NARRATOR: Sydney's skyline is changing
and in the booming north-west, a new landmark has taken shape.
With planning and major construction now over,
a unique vision has been realised.
This is the inside story of a modern engineering marvel,
the first bridge of its kind in Australia,
from drawing board to reality.
In 2013, John Anderson was handed, literally, a curve ball:
design a new railway bridge to sit above one of Sydney's busiest roads
without affecting the 50,000 vehicles below
that use it every day.
It was to be a critical piece of new infrastructure,
vital to the delivery of Australia's biggest public transport project.
I've been working on this project for four years,
not eight hours a day, five days a week,
but pretty much 365 days a year for the last four years.
NARRATOR: The 66-kilometre long Sydney Metro
is a project of many firsts.
This bridge is one of them.
It's the crucial gap
between the train stabling and operational headquarters
and the rest of the Metro network.
Crossing Windsor Road at Rouse Hill
came with its own unique set of challenges.
Nothing like this had ever been built in Australia before -
a cable-stayed bridge for trains built on a curve.
JOHN: It's an amazingly challenging project
because it's not a recipe.
There isn't another bridge out there
that essentially we can go, "Open the book, read the paper,
"and it will tell us how to design this bridge."
NARRATOR: John was thrown a curve in more ways than one
that would put his engineering skills to the test.
JOHN: I think it's important from a design point of view
that you look at each project individually,
its context, your client's requirements,
the functional requirements that are needed in the design.
There is always creative opportunity in the design process
but often you're led there
by the functional requirements of the bridge.
The challenge in this project was to design a structure
that was empathetic to its surroundings
and the cable-stayed bridge was better suited to the context
in Rouse Hill.
We didn't have the option to say,
"Sorry, but we don't want the curve."
NARRATOR: After considering numerous design options,
it was decided a cable-stayed bridge was the most practical solution
for this job,
using essentially the same construction methodology
as the 4-kilometre elevated skytrain viaduct
which leads up to it.
Together, they're the most visible part of the Sydney Metro Project
in the north-west of Sydney.
The rest of it is deep underground, in twin 15-kilometre tunnels.
JOHN: One of the biggest aspects of us choosing a cable-stayed bridge
is that we could build the deck of the bridge
in a similar method to the way that we built
the viaduct deck and superstructure.
We could use the overhead gantry to build a cable-stayed bridge.
The real driver was the constructability
and obviously along with that constructability comes an economy.
NARRATOR: With this pivotal decision made,
it was now time to forge ahead and create Australian history.
Highly complex engineering,
a cable-stayed bridge for a railway on a curve
running over a very busy road.
RODD STAPLES: The towers that hold the cables arrive,
lifted into place.
We'll put the cables there
and then it'll be ready to become a railway
with the tracks and the overhead wiring.
NARRATOR: The most visually striking elements of the bridge
are its two towers,
made in western Sydney...
..then delivered in the middle of the night across the city
and installed in a precise, military-style operation.
So the steel towers for the bridge are functional,
they're an integral part of the structure.
They're definitely not decorative.
They essentially transfer the load from the deck, to the tower,
to the foundations below.
There are 32 cable stays in total on the bridge.
Each wire can be replaced in the future if it needs to be
and each wire has its own corrosion protection system.
RODD STAPLES: This cable-stayed bridge
highlights just how much work we put into the planning
and the early work in getting this project right.
We looked at all of the future needs of north-west Sydney
and the need to upgrade Windsor Road in the future
and we came up with a solution that would allow that to occur
without any impact on the bridge in the future,
without any impact on the rail services.
NARRATOR: The result has become a landmark for Sydney's north-west,
which will serve public transport customers
for generations to come.
Bridge design is really a team effort.
We feel privileged to be involved in this project.
We really hope that it will fit in to the context of the Metro
and of the local community.
(TRAIN HORN BEEPS)
It's a fantastic landmark,
it looks great
and people will be able to always recognise where they are
just by looking out the window and seeing the bridge.
NARRATOR: With the bridge now complete,
tracks are being laid and overhead wiring installed
so that new Metro rail services can start
in the first half of 2019.
This is Sydney Metro,
the biggest urban rail infrastructure investment
in Australian history.