Bus Depot Capital Works Program

The $45 million program included the construction of new facilities at Heatherton, Sunshine West and Thomastown. These state-of-the-art facilities have raised the bar in delivering efficient and sustainable bus operations. 

In addition to providing new workplace accommodation for over 400 people, the three new facilities bring improved servicing functionality, more environmentally friendly plant and equipment, and more sustainable design with the introduction of large rainwater harvesting capability at each site, solar technology and other green initiatives.

Touch Projects was engaged to assist Public Transport Victoria (PTV) and Transdev with the delivery of the three new bus depots. The careful selection of each site was crucial, given the number of bus routes that were to operate from each location. It was important to minimise the amount of dead running for buses at the beginning and end of each route. In addition, close consideration was also given to minimising noise and amenity impacts to neighbouring residents and businesses.

The Touch Projects team led the project’s key phases including site selection, functional design, tender evaluation, construction administration and site supervision through to defect rectification and close-out. 

There were multiple issues and risks that had to be managed in order to obtain necessary approvals from local councils, VicRoads, the EPA and other agencies. Site contamination was an obstacle that could not be avoided at one location, which required careful and delicate negotiation with adjacent land owners, council, the EPA, Yarra Valley Water and the head contractor. A workable solution was brokered between all parties to ensure that contamination was eliminated with minimal financial impact to the project.

These three depots underpinned PTV’s strategy to deliver bus services to previously non-serviced locations in selected areas, improve service efficiency, and enhance depot operations with favourable ESD credentials.