Engineering a Smarter Eastern Freeway: Douglas Partners’ Role in the EBTA Upgrade
Eastern Freeway Upgrade: Douglas Partners’ Geotechnical Role | EBTA
Client: EBTA
Project Type: Transport
Unlocking Melbourne’s North-East
The Eastern Freeway – Burke to Tram Alliance (EBTA) marks the most significant overhaul of Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway since the 1990s. Part of the $26 billion North East Link Program, this project will reduce congestion, streamline freight routes, and enhance public transport and community connections throughout the city’s northeast.
Douglas Partners is supporting principal contractor Laing O’Rourke and alliance members Symal, WSP, Arcadis, and Major Road Projects Victoria, bringing multi-disciplinary expertise in geotechnical engineering, environmental consulting, and construction phase services to help deliver this city-defining initiative.
Scope and Strategic Importance
Once complete in 2028, the EBTA upgrade will deliver six additional freeway lanes between Burke and Tram Roads, including express lanes and intelligent transport systems to ease congestion. A major new interchange at Bulleen will provide seamless access to the North East Link tunnels, while the first seven kilometres of the Eastern Busway will improve public transport reliability and frequency.
This upgrade also includes:
- A reconfiguration of the Doncaster Road interchange
- Over 8 kilometres of upgraded noise walls
- Newly landscaped public spaces
- Extensive shared user paths and footbridges that will reconnect local communities
Enhancements to the Koonung Creek Reserve and the Valda Wetlands form part of a broader strategy to integrate urban design with environmental sensitivity.
Douglas Partners’ Role in EBTA
Douglas Partners has been involved in the EBTA package from its early stages, providing a comprehensive suite of services — from tender support and field investigations to permanent structure design and construction services.
During the geotechnical site investigation phase, our teams supplemented the previously completed 771 legacy boreholes and CPTs, complemented by 193 new Douglas boreholes totalling 3,584 metres of drilling, and 208 cone penetration tests (CPTs) spanning 2,523 metres of testing. These were supported by 3206 rock and 1272 soil laboratory tests and the production of 7 factual reports, offering detailed insight into subsoil conditions. Environmental fieldwork included 179 environmental boreholes (including 12 well installations for landfill gas and/or groundwater), followed by 18 environmental reports, ensuring alignment with regulatory and contamination management frameworks.
Geotechnical Design for Permanent Structures
Our geotechnical design team, drawing from offices in Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane and Perth, has been responsible for developing foundation solutions for a wide range of structures, including bridges, retaining walls, flood walls, gantries and barriers. The designs incorporate bored cast-in-situ piles, CFA piles, driven precast and ductile iron pipe piles, with pile selection tailored to ground conditions and loading requirements.
Spread footing designs were developed for viaducts and other structural components, while soil nail walls and reinforced soil structures were designed for earth retention across several sections of the corridor. Slope stability assessments were undertaken along the Koonung Creek corridor and for new cuttings, supported by a significant volume of numerical modelling to evaluate retaining wall performance and additional loading on existing arch culverts.
Settlement analysis also formed a critical part of the geotechnical design package, particularly for embankments constructed over deep alluvial soils. To support transparency and collaboration, investigation data was spatially presented in QGIS and OpenLayers, and 3D geological models were developed in Leapfrog.
To date, more than 150 geotechnical design reports have been issued,reflecting some of the significant geotechnical work undertaken for the project.
Environmental and Waste Management Advice
In parallel with geotechnical services, Douglas Partners has provided targeted environmental advice covering desktop studies, asbestos assessments, landfill gas assessments, and waste classification reporting. Our team also undertook reuse assessments for site-won fill to ensure earthworks efficiency while remaining compliant with Victorian EPA guidelines. These assessments have informed safe material management strategies during bulk earthworks and construction.
Supporting Construction Phase Delivery
Our work continues on the ground, with construction phase services ramping up as delivery progresses. These include the inspection of bored piles, soil nail installations, batter slopes, subgrade preparation, and foundation excavations. Our engineers are also reviewing monitoring data and responding to a high volume of design-related Requests for Information (RFIs) to support real-time construction decision-making.
Infrastructure Delivered Through EBTA
The project includes a range of civil and structural elements, such as 11 new road viaducts, 1 spill-through widening of an existing viaduct, 4 shared user path (SUP) overpass bridges, and 3 SUP underpass bridges. Additional structures include 3 road box culverts, the extension and protection of an existing arch culvert, and the installation of 5.8 kilometres of retaining walls, 0.6 kilometres of flood walls, 8.7 kilometres of noise walls, and 30 kilometres of road barriers. Intelligent transport systems will be supported by 90 new gantry and ITS structures along the corridor.
A Shared National Effort
Douglas Partners’ contribution to EBTA represents a coordinated national effort — our geotechnical and environmental professionals across five states have collaborated to deliver large volumes of high-quality technical documentation. This project exemplifies our ability to respond to the scale, complexity and multi-disciplinary demands of modern transport infrastructure.
Building Long-Term Benefits
The EBTA upgrade, together with the North East Link tunnels and M80 Ring Road completion, is expected to remove 15,000 trucks per day from local roads, save commuters up to 35 minutes per trip, and support the creation of over 12,000 jobs. By improving movement, safety, and connectivity, this project will reshape mobility in Melbourne’s northeast for decades to come.
Douglas Partners is proud to contribute to these transformative outcomes through our engineering precision, environmental responsibility and practical experience.
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Douglas Partners continues to deliver the geotechnical and environmental solutions for Australia’s most ambitious infrastructure programs. If you’d like to discuss your project needs, get in touch with us.