Station ‘latest and greatest’ in Perth

After an 84-week construction period, the station building will be finished in the next couple of months and the Public Transport Authority will spend much of next year connecting the station to the rail lines and signal systems.

On site last week, the Times saw how much had been done since our last visit in July when the roof was being installed.

Construction company Coo- per and Oxley’s site manager Ron Richards said he had about 50 people working on site, in tasks ranging from laying asphalt on the carparks to laying tiles inside, to fitting lights on street poles and ceilings.

‘All the plumbing is in, all the wiring is done,’ Mr Richards said.

‘In seven weeks, we are finished ” it was just a hole in the ground when we first came (in mid-2012).’

Workers have also been sliding thick sheets of honeycomb plastic with a translucent ocean blue hue, called Danpalon, between the main roof sections.

As a result, natural light spilled on to the paved platforms below, which felt cooler than the balmy outdoor temperatures on the hottest day last month, October 30.

At a recent Brighton Estate Residents Association meeting, the Public Transport Authority’s station project manager Ben Amrom said the project team first got together in March 2010, and organised a tender for the design of the station, won by Coniglio Ains-worth Architects.

Mr Amrom said the design process took 77 weeks, finishing in December 2011, and at the time the PTA had also negotiated with the developer to provide more land for car parks.

He said a construction tender was awarded to Cooper and Oxley in the first half of 2012 and work began by mid-year.

‘This is the latest station we are providing,’ he said.

‘The latest station is the greatest and will deliver the most comfortable environment to wait for the train.’

The station will have one permanent carpark and two temporary ones on land leased from Satterley Property Group, providing 930 car bays altogether.

Read more here.