Preston Workshops Project
Project summary
The Preston Workshops Redevelopment Project was the largest tram depot redevelopment ever undertaken in Australia and was delivered over four stages.
Funded by Public Transport Victoria, the original workshops on the 18-acre site on St Georges Road were transformed into a state-of-the-art facility to support the heavy maintenance of existing tram fleets in addition to the new generation E-Class trams.
The site contained several iconic heritage-listed buildings, two of which were modernised and tastefully converted into new depot facilities for up 220 drivers. This new depot now services Routes 11 West Preston to Victoria Harbour, 86 RMIT Bundoora to Waterfront City, and 96 East Brunswick to Acland Street St Kilda.
…what we did on this project
Touch Projects were engaged in managing two of the key stages of the landmark Preston Workshops Project. Our role included managing the design consultants and all stakeholders as the designs evolved, and managing the Head Contractor once they were appointed to this project. Our team participated in key areas in the main tender evaluation stage, as well as drove key procurements exercises for ancillary building items that formed part of the Head Contractors final build.
Throughout the two-year construction period, the functions of tram servicing, heavy maintenance, collision repairs, E-class tram commissioning and stores function seamlessly continued across this site.
Our role included the function of Decanting Manager for the entire project duration. This included engaging heavily with all teams across the site in order to relocate people, functions and materials to keep construction going without impact operations. Given the size of trams, size/weight of tram spares, sensitive componentry etc, the decanting role was often challenging and required innovation and new thinking from both our team and the Head Contractor.
Project Administration
The project team grew as the project mobilised, and the client advised there was a need for two full-time resources to perform this function. This small team was embedded within the Yarra Trams team through to project completion.
Defects Resolution and Project Closure
Touch Projects were later engaged to manage defects rectification, variation negotiation, and settle any contract omissions or remaining contractual disputes. Given the multiples project stages, this took an additional 18 months to resolve through considerable post-completion negotiations.
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