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Building what Australia had never built before 🎼

When John Holland began construction of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in 1958, there was no local blueprint to follow.

The project would become Australia's first major cable-supported structure of its type and the country's largest purpose-built outdoor performance venue, pushing our team to solve engineering challenges that had never been tackled at this scale before.

The Bowl's distinctive sound shell, which forms the iconic canopy we see today, was fabricated from aluminium-faced plywood sandwich panels suspended between a framework of high-tensile wires.

A massive main cable, slung between two fibreglass and steel masts and anchored deep into the ground on either side, supported 27 smaller cables connected to a huge concrete and steel anchor buried more than 200 feet behind the structure.

The shell needed to be watertight, aerodynamically stable, flexible and acoustically sound. Meeting those requirements led to the development of new construction techniques and collaboration with some of Australia's leading scientific and engineering organisations.

More than six decades on, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl remains one of Melbourne's most recognisable landmarks and is a powerful example of the engineering ingenuity that has helped define John Holland for generations.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #JohnHollandHistory #Engineering #Melbourne

Progress is becoming more visible every day as the Illabo to Stockinbingal section starts to look a lot like a railway 🛤️

Our team has now laid the first section of new rail track on the Illabo to Stockinbingal (I2S) project.

It’s a major milestone on the first greenfield section of @inlandrailofficial, where we’re delivering 39 kilometres of brand-new railway through southern NSW.

Getting to this point took plenty of work during a recent possession, including commissioning the new crossover and signalling infrastructure at Illabo Junction, completing bridge piling at Billabong Creek and successfully unloading rail at Stockinbingal.

Having our Rail Services workforce deliver the track works, while our plant team provided the key plant and equipment, meant we could deliver with certainty.

The successful rail delivery also means approximately 75% of the rail required for the project is now on site, helping build momentum as construction continues.

Once complete, the new line will provide a more efficient route for freight trains, bypassing the Bethungra Spiral and improving connections across the network.

A huge effort from our I2S team as the railway continues to take shape! 👏

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #InlandRail #Rail #Infrastructure #I2S

It takes a talented team to deliver not one, but TWO major New South Wales road projects ahead of schedule 👏

For our teams behind the M7-M12 Integration Project and M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace (Black Hill to Tomago), seeing years of hard work now paying big dividends for commuters is something to be proud of.

The M7-M12 Integration Project is helping connect Western Sydney to its future international airport, while Black Hill to Tomago – delivered alongside our JV partner Gamuda - has removed one of the final major bottlenecks on the M1 between Sydney and Brisbane.

Behind those outcomes are years of planning, smart engineering and complex construction, including Australia's largest incrementally launched curved road bridge on the M7-M12 and the 2.6-kilometre Hunter River viaduct delivered as part of the M1 extension.

They’re yet more examples of our ability to deliver complex road projects while keeping communities moving.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #M7M12Integration #M1MotorwayExtension #Infrastructure #RoadsandBridges

Helping bring a little comfort to children in need 💙

We're proud to support the @superteeproject, an initiative helping make hospital stays a little less daunting for children across Australia.

A team of John Holland volunteers recently rolled up their sleeves to pack 384 Tradie Supertees that will soon make their way to children in hospitals across NSW.

The specially designed medical garments are made to feel like costumes, helping children swap hospital gowns for hi-vis and imagine themselves as builders and tradies while they receive treatment.

They also make it easier for parents and healthcare workers to access medical lines and equipment when needed, bringing comfort, dignity and practicality to the hospital experience.

The team also heard from Jason Sotiris, Founder of Supertee and CEO of the Fair Fight Foundation, who established the organisation after his daughter Angela was diagnosed with cancer.

Along with a Tradie Supertee, each pack included activities for children to enjoy and handwritten messages from our team members.

It’s a small gesture from our volunteers, but one that we hope makes a big difference to children and families when they need it most.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #Supertee

From demolition to installation in just 86 hours! 🏗️🚧

Demolishing a bridge and installing the backbone of its replacement in a single rail possession is no small feat, but that's exactly what our Inland Rail Beveridge to Albury Tranche 2 (B2A T2) team accomplished during a critical rail possession.

The operation began with the controlled demolition of the old Marchbanks Road bridge in Broadford, using specialised equipment to carefully break the structure down into manageable sections for removal and recycling.

More than 3,480 tonnes of material were removed from site before the team began installing the new bridge.

A 650-tonne Demag lattice boom crawler crane was used to lift four 150-tonne girders into position, with John Holland's specialist Lift and Shift team working alongside the delivery team to plan and execute these complex lifts.

Together weighing 600 tonnes and stretching 68 metres in length, they're the largest girders installed on the project and will form the backbone of Victoria's final Inland Rail bridge, helping create the clearance needed for future double-stacked freight trains.

Behind the possession was a true team effort. Our Rail and Infrastructure teams worked together to deliver this critical stage of works on schedule, drawing on our in-house rail services and plant teams to deliver the works on the ground with certainty.

Well done, team! 👏

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #InlandRail #B2AT2 #Rail #Bridges

Another level crossing in Victoria is gone for good – two years ahead of schedule! 🚧

Our North Western Program Alliance (NWPA) team has delivered the new Webster St underpass in Dandenong for our client @levelcrossings, replacing another dangerous and congested level crossing in Melbourne’s southeast.

With a clearance of 5.4m under the rail bridge, the new underpass will help move trucks and heavy vehicles off local streets and out of Dandenong's CBD.

Behind the new underpass was a technically complex program of works, which included relocating one of Melbourne's largest gas supply pipelines and excavating 13 Olympic swimming pools worth of soil to build the new connection.

The team also built a new walking and cycling path along Webster Street that connects to the existing Dandenong Trail and provides safer pedestrian and cycling access under the rail line.

Webster St is the 20th level crossing removed by the NWPA team as part of the Victorian Government’s Level Crossing Removal project since 2017, reflecting nearly a decade of work delivering safer crossings and better connections across Melbourne.

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #NWPA #LevelCrossingRemovalProject #Infrastrcture #VIDARail

We’ve done some seriously heavy lifting at Waterfront Brisbane! 🏗️

Nine jump steel columns now stand above the Waterfront Brisbane site, marking another major milestone for the North Tower podium.

Our team delivered a series of carefully planned lifts to safely install these steel giants, which together weigh more than 430 tonnes and stand up to 25 metres high.

The columns form a key part of the podium structure that will support the next phase of construction.

It's fantastic to see the team's hard work taking shape above ground as Waterfront Brisbane continues to rise!

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #WaterfrontBrisbane #BuildingQueensland

One of the last major bottlenecks between Sydney and Brisbane is now a thing of the past 🛣️

More than a year ahead of schedule, the John Holland Gamuda joint venture has completed the 10-kilometre Black Hill to Tomago section of the M1 extension to Raymond Terrace.

Together with the recently completed northern section (Heatherbrae Bypass), it creates a seamless 15-kilometre connection for motorists coming off the M1 Pacific Motorway at Black Hill through to Raymond Terrace, taking out one of the last major choke points between Sydney and Brisbane.

As part of our scope, we delivered eight bridges including the sleek 2.6-kilometre viaduct that now stretches across the Hunter River and surrounding floodplain.

The viaduct also passes over the Main North Rail Line and the New England Highway, with the works staged to minimise disruptions to rail and road traffic during construction.

A huge credit to our team and project partners for delivering a critical piece of national transport infrastructure ahead of schedule! 👏

#JohnHollandTransformingLives #M1Extension #Infrastructure