A NEW bridge at Western Sydney International as wide as the Sydney Harbour Bridge is open to motorists as the first phase of construction on Sydney’s new airport comes to an end.
Western Sydney Airport CEO Graham Millett said the new bridge was built as part of initial earthworks on the airport site and involved the realignment of 1.6km of Badgerys Creek Road.
“This is an exciting milestone for Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport with initial earthworks almost complete and part of the site officially opening to road users,” Mr Millett said.
“Technically we’ve built two bridges, one north bound and one south bound, both 39 metres long and with a combined width of 49 metres – around the same width as Sydney’s Harbour Bridge.”
Construction of the bridge involved 21 45-tonne girders built with almost 900 tonnes of concrete.
Around 20,000 tonnes of asphalt has been laid along the new road along with the installation of 116 new street lights.
“As with most road works, there have been traffic changes for motorists and we thank them for their ongoing patience while this work takes place,” he said.
Initial earthworks cover 6% of the 1,780ha airport site and involve moving 1.8m cubic metres of earth.
Major earthworks are to start early this year 2020 and are to involve moving more than 23m cubic metres of earth to make way for building the airport terminal and runway. Western Sydney International is to open in 2026 initially catering for up to 10m international and domestic passengers per year.
