to Harvey Siding and Ashfords roads.

Drone video of construction of the Six Mile Creek bridge: July 2021

Video description

This video shows the following scenes:

View from a drone looking south along the construction site of the Gympie bypass project and directly onto bridge construction of the Six Mile Creek bridge.

The drone flies south over the bridge piling works and a large crane.

Environmental erosion and sediment ponds can be seen to the right.

The drone flies over Six Mile Creek which is a sensitive environmental area. The 250m long bridge will span this creek which is flood prone.

At the southern end of the bridge site excavators can be seen moving dirt, and footage shows bridge piles under construction.

The view is then up the wide highway alignment showing where the Gympie bypass will travel once complete.

 

Bruce Highway (Cooroy to Curra) Section D—Earthworks update: September 2022

Video description

This video shows the following scenes. 

First section is vision looking south then north of mining equipment such as 777’s (large mining dump trucks) carting earthworks within the Gympie bypass corridor. In the background is piling works on the bridges under construction. It includes a label that reads ‘In total over 6 million m3 of earth is being moved’.

The second section is a drone video looking south towards the new highway corridor showing all the different types of machinery required to undertake the bulk earthworks such as Moxie’s, excavators, dozers, scrapers and water trucks. It includes a label that reads ‘That’s about 20,000 m3 of earth moved a day’.

The third section is drone video shot above the new 260m long Six Mile Creek bridge site and shows the 777’s carting earth. It includes a label that reads ‘That takes a lot of hands and specialist equipment’.

The final section is drone video looking south towards the North Coast Rail Line. A train travels through the bridge site where the new Bruce Highway is being constructed over the rail line. The shot also shows the completed pavement/bitumen that has been laid on a completed section of earthworks. It includes a label that reads ‘To build the bypass high enough to withstand a one-in-100 year flood event’.

Bruce Highway (Cooroy to Curra) Section D-Time lapse of Flood Road interchange construction: 27 March 2023

Video Transcript

[ On screen text: Bruce Highway Upgrade - Cooroy to Curra, Gympie Bypass time lapse of Flood Road interchange construction ]

[ The time lapse video spans over 18 months and shows the construction of the Flood Road interchange, bridge and roundabouts. ]

[ During the video, the progress shows a clear grassed site, it continues onto earth works being moved, then a crane assists in laying the concrete bridge girders. ]

[ Once the girders are installed it shows the asphalt pavement being laid and landscaping occurring around and in the roundabouts then the interchange is complete. ]

[ On screen text: (search icon) Cooroy to Curra - Section D (Gympie Bypass) Australian Government coat of arms (left), Queensland Government coat of arms (right) ]