The alliance, which comprises Leighton Contractors, WA Limestone and GHD, was selected by Main Roads WA for the project, which will be jointly funded by the federal and WA governments.Ray Sputore, general manager of western region construction for Leighton Contractors, said the design and construction of the project was expected to commence in mid-2009, creating up to 200 new jobs.“The 7km Mandurah Entrance Road is a key piece of infrastructure and we welcome the federal government’s decision to bring forward funding for the project. It will link the state’s largest-ever road project, the Kwinana Freeway extension-Forrest Highway, to a major regional centre,” he said.The Mandurah Entrance Road is expected to open for traffic by mid-2010.Last month, a consortium including Leighton Contractors was awarded a $1.1 billion contract to develop the Queensland government’s South East Queensland Public Private Partnership Schools project. The construction work is worth $245 million to Leighton. Also in April, a joint venture between Leighton and Macmahon was awarded a contract valued at more than $500 million to develop BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s Rapid Growth Project 5 rail project in the Pilbara.In March, Leighton subsidiary HWE Mining secured a $400 million, five-year contract extension with BHP Billiton to provide mining services at the company’s Orebody 23/25 until June 2013.Leighton chief executive Wal King said this week the company’s work in hand at March 31, 2009, stood at $36.5 billion, up from $28.1 billion at the same time last year.
