Parra Powerhouse Museum out of the floodwaters after hitting first milestone
The new Powerhouse Museum is on track to be finished by mid next year and the state government has allayed fears it could turn into an aquarium during rain events.
NSW
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Parramatta’s new Powerhouse Museum is on track to be finished by mid next year after its first foundational slab was installed – and the state government is confident the building will be floodproof as well.
NSW Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes said on Monday the pouring of the foundational concrete slab and the installation of 12,000 tonnes of structural steel meant the site was no longer in danger of potential flood risks along the Parramatta River.
The project has been an economic boon for western Sydney, with 70 per cent of tradies working on the project coming from the surrounding suburbs.
And $75 million worth of contracts from the project were also awarded to local businesses.
The Daily Telegraph first called for the Powerhouse to relocate to Parramatta in 2014 as part of the newspaper’s Go West campaign.
Mr Stokes said despite much cynicism towards the project, the museum was “being delivered on time and on budget.”
“I think communities have been rightly concerned that there’s been promises and they want to see delivery,” he said.
Although the project site flooded on multiple occasions due to heavy rainfall and its proximity to the Parramatta River recently, Mr Stokes said the risk to the site was low.
While the lower part of the site had previously flooded, the building of the slab reduced much of the risk, he said.
“Effectively now that the slab has been laid, we’re out of the ground … a lot of the uncertainty comes in the ground,” Mr Stokes said.
“The flooding risks here have been wildly overstated, the reality is if the Powerhouse is flooding there’s much bigger problems to deal with.”
Lendlease general manager for NSW construction, Sandra Orlando said the project required an enormous amount of steel, 12,000 tonnes in total.
“To give you an idea, the roof at the Sydney Football Stadium is only 3000 tonnes of steel,” she said.
“On top of that, 4000 jobs will be created from the project both onsite and off.”
The project will use more than 25,000 cubic metres of concrete, with extra required for external work.
CEO of the Powerhouse Museum Lisa Havilah said the project would revolutionise the central hubs of the city.
“Setting up our flagship in Parramatta is transformative … redefining where the centres are right across the city,’ she said.
“We’re working with communities across western Sydney with the development of our museum programs as well.”
Mr Stokes said should Labor win the upcoming election the infrastructure projects would be in jeopardy.
“The pipeline projects will be jeopardised if Labor are successful in the election because they have said they will stop the economic machine that’s paying for infrastructure,” he said.
“It’s one thing to say they support the infrastructure but they won’t support the means to pay for it.”
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Originally published as Parra Powerhouse Museum out of the floodwaters after hitting first milestone
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