Work on the Sydney Metro West project has reached a major engineering milestone, with the team at the future Westmead Station completing the installation of a large temporary formwork structure. Delivered by the consortium of Gamuda Australia and Laing O Rourke, the achievement represents significant progress on the Western Tunnelling Package. 

The operation involved the creation and installation of a custom built formwork system, the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Standing seven storeys tall and weighing 315 tonnes, the structure was designed to fit within the narrow confines of the underground station cavern, where clearance on either side measured only a few millimetres. 

Over an 82 hour period, crews guided the enormous arch from the station box into its position using a synchronised jacking and winching system. Once secured, the formwork enabled a concrete pour of more than 1,900 tonnes to construct the cavern’s walls, which are 2.5 metres thick. With this work completed, the Westmead station cavern now stands fully lined at a height of approximately 26 metres. 

The milestone follows nearly a year of planning and coordination between multiple teams. The build relied on several crawler cranes, extensive underground preparation and a carefully sequenced installation process. Key partners contributed to the success of the effort, including Altrad RMD Australia, which designed and supplied the specialised formwork system, and Kenny Constructions, which dedicated more than 8,000 hours to assembly and installation tasks carried out at Eastern Creek and on site at Westmead. 

Digital engineering also played a crucial role. Gamuda Malaysia’s Digital Engineering team developed a detailed three dimensional animation of the entire process, helping the wider project team visualise installation stages, assess risks and refine the construction method ahead of time. With the formwork stage complete, work at Westmead now moves into the next phase of the station build.

Source: Gamuda