Geoquest Australia is driving the nation’s freight and transport connectivity forward with a full suite of structural and geosynthetic rail infrastructure solutions.
With $17.1 billion in Federal Budget investment committed to road and rail projects over the next decade, confidence in Australia’s transport infrastructure pipeline has never been stronger.
Positioned as a one-stop partner for rail infrastructure delivery, Geoquest brings together deep technical expertise and integrated geotechnical solutions that keep projects moving — from design to manufacturing and beyond.
As Riccardo Musella, Managing Director – Geoquest Australia explains, major investment nationally has coincided with an expansion of the company’s offerings in rail.
“There’s been massive and historic investment in rail in the past few years. But for us, rail has been a strong focus for some time,” Musella says. “Rail has long been a core and very important aspect of the company’s offering.”
Geoquest Australia is constantly expanding its range of solutions, designed for rail infrastructure applications.
From structurally efficient MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) walls and precast retaining systems to custom tunnels, rail platforms, and drainage options, Geoquest Australia’s solutions are designed to answer the call throughout the entirety of the project cycle.
Take the company’s precast elements for example. Whether it’s TechSpan concrete arches, safety barriers, noise walls, rail platforms, or bridge abutments, Geoquest Australia provides a suite of options designed for installation with minimal disruption – offsite manufacturing allows for improved site safety and efficiency.
The company also provides geosynthetic and drainage solutions, including high-performance drainage layers under ballast, erosion control systems and other geosynthetic materials that provide enhanced rail longevity, stability, and water management.
And this is just a small snippet of what Geoquest delivers in the rail space.
Nationwide Projects
In the past 12-24 months alone, Geoquest Australia has supplied products and project expertise to some of the largest and most nationally significant rail projects.
This includes the Byford Rail Extension, part of the major METRONET infrastructure program in Western Australia. Geoquest Australia supplied retaining walls, with towering precast panels and other precast components, such as railway platforms and barriers, to help support new station and track alignments as part of the program.
Another is the Bell to Preston Level Crossing Removals, one of several works that the company is contributing to as part of the Victorian Level Crossing Removal Project. Alongside key rail infrastructure projects in Queensland, such as Cross River Rail in Brisbane.
Each project presents its own unique set of challenges. But Musella says Geoquest Australia is yet to encounter one that it can’t handle.
“One of the common characteristics with rail work is that they’ve got very specific and non-flexible timelines,” Musella says. “Line shutdowns can cause major disruptions to the community, so it’s essential that we’re able to hit those demanding timelines. Our vertical integration as a company plays a big hand in that.”
Geoquest Australia’s internal structure allows the company to customise designs, manufacture in-house, and provide a range of proprietary systems tailored to each project’s needs.
“Our internal structure is very flexible. Because we provide fully customised designs, we can foresee potential issues and design in a way that overcomes those potential challenges when encountered,” Musella says.
“We are very vertically integrated because we also manufacture internally. We can adjust the design and production in a way that best suits the project, compared to a company that does the design, but doesn’t have the manufacturing capabilities.”
Being a vertically integrated business also reduces the need for multiple subcontractors, streamlining project management for the client.
“The other good thing is that many of these products are complementary. So, on one specific job, clients don’t need to secure different options and companies, they can rely on us as trusted providers,” Musella says. “From a contractual point of view, it’s a simple conversation with a single company, rather than several touchpoints. This is a big help, when it comes to sub-contractor co-ordination and project management, especially on large-scale projects.”
Taking the next step
With the company offering a wide variety of products and services for rail projects, Geoquest Australia is continuing to expand the company’s range.
“We have a more comprehensive range of products than ever before,” Musella says. “One area of interest for us is the solutions that are yet to be heavily implemented in Australia. There are a number of precast designs, for example, that have been produced by our sister companies, such as TechWall and T-Wall.
“These are just some of the products that we see as ideal alternatives that could benefit the Australian market.”
Backed by five decades of experience and a constantly adapting, evolving and improving product range, Geoquest Australia’s innovation in the rail sector is here to stay, says Musella.
Close-up: Geoquest Australia rail projects
Read about some of Geoquest’s Rail Infrastructure Projects
South Geelong to Warun Ponds Rail Duplication Project, Victoria
Sustainable First with 50% SCM concrete at Ison Road Rail Overpass
Adelaide’s Ovingham Level Crossing Removal with TechWall
Image captions:
Pictured top: Webb Street Station, Victoria
Middle image: Pictured right is Warun Ponds to Geelong railway line, pictured centre is a close-up of a blue Metro train in Victoria passing through Webb Street Station and pictured left is Bells Street Preston Railway line, all sitting atop Geoquest MSE retaining walls faced with its precast concrete facing panels.
Bottom images: Rail infrastructure geotechnical and precast concrete solutions provided by Geoquest Australia, including retaining walls, MSE, rail platforms and station stairs. Pictured is METRONET Byford railway line walls, stairs at METRONET Armadale rail station and Webb Street, Narre Warren, Level Crossing Removal Project in Victoria.
