Prestigious annual event
The Australian leg of the prestigious FIA Formula 1® World Championship takes place each March. With an estimated 300,000 spectators and a substantial global audience, it boosts the Victorian economy by up to $100M each year.
In 2009, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation required a new engineering project manager for the delivery and management of the Australian Grand Prix event overlay.
Event infrastructure expertise
APP has performed key management roles in a large number of high-profile events, including:
- Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
- Brisbane 2001 Goodwill Games,
- Sydney’s Volvo Ocean Race stopover
- Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games
Recognising this extensive experience in building and managing large-scale, complex sporting event infrastructure, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation appointed us to provide engineering project management services.
Complex event infrastructure
Since 2010 we have worked with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, to construct and remove a 5.3km temporary race track in the midst of Melbourne’s busy Albert Park.
This infrastructure project is one of the world’s largest and most complex, requiring more than 2,000 personnel and 300,000 man hours to build:
- 10 grandstands
- 27 km of mesh fencing
- Thousands of concrete safety barriers
- Temporary catering, toilets and overpasses to cater for more than 200,000 attendees.
To add to the complexity of the project, the park and its roads remain open to the public during the entire nine-week build and one month dismantle periods.
Achievement
Each year APP delivers a world-class product for the Australian Grand Corporation – on time, on budget and with respect and care for Albert Park and its park-goers.
We also manage an annual capital works programme, to ensure that the park and its infrastructure will continue to stay up to date with the requirements of the race and the patrons. This focuses on:
- Upgrading temporary services
- Maintaining the track surface
- Key IT and technical upgrades
Andrew Westacott, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation's Chief Executive, says he is constantly impressed at the way in which APP continues to add value to the staging of the Formula 1® Australian Grand Prix every year.
