Part of my project’s scope is covering the defects from John Holland’s previous project next to Sydney Airport. The liability period ends next month so Transport for New South Wales (the client) are pushing a few through before time runs out.
An element of this project was constructing a railway bridge in the airport’s flight path. I have included a few photos from the project to show the staging design and significant construction restrictions.
Staging of the rail bridge and underpass constructionCross section showing the limitations from the runway. The obstacle limiting surface was just above the height of the trains. Before any crane went up approval was needed from Sydney Airport as the run way had to be closed. If the airport required the east-west runway the crane would have to be lowered.The rail bridge is supported on piles which had to be driven up to 29m below the rail level. The piling apparatus could not be quickly lowered and so had to be able to move north (left in image) out of the flight path if requested by Sydney Airport. Once piling started this was not possible until depth was achieved, the dates for this had to carefully planned with the Airport.The rail bridge with the diverted rail line. The rail line was operational throughout the project.Once the rail line was switched onto the new bridge the underpass was excavated below. This exposed the piles. As the underpass reached ground water level screw piles were placed (to the left of the wheel barrow) due to the risk of ground heave on the road.The bridge now
If this was being done now it would be much easier… I rarely see any aircraft.
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 