Bridges

Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 project includes James Ruse Underbridge which carries two light rail tracks and a 3.75 m wide shared user path across James Ruse Drive. To clear this busy road and a future planned widening, a single span of 64 m comprised of a steel arch manufactured in weathering steel was required. The approach spans comprise Super-T girders making up the seven span 250 m long bridge.

The rails are contained within a track slab that 'floats' on the deck slab. Key aspects addressed in the design were the approach adopted in addressing track and bridge interaction and design considerations related to the use of weathering steel. The complete arch structure was constructed adjacent to James Ruse Drive and shifted into position during an overnight road closure using Self Propelled Modular Transports (SPMT's).

The paper deals with the design aspects of the steel arch, track/bridge interaction as well as construction related aspects including installation of the pre-fabricated span.