City & Southwest

A mid-summer, middle-of-the-night massive engineering operation in the heart of Sydney will help keep pedestrians moving as a new metro railway station is built underneath them at Martin Place.

A block of Martin Place was excavated 10 metres from street level and a two-level pre-fabricated steel pedestrian bridge was lifted into place, reassembled, and re-opened to pedestrians.

A team of 65 people worked 24-7 on shifts from 27 December to 31 December to minimise the length of time streets needed to be closed.

Major construction work has started to deliver the biggest upgrade to Central Station in decades, including new Sydney Metro platforms deep underground and the landmark Central Walk.

A temporary railway station platform has been built in just three weeks with a construction crew of more than 120 people working 24-7.

Platform 13 and most of Platform 12 were demolished by a 6 tonne excavator before Christmas.

More than 1,500 tonnes of concrete and 119 tonnes of steel reinforcement were brought in to build a temporary Platform 12 in 23 days.

Sydney Metro’s third mega tunnel boring machine (TBM) has now started tunnelling, marking the next stage in delivering the new 31km metro twin tunnels below the centre of Sydney and deep under Sydney Harbour.

TBM Wendy has started digging the 6.2 kilometres of tunnel from Chatswood to the edge of Sydney Harbour at Blues Point.

Wendy joins TBMs Nancy and Mum Shirl, the mega borers which launched last year and are now tunnelling from Marrickville towards the CBD.

North Sydney will be transformed with a $476 million contract awarded to deliver a new Sydney Metro railway station and the landmark building above it.

The NSW Government has awarded Lendlease the contract to deliver the station component of the new Victoria Cross Station in North Sydney - including new retail spaces and improvements to the public domain.

More than 67,000 tonnes of crushed rock have been excavated and removed at the site of the new Victoria Cross Station in North Sydney.

Two roadheader tunnelling machines are digging their way deep below North Sydney to excavate the station cavern, where metro rail services will start in 2024 with a train every four minutes in the peak.

Pedestrian tunnels and escalator shafts have already been completed by the roadheaders at the southern end of site. 

The latest participants in Sydney Metro’s pre-employment program have graduated with a 100 per cent jobs success rate.

The program helps local, long-term unemployed and disadvantaged people find work on major transport infrastructure projects.  

It’s part of Sydney Metro’s wider workforce development strategy.

The ninth group to complete the program graduated at the NSW Infrastructure Skills Centre with all 13 participants offered work by Sydney Metro tunnel builders John Holland CPB Ghella. 

The community can now have its say on the proposed buildings above and adjacent to the new Sydney Metro Waterloo Station with the Environmental Impact Statement now lodged with the Department of Planning and Environment.

The Metro Quarter will be integrated with the new Waterloo Station and will deliver new homes, shops, community services and a new public plaza with an adjoining building that could house community and recreational facilities. The Metro Quarter precinct is bounded by Botany Road, Cope Street, Raglan Street and Wellington Street.

Major excavation work is almost complete at Chatswood so that tunnelling can start, extending Sydney Metro from the north west into the city.

Two tunnel boring machines will launch from Chatswood and dig twin 6.2 kilometre metro tunnels to the edge of Sydney Harbour, via new metro stations at Crows Nest and Victoria Cross in North Sydney.

The White Hart Inn, uncovered at Kellyville after more than a century lost, has been listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.

Its foundations were discovered in 2013 by archaeologists near the intersection of Old Windsor and Windsor roads during heritage work for the skytrain section of the $8.3 billion Sydney Metro Northwest.

More than one third of the new Crows Nest Station site has now been excavated with 146,000 tonnes of material removed from site. 

The installation of a 1,700 square metre acoustic shed is now complete on the southern end of the site. Work to install an acoustic shed at the northern end of the site is continuing.

Installing the sheds over construction areas means construction impacts on the surrounding community can be minimised.

Hume Street has reopened so traffic can travel west between Clarke Lane and the Pacific Highway.