Design and construction of the Inner West Busway, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Completed in 2011, the Inner West Busway project reduced travel times for thousands of bus commuters along Victoria Road in Sydney, Australia, by up to 17 min. The A$175 million (£117 million) project involved installing a new 3·5 km city-bound bus lane, which required a new 400 m long, incrementally launched box girder bridge across Iron Cove. This paper examines the design, construction issues and innovation associated with the project, including the country's first bridge launch from in front of an abutment, its first use of the Quickchange movable barrier system and a world first in-pavement light system. Other works included over 12 km of new bicycle shoulder lanes and on-road bicycle routes, a new children's playground and rehabilitation of a park.