The bridge to Badgerys Creek, which opened on Monday, was built as part of initial earthworks on the Airport site.
Stage one of construction at Western Sydney’s airport, which involved moving 1.8 million cubic metres of earth, spans six per cent of the 1780-hectare airport site located roughly 44-kilometres west of Sydney CBD.
Construction giant Lendlease was appointed to undertake the major earthworks contract, valued at $644 million for the development of the airport officially named after Nancy-Bird Walton.
With initial earthworks almost complete and part of the site officially open, Western Sydney Airport chief executive Graham Millett said the bridge completion marks a milestone.
“Technically we’ve built two bridges,” Millett said.
“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.
“It’s built on 21 mammoth 45-tonne girders manufactured with almost 900 tonnes of concrete.”
Major earthworks are also expected to kick off this year, which will involve moving more than 23 million cubic metres of earth to make way for the construction of the airport’s terminal and runway.
Its expected the airport, planned to be open in 2026, will initially cater for up to 10 million international and domestic passengers a year.
Following decades of debate, the airport site was officially designated by the Federal government in 2014 as the location of Sydney’s second airport.
The first design images for the terminal building were released in October last year, after Zaha Hadid Architects and Cox Architecture were appointed to design the Nancy-Bird Walton international airport.
Construction on the terminal building is slated to start in 2022.
Originally published by Dinah Lewis Boucher in The Urban Developer HERE.
