1. Delivering the North West Rail Link:
Stage 1 of Sydney Rapid Transit
Tim O’Hearn, Deputy Project Director
Andrey Kandic, Structural and Architectural Design Manager, Salini Impregilo
21 October, 2014

2. The plan: Sydney’s Rail Future

3. The plan: delivered in five stages
Stage 1
Operational efficiencies
Stage 2
Network efficiencies
Stage 3
Rapid transit: North West Rail Link
Stage 4
Rapid transit: New harbour crossing
Stage 5
Rapid transit: Southern sector conversion

4. The project
$8.3 billion budget
Open first half of 2019
First stage of rapid transit

5. Contract packages and interfaces
Cudgegong
Tunnels and Station
Civils (TSC)
Design and construct
Driven tunnels, station
excavation, ground support
Surface and Viaduct
Civils (SVC)
Epping
Bella Vista
Cudgegong Chatswood
Epping
Bella Vista Chatswood
Design and construct
Surface civil infrastructure
(including viaduct),
Bella Vista to Cudgegong
ECRL existing
infrastructure interface
Sydney Trains
operational interface at
Epping and Chatswood
Operations, Trains and Systems (OTS)
Partially privately financed (with substantial State contribution) – subject to VfM
Sydney’s
Rail
Future
Potential
western
extension
Early Works Managing Contractor
Managing Contractor
 Train and station operations
 Mechanical, electrical, signalling, train control and other systems (new and upgraded)
 Supply and maintain rolling stock, including maintenance facilities and control centre,
 New stations construction and fit-out, civil works (including stabling and track)
 Overall infrastructure maintenance

6. Tunnelling contract
$1.15 billion contract
Completion date 2017
Thiess John Holland
Dragados joint venture
“ – NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian,
September 16, 2014
TBMs manufactured by NFM, headquartered in France
This project will transform and modernise
public transport in Sydney forever.
“
This project will transform and modernise
public transport in Sydney forever.

7. Tunnelling contract
First tunnel boring
machine, Elizabeth, in
ground September 2014
TBM2 Florence,
TBM3 Isabelle digging
before end of 2014

8. Skytrain contract
$340m contract
Contract completion 2017
New landmark bridge over
Windsor Road, Rouse Hill
Salini Impregilo

9. Operations, Trains and Systems
$3.7 billion contract PPP
Northwest Rapid Transit

10. Sydney’s new rapid transit trains
Fully-automated
Platform screen doors
Constant live monitoring by
expert train controllers

13. Heating and cooling in underground stations.
Artist’s impression: Kellyville Station
The stations
“
Eight new railway stations
4,000 car parking spaces
A train every four minutes
in the peak

14. Automation Safety No. 1 priority
Platform screen doors: train
operations faster and safer
Clear and constant
communications with customers.
“
Multiple cameras and help
points, inside trains and out
Staff moving through the
system during the day

15. Automation
30 years of operations
588km, 41 lines, 25 cities,
585 stations, 4 continents
Impressive safety record
Source: International Association of Public Transport, 2011 report.

16. The customer and community
• Customer at the centre of all planning
• Customers’ needs, preferences and opinions paramount in
decision-making, planning activities and operations
• Project will be designed and delivered to meet the needs of
customers for their entire “door-to-door” journey – from origin
to destination

17. Rapid Transit Rail Facility (RTRF)
• Tallawong Road, Rouse Hill includes operational control of NWRL
• Stand alone facility – stabling, cleaning of trains, maintenance, overhaul,
monitoring of track and traction power
• Stable 45 trains and can maintain a total of 76 trains in the future
• Maintenance of track and NWRL infrastructure
Reference Design layout

18. Making provision for the future

19. SALINI IMPREGILO
– Over 100 years of construction history
– 31,000 Employees
– 50 + countries
– $5.6B annual revenue and $ 40B work in hand
– Jan 2014 merger created Salini Impregilo

20. OPERATES IN OVER 50 COUNTRIES

21. INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT SECTORS
Circa 230 dams and hydroelectric plants for over
36,800 MW of total installed power
Over 1,250 km of tunnels and 230 km under
construction
More than 6,700 km of railway lines
Circa 340 km of metro lines
More than 36,000 km of roads and highways
More than 320 km of bridges and viaducts

22. Surface and Viaduct Civil Works contract

23. Summary
• 4.6 km of precast segmental viaduct, 450
piles, 120 piers, 1,200 segments
• 230m Cable stayed bridge with a 130m single
span over Windsor Rd
• Station platforms
• 3 Super T bridges
• Civil works – earthworks, retaining walls
• Road and utility adjustments
Concrete Quantities
• Piles: 2,500 m3
• Substructure: 14,000 m3
• Superstructure: 38,000 m3
• Parapets: 6,500 m3
• Other: 19,000 m3
TOTAL 80,000 m3

24. Dubai Parallel Roads interchange

25. Dubai Parallel Roads interchange

26. Urban Design Requirements
Use AS3600 Special Class concrete &
produce a consistently light colour concrete
Through use of cementitious material and
aggregate only. No pigments or applied surface
finishes allowed

27. Sustainability Requirements
• Achieve an Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia “Design”
rating score of at least 65
• Use blended cement that contains waste industrial products such as fly
ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag
• Produce low carbon concrete
• Achieve a minimum of one point under the Green Star Mat-4 concrete
credit criteria for portland cement, aggregate and water

28. Challenges
Finding cost effective concrete mixes that meet:
• High early strength for segments: 15 MPa @ 14hr & 26 MPa @ 38hr
• Colour consistency throughout all elements
• Sustainability objectives
• Certainty of supply of materials

29. OVERVIEW OF PACKAGE GROUPINGS
• Viaduct Package
• Overbridge Package
• Structural Package
• Windsor Road Bridge Package
• Civil Package
• Roadworks Package
• Utilities Package
• Urban Design Package

30. DESIGN PROGRESS OF STRUCTURAL WORKS
Viaduct Package
• SPC AFC expected late October 2014
• BVR AFC expected early December 2014
Overbridge Package
• Overbridge 1, 2 & Balmoral Road expected early March 2015
Windsor Road Bridge Package
• WRSCC AFC expected mid February 2015

31. Structural Design Works
Key aspects
Sustainable concrete mix design used while maintaining
• Strength requirements
• Durability requirements
• Single Span Crossing (270m Extrados/Cable Stay)
• Uniformity of Viaduct Segment Lengths

32. Structural Design Works
Associated Challenges
Sequencing of Segment Erection with Gantry
• Gantry components
• Movement/Kinematics of gantry
• Temporary Supports

33. Curvature/Radius of
Windsor Road Bridge
• 400m radius
• Unique for a rail bridge
• No superelevation allowed
• Because of the deck curvature,
and fact that the cables are not in a
single plane, there is a transverse
bending in the pylon. This load
effect is coupled with the torsion in
the deck section.
• Construction not to interfere with
live traffic below
Structural Design Works
Associated Challenges

34. Attaining sufficient force in WRSCC Cables, while
maintaining geometry
The structural system developed behaves as an extra-dosed bridge.
The stress range in the cables is relatively low because the girder
essentially carries the applied live loads.
Structural Design Works
Associated Challenges

35. • SLS cable stress due to rail loading is 7% of the maximum SLS stress in the
section (as expected of extra-dosed bridge).
• However, cable stiffness (area) has an impact on rail loading carried by the
cables. The lower the rail loads the less cable area required.
• Rail loading is the main cause of longitudinal hogging moments in the deck
over the supports and 40% of the maximum longitudinal sagging moments.
• Rail loading is responsible for approximately 50% of the peak torsion loads in
the deck at the supports.
• ULS load factor of 1.6 results in a high ULS longitudinal bending moments in
the section.
• Rail loading results in uplift at outer bearings of supports.
Structural Design Works
Associated Challenges

36. 1 The structure struggled at ULS because the imposed rail live loading was
carried primarily by the girder.
2 A solution to get more load into the cables was therefore developed by
increasing the cable stiffness (increasing their area). A more conventional
alternative would have been to haunch the girder.
3 Increasing the pylon height was another alternative. However, the limits placed
on the pylon width meant the pylon was under strength in transverse bending
as its height increased.
Design Solutions
Implemented/Proposed

37. The WRSSC construction sequence was developed to minimise the need for temporary pre-
stress i.e. there is little difference between the erection pre-stressing and that required in the
bridge’s final state.
The majority of the pre-stressing comprises straight internal cables with allowance made for
additional straight external cables.
Design Solutions
Implemented/Proposed

38. Design development:
• Plate assembly
• Fabrication and erection
• Installation of stay cables
• Internal pre-stressing
• On-going maintenance &
inspection requirements
Design Solutions
Implemented/Proposed