FREE-FLOWING THROUGH
ALBION PARK RAIL A $630 MILLION BYPASS IS BEING BUILT BY TRANSPORT FOR NSW THROUGH ALBION PARK RAIL TO CREATE A SEAMLESS LINK FROM SYDNEY TO THE SOUTH COAST AND RETURN A LOCAL ROAD TO RESIDENTS.
T
he Albion Park Rail Bypass will form the missing link to complete a highstandard road connecting Sydney to Bomaderry, NSW. The road through Albion Park Rail is currently shared by freight, tourists and local traffic and is the last town along the Princes Motorway between Sydney and Bomaderry to be bypassed. At 9.8 kilometres long and featuring 13 bridges, the $630 million project will look to separate local and statewide traffic streams to alleviate congestion. The project includes connections to the existing Princes Motorway at Dapto and Oak Flats, a new interchange at the Illawarra Highway and Tongarra Road and incorporates a number of other safety and environmental initiatives. CHOOSING THE ALIGNMENT Over the next 30 years, 30,000 new homes are planned for the area and Transport for NSW Albion Park Rail Bypass Project Manager Scott Fayers says this residential development will only exacerbate congestion in the area. “At the moment we have a lot of congestion in the morning and afternoon peaks, and around holiday periods that will get worse with the extra traffic from residential areas. That is the key driver for the bypass,” Mr. Fayers says. In addition, flooding is a concern along the current Illawarra Highway. “Past records show on average the highway has been shut around six to seven times a year. It has only been shut for short periods but obviously people are concerned about getting to emergency services if the road is closed,” Mr. Fayers says. He says there is an alternative route, but it 18
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brings motorists up to the Princes Highway, which can also be prone to flooding. “The project is on a floodplain, so we have consulted with local councils that have flood models and undertaken detailed flood modelling, given that we are designing in a number of complex catchments,” Mr. Fayers says. When choosing an alignment for the bypass throughout 2013, the team was met with many challenges such as flooding, impacts on residents and traffic and working with a neighbouring regional airport and existing utilities. “Shellharbour City Council has plans to expand its regional airport for the future, so we had to work closely with them, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Air Services Australia to make sure we controlled or mitigated any impact,” Mr. Fayers says. “The interaction of the flooding risk and the airport meant one was stopping us from going up and the other from going down, so in some places there were narrow windows for us to work in.” In the design phase between 2013 and 2018, the team worked on mitigating risks particularly during the bridge design. As a result, some of the sign and light heights had to be reduced to avoid any impact between planes and infrastructure in the approach to the runway. “This challenge actually changed the thickness of our bridges in a number of locations to adhere to these project requirements,” Mr. Fayers says. On top of the airport, the surrounding land uses included agriculture, residential, commercial property, the rail line, a power station, large substation and a community sporting complex. Prior to pre-construction, the sporting
complex had to be reconfigured to enable the bypass construction. Mr. Fayers says the sporting complex was important to the community. “If we had taken away the complex without reinstating it, that would have had a big sustainability impact, so we did a lot of work to reconfigure it to enable bypass works,” Mr. Fayers says. In September 2018, the concept design was finalised and pre-construction activities began. The project team chose to complete the project in stages to minimise impacts on businesses and locals in the area and disruption of the traffic flow. The next stage to open is the East-West Link, with expected completion early 2020. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND DESIGN With the majority of earthworks completed in 2019, the Albion Park Rail Bypass project has so far moved five million tonnes of earth, rock and building material, leaving a large area of exposed dirt. To reduce dust effects on surrounding businesses and residents, dust control was an important contractual factor for the project. “Residents at the southern end of the job were concerned because there are two quarries close by that also generate dust,” Mr. Fayers says. “We implemented a whole suite of measures to manage dust, but the best one was progressive stabilisation as we built our earthworks and the contractor put in revegetation as they went.” In cases where revegetation was not possible, polymer binders were applied, the surface was compacted, areas were sealed off or water carts were used to manage the dust.
