The two giant gantry cranes which will build the four-kilometre skytrain between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill are now in the air and getting ready for the job ahead.
‘‘The iconic skytrain is the most visible part of the 36-kilometre long Sydney Metro Northwest – the first stage the new Sydney Metro railway system,’’ Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance.
‘‘The four-kilometre skytrain is a great innovation that keeps the community united, allowing movement underneath and avoiding the physical division that often comes with rail lines.’’
Arriving in more than 23,000 pieces after completing work on a major roads project in Dubai, the gantries were assembled on the ground at the Kellyville and Cudgegong Road Station construction sites.
The main trusses were then lifted into place by two 500-tonne cranes over several days.
Working up to 20 metres in the air, they will lift in place the pre-made concrete segments which will form the deck of the skytrain.
Starting at both ends of the alignment — Kellyville and Cudgegong Road — the two gantries will move to the middle of the skytrain at a rate of about 70 metres a week.
The gantries will meet near the Windsor and Old Windsor road intersection, Kellyville.
The Cudgegong Road site gantry will also build the Windsor Road Bridge.
‘‘The gantry construction method means seven major roads and the T-way stay open while the skytrain is built above them, reducing impacts on motorists and keeping traffic moving,’’ Mr Constance said.
Once the skytrain is built, work will begin on the elevated railway stations at Kellyville and Rouse Hill, two of the eight new metro stations on the network formerly known as the North West Rail Link.
Work includes the four-kilometre skytrain between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill, a 270 metre landmark cable-stayed rail bridge over Windsor Road, and two kilometres of surface civil construction works and railway embankments.
■ Windsor Road bridge is the first cable-stayed railway bridge on a curve built in Australia;
■ The average skytrain height is 9 metres — 13 metres high at Kellyville;
■ There will be 121 piers on the four-kilometre skytrain. So far 37 piers, or just over 30%, have been constructed;
■ It takes 40 to 60 cubic metres of concrete to build a pier;
■ More than 1200 concrete segments will be fitted together to form the skytrain deck;
■ The segments are being produced at a factory in Mulgrave. So far, more than 275 segments (25%) have been produced;
■ The skytrain is being built using two state-of-the-art launching gantries, or horizontal cranes. These gantries work up to 20 metres in the air, lifting in place the pre-made concrete segments which will form the deck of the skytrain. These segments weigh between 65 and 140 tonnes;
■ Starting at both ends of the alignment — i.e. Kellyville and Cudgegong Road — the two gantries will move to the middle of the skytrain at a rate of about 70 metres a week. The gantries will meet near the intersection of Windsor Road and Old Windsor Road in Kellyville;
■ The Cudgegong Road site gantry will also build the Windsor Road Bridge as it makes its way to Kellyville.
■ Once the skytrain is built, work will begin on the elevated railway stations at Kellyville and Rouse Hill — two of the eight new metro stations.