Leading projects firm, Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) has been appointed by RailCorp to assess railway deck and transom replacement strategies for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Sydney Harbour Bridge plays a critical role in the transport network in New South Wales, encompassing eight road-traffic lanes, two railway lines and separate pedestrian and bicycle pathways.
The decking and transoms supporting the railway track require regular cyclical maintenance over short intervals because of the design life of the material used.
SKM will be evaluating the replacement of the existing high-maintenance timber with more durable components.
Key option considerations include health and safety, environmental impact, whole-of-life costs and impact upon the heritage listed bridge.
SKM’s experience in bridge deck and transom assessment and replacement will also provide a concept solution that minimises the impact of network user disruption during implementation.
In advance of the study, SKM will also be utilising its 3D Laser Scanning expertise to carry out a survey across the rail corridor to facilitate concept design.
The 3D Laser Scan Survey will be conducted over a series of overnight possessions across the bridge using a unique high-rail vehicle and mobile scanner combination to collect point cloud data.
SKM will be able to draw upon its innovative design and construction work carried out in the United Kingdom, which used Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) to re-deck two existing Network Rail Bridges at Calder Viaduct and Rubha Glas.
SKM technical director, Professor Sam Luke said: "It’s an honour to bring our multi-disciplinary team together to work with RailCorp, as well as NSW Roads and Maritime Services on this symbolic piece of infrastructure.”
After a construction period of almost 10 years, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in March 1932.
Crossing the Sydney Harbour, connecting Sydney’s North Shore with the city centre, the bridge is 1149 metres long.