Western Sydney Airport Project

By 2050, Western Sydney is forecast to be home to around four million people, roughly equivalent to either Melbourne or Sydney in 2016. The development of the Airport is integral to the activation of this area and is one of the cornerstones of the NSW Government’s Western Sydney Priority Growth Area Plan.

The new airport site is located on Commonwealth-owned land at Badgerys Creek, covers an area of approximately 1,780 hectares, is approximately 50km from Sydney’s CBD and 15 to 20 kilometres from major population centres such as Liverpool, Fairfield and Penrith.

In April 2014 the Commonwealth announced that Badgerys Creek will be the site for the Western Sydney Airport. In July 2015, the site was formally declared as the Airport Site for WSA, under the Airports Act 1996.

In November 2016 the Western Sydney Airport Business Case was endorsed by Infrastructure Australia with a finding that the project would deliver in excess of $11 billion to the national economy. Construction on Stage 1 is expected to commence in 2018, with operations beginning in the mid-2020s.

TBH’s Role

TBH was engaged to inform the business case through the provision of constructability advice, planning and long-term master scheduling.

Review of relevant draft project documentation, confirmation that it was fit for purpose and identifying omissions.
Procurement advice to determine the optimal delivery strategy operations. Western Sydney Airport
Constructability advice which contributed to the constructability report which addressed:
- Construction strategy
- Site factors
- Industry capability and capacity
- Execution risks
- Optimisation opportunities
Develop a detailed master schedule which included:
- Complete authority approvals ranging from environmental and government to utilities
- All internal commonwealth and preferred operator processes
- Reference design through to IFC.
- Procurement
- Early works
- Construction including extensive earthworks, runways and aprons, terminal buildings and support facilities
- Commissioning, ORAT and handover to operations
TBH also provided a number of rail options which included underground stations and tunnelling.