Blues Point construction site planned for Sydney Metro harbour tunnelling works
A HARBOURSIDE reserve at McMahons Point is set to be transformed into a construction site for about two years to aid the Sydney Metro development.
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SCENIC Blues Point will become a construction site for about two years from early 2019 to aid tunnelling of the new Sydney Metro rail line.
Truckloads of spoil from the construction could be removed by barge at the popular harbourfront area.
A shaft will be excavated in the reserve to allow for removal of tunnel boring machinery and about 8000 cubic metres of spoil will be removed from the site.
Both residents and North Sydney Council asked Transport for NSW to consider removing the spoil on the water instead of being trucked up Blues Point Rd.
“For the Blues Point temporary site it was identified that barge transport of spoil may be feasible at this site subject to further investigations,” a Sydney Metro report says.
The council said it has raised the matter in meetings with Transport for NSW.
“Council is supportive of any measure that will reduce the potential impact of Metro construction activity on our local community,” a spokeswoman said.
Residents wrote to Transport for NSW to raise concerns about the works.
Several submissions urged the government not to use Blues Point reserve as it was unnecessary and would impact local residents.
They called for the equipment to be buried after use or for a disused rail line along Sawmillers Reserve to be used instead.
Despite the calls, the government is sticking with the plan and dismissed the complaints.
“Blues Point was chosen as it is located directly above the tunnels, thereby minimising the generation of spoil, and would not require the acquisition of private property,” the government responded in a document.
“The disused rail line along Sawmillers Reserve is not located directly above the tunnels and would result in the generation of more spoil.”
CONSTRUCTION PLAN FOR THE RESERVE
The shaft excavation at the reserve is set to begin in early 2019 and will take about a year.
Two machines will bore out a path from Chatswood to McMahons Point where they will stop under the Blues Point Reserve in early 2020.
Their cutter heads and shields will be removed and the rest of the machines will be pulled back through the tunnel and removed at Chatswood.
The other part of the plan involves a specialised machine, which will tunnel under the harbour from Barangaroo.
Its cutter head and shield will be removed at Blues Point and the machine will be pulled back to Barangaroo. The process will be repeated as the machine will be rebuilt and start boring the second tunnel under the harbour. These retrievals will happen in late 2019 and mid 2020.
The cutter heads and shields will be removed using a crane and placed on an oversized truck for transportation.
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Once the tunnelling is finished the team will start rehabilitating the site towards the end of 2020.
It will be returned to its current state in consultation with council.
Public access to the foreshore will be maintained during the works at the site.
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