Oakdale West North South Link Road: Robson Civil Projects

Summary

The Western North-South Link Road (WNSLR) is an at- grade divided road of 1.3km in length, with two lanes in each direction. It provides access from Lenore Drive to the under construction Oakdale West Industrial Estate.

At the centre of the project is a bridge over the Warragamba Pipelines, through which up to 80% of Greater Sydney’s drinking water is supplied. Given the criticality of the pipelines, ongoing collaboration with WaterNSW was an integral part of this road construction project.

To the north and south of the bridge the scope involved earthworks, storm-water drainage, pavements, utilities and landscaping, all to RMS Specifications.

Highlights

The project was identified as a State Significant Development (SSD) by the NSW Department of Planning.
Robson played a central role in developing the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) for project approval.
There were stringent Conditions attached to the Development Approval, against which the project was continually and successfully audited.
Access between the pipelines to construct the centre pier required significant temporary works. This process was managed by Robson, and included a temporary bridge which carried a 450T crane, 120T piling rig and the precast concrete bridge girders across an existing creek.
This is the first free-standing bridge to be built over the Warragamba pipelines in recent times. Other major road projects such as the M7 Motorway and The Northern Road Upgrade relied on box culverts and full concrete encasement of the pipelines.
Gaining the confidence and eventual approval of WaterNSW to construct this bridge was the result of years of planning, consultation and collaboration.
The incorporation of major utilities, including 132kV electrical transmission and a 300mm watermain into the road and across the bridge was a major challenge, successfully coordinated by Robson.