File:Sydney Metro Presents A Bridge to the Future

Description
This is the inside story of a new landmark bridge helping deliver Sydney’s transport future – and an engineering first for Australia.

In the city’s north west, the new 36 kilometre Sydney Metro Northwest railway line opens in the first half of 2019.

A crucial element of the project is the 270 metre cable-stayed railway bridge over busy Windsor Road at Rouse Hill.

The bridge is the key link between Sydney Metro’s operational headquarters and train stabling yard and the rest of the city’s new metro railway system – which will have 31 metro stations by 2024.

The bridge is the first cable-stayed railway bridge built on a curve in Australia.

As bridge designer John Anderson says in this special behind-the-scenes presentation on how the bridge was designed then delivered: “We didn’t have the option to say, ‘sorry but we don’t want the curve!’”

The bridge was a design solution to community feedback and means any future upgrade of the major road intersection beneath it will not be impacted by the new metro railway.

The bridge deck is made up of 88 massive concrete segments each weighing between 70 and 140 tonnes.

The delicate engineering operation to put them in place occurred 7 metres above ground and mainly at night, resulting in minimal disruption to traffic.

In turn, the bridge deck is supported by 127 steel cables which stretch 173 kilometres.

The bridge’s two towers, which reach 45 metres above Windsor Rd, were installed in May 2017 then each filled with 336 tonnes of concrete.

Then, 16 cable pipes – the longest 62 metres – were installed from each tower to the deck. The pipes hold 127 steel cables which support the deck.

It took about seven weeks to tension all the cables, with the bridge being progressively lifted off the temporary support columns during the process.

Delivered by Salini Impregilo, the bridge and the 4 kilometre elevated skytrain viaduct which run up to it are the most visible parts of Sydney Metro Northwest, the rest of which is mostly deep under Sydney in twin 15km railway tunnels.

In July 2018, the bridge was awarded the Global Best Project Award for the railway sector by US construction magazine Engineering News-Record, chosen by an independent jury of industry professionals with extensive international experience and honouring construction and design excellence around the world.