Milestone for Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport airport metro as viaduct complete

December 9, 2024

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The Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project has achieved a significant milestone with the completion of more than 3.2 kilometres of elevated viaducts.

The three elevated viaducts, stretching between Orchard Hills and Luddenham, are a key part of the new 23-kilometre metro line, designed to transform travel across Sydney’s greater west. They take the metro line over key locations, including the Warragamba pipelines, Blaxland Creek, and Luddenham Road.

They are a feat of engineering innovation, using advanced techniques including a custom-built underslung 110-tonne temporary beam (UTB) and a 300-tonne crawler crane to lift and align each segment of the viaducts in place.

The construction of the viaducts included:

1101 precast concrete segments, each segment measuring 10.85 metres wide, up to 3.2 metres long, and 2.4 metres high, and weighing up to 65 tonnes
more than 52,000 tonnes of concrete to create these segments
84 towering piers, weighing between 80 and 160 tonnes each and standing as high as 15.3 metres to support the segments, and using 96,250 tonnes of concrete
13 segments meticulously assembled by threading 310 high-tensile cables through 10 ducts in each segment
1108 kilometres of tensioning cable in total used for the project.
more than 2500 workers over 16 months.

The viaduct also includes the base for Luddenham Station, the only station on the metro line constructed on a viaduct.

Set 13.5 metres above ground, Luddenham Station is one of six new stations on the Western Sydney Airport metro line and will serve as a critical connection for passengers travelling to and from the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport.

The Western Sydney Airport metro line is expected to become the backbone of transportation in Greater Western Sydney, connecting communities from St Marys to Bradfield, with the capacity to carry 7740 passengers per hour in each direction.

The new 23-kilometre metro line which once complete, will mean it’ll take passengers five minutes to travel from the airport to Bradfield, approximately 15 minutes from the airport to St Marys and approximately 20 minutes from Bradfield to St Marys where passengers can connect to the rest of Sydney’s rail network.

The impressive viaduct structure is a critical part of the metro alignment between Orchard Hills and Luddenham and has been constructed to take metro services over key locations including the Warragamba pipelines, Blaxland Creek, and Luddenham Road.

This viaduct will be part of a mix of underground tunnels, ground level railway and elevated railway.

In a boost for local jobs, all 1,101 precast concrete segments, which were pieced together to build the structure of this viaduct, were manufactured in Buchanan, 20 minutes outside of Newcastle.

To build the viaduct, more than 2,500 people worked over 16 months with huge machinery to manoeuvre the heavy segments.

The Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project itself has engaged more than 8,868 workers, 54 per cent of whom live in Western Sydney.

Completing the viaduct also included completing the base of Luddenham Station, the only station located on a viaduct 13.5 metres above ground.

Luddenham Station is one of six new stations for the metro railway line that will become a crucial connection for travellers visiting the new international airport.

The next stage of this project will include laying track along the entire 23-kilometre alignment.

For more information about the project, visit sydneymetro.info/westernsydneyairportline.  

Source: NSW Government

Source: © State of New South Wales. For current information go to www.nsw.gov.au.