It was a big week – and an even bigger weekend – for massive bridge beams in Dandenong South.

An epic total 39 bridge beams have now been installed at two level crossing removal sites at South Gippsland Highway and Greens Road, bringing faster freight movements one step closer through what is a critical manufacturing hub for Victoria.

At South Gippsland Highway, Dandenong South, work is powering ahead to build a new road bridge over the rail line and upgrade the intersection at Princes Highway, removing the level crossing forever.

Over the space of a single weekend, crews have worked around the clock installed an epic 17 concrete beams, each weighing in at more than 30 tonnes.

Over at nearby Greens Road, just 1.7 kilometres away, the level crossing is being removed with a rail bridge over the road. At that site more than 22 massive beams were lifted in to place over the course of the week since Tuesday (16 February).

Removing these two level crossings will create significant flow-on benefits to the economy through a key manufacturing heartland, boosting the movement of freight through the area and relieving congestions for a combined 54,000 vehicles per day.

Dozens of large scale logistics and warehouse operations – including Amazon – are based within five kilometres of these crossings.

The Dandenong industrial precinct as a whole is responsible for around 10 per cent of Victoria’s manufacturing output and around 60,000 jobs. Melbourne’s south east more broadly provides 90,000 jobs and almost half of Melbourne’s manufacturing.

All of the beams installed for the South Gippsland Highway and Greens Road level crossing removals were pre-cast at Victorian factories by a company called Westkon, which thanks to the pipeline of infrastructure projects has doubled their workforce in recent years.

These works are part of the Victorian Government’s $15 billion investment on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, set to boost peak hour passenger capacity by 45 percent.

The Greens Road level crossing is being removed as part of the Cranbourne Line Upgrade, which is duplicating eight kilometres’ of track and removing the last four level crossings along the line.

Quotes attributable to Gabrielle Williams, Member for Dandenong

“We’re delivering on our commitment to remove the South Gippsland Highway and Greens Road level crossings – bringing faster freight movements one step closer through Victoria’s biggest manufacturing hub.”

“Dandenong’s Big Build is revitalising local infrastructure, creating more jobs, and making travel faster and easier for both industry and the community.”