Case Study: Queensland Department of Main Roads (QDMR) achieves up to 23% alignment construction cost savings with Trimble Alignment Planning

Trimble Alignment Planning Toowoomba Western Section Bypass

Trimble’s Alignment Planning system was used by the Queensland Department of Main Roads (QDMR) to re-evaluate the 22 km Western Section of the Toowoomba Bypass, a vital freight route with a narrowly defined corridor and completed environmental approvals. The challenge was to improve alignments within tight ±300 m limits, coordinate the middle 12 km with a proposed high‑speed rail alignment, and respect urban/no‑go zones while benchmarking against conventional CADD-derived alignments.

QDMR broke the corridor into three sections and applied the Trimble Quantm optimization, which generated and audited alternatives to meet grade, radii and community constraints. The result was significant construction cost savings in each section (Northern: $26.56M, −18%; Centre: $35.00M, −25%; Southern: $9.313M, −41%) and an overall 11% reduction in alignment construction cost, along with improved alignment quality and compliance with project constraints.

Queensland Department of Main Roads (QDMR)