From: brendan@otc.otca.oz (Brendan Jones)
Newsgroups: aus.general
Subject: Sydney Harbour Tunnel Update #19 (Q3 92) (FINAL)
Date: 11 Oct 92 13:11:13 GMT

SYDNEY HARBOUR TUNNEL UPDATE #19

3rd Quarter 1992

I'm sure all of you will breathe a huge sigh of relief that this is the last
tunnel update, covering final construction work and the opening.


CONSTRUCTION REPORT

All construction work for the Harbour Tunnel is now finished.

NORTH SIDE
----------

The last task in the north side tunnels was the linemarking of the tunnel
roadway, and this was completed in the second week in August.  The lanes in
the tunnel are a full 3.5 m freeway width, and are marked with broken lines,
allowing drivers to change lanes inside the tunnel.

The lanes are numbered from 1 to 4, with lane 1 being the westernmost
northbound lane, and lane 4 being the easternmost southbound lane.

The speed limit in the tunnel is 70 km/h, matching the speed limit on the 
Harbour Bridge, which was raised from 60 km/h to 70 km/h in November 1991.

The RTA completed lane realignment and remarking work on the Warringah Freeway
(F1) and the first stage of the F2, the Gore Hill Freeway, in late July.

This work involved construction of a new Jersey Barrier between the first and
second northbound carriageways on the F1, remarking of the first carriageway
to 5 lanes instead of 3 (eliminating the breakdown lanes on each side), and
widening the F1 to 5 lanes each way north of Ernest Street.

Also, new signage was installed along the entire length of the Gore Hill
Freeway, Warringah Freeway, Harbour Bridge, and Tunnel (which is now National
Route #1).  The new style of sign has exit ramps named with the street they
exit onto in black on a white panel.  The background of each sign is the
traditional green.  The new hexagonal 'MetroRoad' route numbers have yet to
be placed on these signs (this route will also be MetroRoad 1).

Two new automatic movable sign gantries were also installed on the F1 to
indicate routes on those parts of the F1 that have reversible carriageways
and movable medians.

The new lanemarking was also required for the installation of a 24 hour bus
lane on the freeway and Harbour bridge, occupying Lane 7 of the Cahill
Expressway.  The bus lane became operational after the tunnel opening.

The last task to be done before the opening of the tunnel to traffic was to
remove the concrete barriers on the second easternmost carriageway of the F1
just north of Ernest St.  These barriers were placed in July 1990 to prevent
traffic access to the Toll Plaza construction site and tunnel entrance works.

These barriers were removed late in the night of Sunday 30 August, allowing
cars to queue up before the tollgates in anticipation of the opening to
traffic.

TOLL PLAZA AND CONTROL CENTRE

The final lanemarking of the toll plaza just to the north of the Mount St
overpass was completed in early August.

The toll is $2, charged only in the southbound direction.  The toll on the
Sydney Harbour Bridge is also now $2.

Sales of Harbour Bridge tokens ceased on Monday 17 August.  To toll is payable
only in cash.  Tokens still in circulation will be honoured at their face
value of $1.50 at tollgates for a limited time.  After this time, any unused
tokens would have to be returned to the RTA for a refund.

The RTA is intending to commence trials of an electronic toll collection
system on the Harbour Bridge, and if successful, this system is expected to be
introduced for the Harbour Tunnel as well.

BRADFIELD PARK

The completion of all construction work in this area enabled the final
restoration of Bradfield park to proceed.

After the cut-and-cover ventilation tunnel to the Bridge pylon was completed
in July, the entire site was filled with dirt and rock and graded to follow
approximately the contour of the old Bradfield Park.

Returfing of the area commenced in late July, and was completed in mid August.
Olympic drive was also reconstructed during this period.  The hoarding around
the park, erected at the commencement of construction work in February 1988,
was finally removed during the second week of August, 1992.

The air intake facia of the ventilation station has been clad with 
Hawkesbury Sandstone, and vegetation beds around the vents have been planted
heavily with Grevillea, Banksia and Maleluca to provide some absorption of 
sound when the tunnel fans are operational.

The temporary bus turning circle in Broughton St was removed and the area
restored.

The air intake facia of the ventilation station is the only part of the
station that is visible.  The restoration of Bradfield Park has been very well
done and has even surprised the local residents who were skeptical that the
park could ever be restored to even remotely like its previous condition.

Some have argued the restoration of the seawall, the replacement of the old
stone seawall fence with new 'heritage' fencing, and the new trees have made
the park even more attractive than it was before.


SOUTH SIDE
----------

All work on the driven tunnels and the entry and exit ramps on the south side
has been completed.

CAHILL EXPRESSWAY CONNECTION

The final section of roadway to connect the Harbour Tunnel to the Domain
Tunnel was the last tunnel work to be completed.

On the Friday night of 28 August, the Domain tunnel was closed for the entire
weekend to allow final construction work to proceed.

On the first night, the new entry and exit ramps from the Cahill Expressway
were narrowed from two lanes to one each, to allow the full two lane width
of each Harbour Tunnel carriageway to go through to the Domain Tunnel.  This
involved the placement of Jersey Barriers and a small amount of kerbing work.

A rotor-miller was also used to remove the bitumen surface at the interchange
and inside the Domain Tunnel (both of which had been variously marked with
a myriad of new lane alignments during construction) in preparation for the
laying of a fresh new coat of bitumen and new linemarking.

A marquee was also placed in the section of road between the two tunnels in
preparation for the official opening the following day.

After the official opening on the Saturday afternoon, the marquee was removed
and the new bitumen surface was laid at the interchange and through the Domain
Tunnel.

After the Tunnel walk on Sunday, linemarking in the area was completed and
conventional RTA barriers placed at the entrance to the Tunnel in preparation
for the opening to traffic early the next morning.

The RTA lane realignment on the Cahill Expressway south of the Domain Tunnel
was completed in mid August.  The Cahill Expressway southbound, south of the
Domain tunnel, is now four lanes wide and freshly resurfaced.

Work in the Lower Domain is also finished, where the cut-and-cover section
of the tunnel was constructed.  This area has been filled, graded and
returfed.  Sandstone was laid against the one wall of the cut-and-cover tunnel
that was exposed on the eastern side.

New fencing was installed along the Government House side of the Lower Domain,
and the paths across the park remade.  This landscaping work has also been
beautifully done, and has restored the area to its former glory.

The 100 year old Moreton Bay Fig tree, saved at a cost of $100,000 by the
tunnel company (the exit was moved south 10 metres to allow it to be saved)
is resplendent in its new grassy surroundings, and proclaimed healthy by a
tree surgeon.

TRANSITION STRUCTURE

Small cracks began to appear in the tunnel roof in the transition section
underneath the Opera House (joining the driven land tunnels to immersed
tube unit #8) during June 1992.  These cracks were hairline cracks (0.1 to
0.2 mm wide) formed from the settling and shrinking of the concrete in the
transition structure (which was poured in-situ).

This section is largely under the Opera House Forecourt, and only a small
segment of it is actually below sea level.  Water was leaking through at the
rate of a few drops per minute.

The cracks were progressively sealed from the interior of the tunnel during
July and August using an industrial sealant called Xypex that expands in 
contact with salt water.

This work was completed in the week before the tunnel opened, and it is not
envisaged to be a long term problem, in fact some leakage was expected as the
concrete shrank and settled.  No cracks have appeared in the prefabricated
immersed tube units, constructed separately in Port Kembla.

The construction work at the northern end of Macquarie St near the Tarpeian
Way is for the Opera House underground Car Park and is in no way related to
the construction of the Harbour Tunnel.


OPENING EVENTS
--------------

The tunnel was officially opened on the afternoon of Saturday 29 August by
the Premier of NSW, John Fahey.  Two protestors from Greenpeace made a
belated attempt to disrupt the opening.

On Sunday 30 August, The Rotary Club of NSW held the "Tunnel Walk".  The walk
started at 7.30am, after the Governor of NSW, Rear-Admiral Peter Sinclair, 
performed the "people's opening" at 6.50am (which was protestor-free).

Approximately 140,000 people walked through the western tunnel (north to
south) from 7.30am until 3.30pm.  The event was very well organised and 
controlled, with none of the crush (except at North Sydney railway station!)
experienced with the Harbour Bridge walk in March this year.

At the exit point at the Lower Domain, Rotary and Sydney Extra held a concert
and fair, with food, drinks and entertainment of offer.  A 64 page colour
Tunnel construction souvenir book was also on sale for $5.

Due to media speculation that the tunnel was to open to traffic on midnight
of Sunday 30/Monday 31 August, a large number of cars began to queue at both
ends of the tunnel shortly before midnight.

It wasn't until 3.02am, Monday 31 August 1992, that Richard Bremner drove
the first paying car, the 1929 Ford Buick that was the first to cross the
Harbour Bridge, through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.

They were followed by hundred of eager, horn-honking motorists, eager to
drive through the tunnel in its first hour of operation (I was not one of
them).


EFFECT ON TRAFFIC
-----------------

The first test of the Tunnel came at peak period on Monday morning, which
normally sees traffic starting to build up on the approach roads to the
Harbour Bridge at around 6.30am.  Although there was some confusion for
drivers with having to cope with the new approach arrangements, the Tunnel
carried the morning traffic without a hitch, for the entire peak period.

Queuing time on the freeway was greatly reduced, almost non-existent in
comparison to the usual situation.  On the southern side, the normally
clogged approach to the Cahill Expressway heading north flowed freely.

In the following weeks, the extra capacity provided by the tunnel has, if
anything, led to even smoother traffic flows than initially experienced,
especially as drivers adjusted their routes and became familiar with the new
arrangements.

Almost 75,000 vehicles used the tunnel on its first full day of operation,
and since then, the wearing off of the "novelty factor" has seen a decrease
in tunnel traffic to around 64,000 per day.

However, it took only 14 days for the tunnel to carry its first million cars.

Also, extremely heavy congestion around the Taylor's Square area in the first
few weeks is improving with the reduction in traffic and traffic light
adjustments made in SCATS by the RTA in response to some fairly major shifts
in traffic patterns.

The extra traffic now flowing to the east of the City has led to renewed calls
by local councils and the member for Bligh, Clover Moore, for Stages 2 and 3
of the Eastern Distributor to be completed, comprising twin 2 km tunnels
running from the existing end of the Cahill Expressway, under William St (the
southbound underpass of William St was Stage 1), and under Taylor Square,
exiting in three tunnels to Moore Park Road, Anzac Parade and South Dowling St.

Completion of the Eastern Distributor would create an 11 km freeway bypass of
the City from Lane Cove to Moore Park.  RTA funds are currently not allocated
to this project until 1995.

The higher than expected (by about 15%) Tunnel traffic has meant a lower than
expected Bridge traffic, which appears almost deserted during the day.

The higher than expected overall traffic flows in the first month has reduced
fears that the toll funding guarantees to Kumagai Gumi and Transfield will
fall short, requiring the State Government to meet the difference.

Many fearless traffic experts are predicting that the number of cars will
simply increase to fill the available capacity (even though they've been
decreasing since the tunnel opened) and that the benefits of the tunnel will
be wiped out in only 6 to 12 months.  Time will tell.

The bus lane has been extremely successful, coupled with the Gore Hill freeway
(opened on Wednesday 26 August), has seen a dramatic reduction in the time
taken for north shore buses to get into the city.  Travelling times have been
slashed by as much as 15 to 20 minutes each way.  Bus timetables have been
altered as a result.

In the first week of operation, sections of substandard bitumen had to be
replaced, as it was being torn off the concrete floor of the tunnel.  It was
suggested that the new "quieter" mix of bitumen was incorrectly mixed in
places, leading to poor adhesion to the tunnel floor.  This work was done at
the expense of the Harbour Tunnel Company over three nights.  No extra work
has been required since.

Other teething troubles related to strong wind gusts emanating from the
central air outlet vent inside the tunnel, being at the point where the air
flows towards each end of the tunnel originate.  Also, a haze of exhaust fumes
became trapped at the northern exit portal.

Both of these problems were solved during the first week by adjustment of the
flow control vanes inside the ventilation ducts.  There have been no problems
with the air quality at the southern portal, despite predictions by some that
there would.

On the night of 7 September, the computer system malfunctioned and went into
fail-safe mode (where the tunnel is controlled by internal distributed PLCs).
Rather than risk delays in responding to an emergency should one have occurred
during this period, the tunnel was closed for 90 minutes until the problem
with the main computers was corrected.

On 9 September, some AM radio rebroadcast channels were shut down to make
adjustments to the rebroadcast system.

There have been no further leaks detected in the tunnel structure.

From October 11 to 15, the southbound carriageway will be closed from 11pm
to 5am to enable the first scheduled electrical and mechanical maintenance
check-up.  Each carriageway will be closed alternately for such maintenance
at eight week intervals.

So far, the tunnel has met all expectations in solving the cross-harbour
traffic congestion problems, and is quickly becoming just a part of the
everyday life of the city.


NEWSPAPER REPORTS
-----------------

SMH = Sydney Morning Herald  DTM = Daily Telegraph-Mirror

17/7/92 SMH "Drip, drip, drip under the Harbour"
23/7/92 SMH "Engineers raise new fears over tunnel leak"
26/8/92 SMH "Bus best bet for braving Bridge"
26/8/92 SMH - Harbour Tunnel Supplement (8 pages)
27/8/92 DTM - Harbour Tunnel Supplement (8 pages)
28/8/92 DTM - Tunnel Walk '92 Supplement (12 pages)
29/8/92 SMH "The Tunnel opens with $15m down the tube"
	SMH "Tunnel visionary is vindicated"
30/8/92 SMH "136000 trekkers under the sea"
	SMH "Spoilers miss out as Governor cuts loose"
	SMH "Be prepared for dreaded delays for a few days"
	SMH "For phobics, new road is a highway to hell"
	DTM "IT'S PERFECT - Tunnel opens with a dream run"
1/9/92	SMH "Tunnel breaks up the traffic jams, for now"
	SMH "Under the Harbour is plain sailing"
	SMH "You get over one traffic jam only to go under into another"
	SMH "Home owners claim damage"
	SMH "An idea before its time"
2/9/92	SMH "Tunnel closed for pothole repairs"
3/9/92	SMH "Tunnel closed for repairs"
4/9/92	SMH "Murray defends repaired tunnel"
5/9/92	SMH "Novelty of tunnel clogs approaches"
	SMH - Letters page (3 anti, 1 pro, 3 neither)
8/9/92	SMH "Missing link: the tunnel out again"
10/9/92 SMH "Tunnel loses AM reception"
14/9/92	SMH "Million make trip under the harbour"
2/10/92	SMH "More snooze time as underwater commuting takes off"
8/10/92 SMH "Tunnel to close for 5 nights"


TUNNEL DETAILS
--------------

Joint Venture Builder:  Transfield (Aust) and Kumagai-Gumi (Japan)
Contract signed:  June 1986
Construction cost:  $440 million (Fixed-Price contract, 1986 dollars).
		    $560 million (1992 dollars)
		    $750 million (total project cost)
Construction Commenced: 20 February 1988
Construction Completed: 30 August 1992
To be handed over to the Government:  1 September 2022

Tunnel length (including approach ramps):  2.80 kilometres
Tunnel length:  2.28 kilometres (0.96 km under water)
Vertical clearance:  4.4 metres
Carriageway width:  7.0 metres
Maximum depth:  27 metres below sea level
Number of Immersed Tube Units:  8
Length of Immersed Tube Units:  120 metres
Weight of Immersed Tube Units:  23000 tonnes
Number of lights in tunnel:  4620
Number of microprocessors in tunnel:  86
Number of closed circuit TV cameras in tunnel:  45
Total number of people employed during tunnel project:  4500

Number of buildings demolished to build the Harbour Bridge:  802
Number of buildings demolished to build the Harbour Tunnel:  0
Number of people killed building the Harbour Bridge:  16
Number of people killed building the Harbour Tunnel:  0

Number of immersed tube tunnels in the world:  70


FINAL WORD
----------

I'll leave the final word to the Sydney Harbour Tunnel Company.  I have before
me Issue #1 of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel Newsletter (issued quarterly by the
company during the project), dated December 1987.

It says:

"The Harbour Tunnel will be built over five years, and is scheduled for
completion by September 1992"

Well done, guys.
-- 
Brendan Jones  | ACSnet:  brendan@otc.otca.oz.au               | This space
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