Martin Place update: Major engineering operation to keep pedestrians moving
01.02.2019
A mid-summer, middle-of-the-night massive engineering operation in the heart of Sydney will help keep pedestrians moving as a new metro railway station is built underneath them at Martin Place.
A block of Martin Place was excavated 10 metres from street level and a two-level pre-fabricated steel pedestrian bridge was lifted into place, reassembled, and re-opened to pedestrians.
A team of 65 people worked 24-7 on shifts from 27 December to 31 December to minimise the length of time streets needed to be closed.
This new bridge allows pedestrians to use Martin Place at both the surface and subway levels while the southern entrance of the new station is excavated below, ensuring a key section of Martin Place between Elizabeth and Castlereagh streets remains open.
To prepare for the installation of the bridge, most of the section of Martin Place between Castlereagh and Elizabeth streets outside the Commonwealth Bank was excavated, including a one-metre thick concrete slab.
Then, two cranes lowered a double storey 45m walkway into place – in three 15m pieces – on the last weekend of 2018, re-opening the surface in time for the New Year.
One section was lifted into position from Elizabeth Street and the remaining sections were installed from Castlereagh Street.
Work was completed without affecting pre-existing sub surface infrastructure including old brick tunnels, pedestrian underpasses and utilities.
The pedestrian bridge provides a safe thoroughfare while the new underground station is built, with the main access door to the bank reopened.
The temporary pedestrian bridge will be in place until the overstation development is underway in 2022.
Roadheader tunnelling machines are continuing to excavate the underground station, with more than 110,000 tonnes of crushed rock already removed – enough to fill more than 18 Olympic swimming pools.