The Cronulla line in Sydney is set to reopen on Monday July 15 following the completion of works to replace a rail bridge over Gannons Road in Caringbah.
The original bridge, which was built in 1939, was removed and replaced last weekend in one piece with the assistance of a 750-tonne crane, fulfilling a commitment made by state transport minister Andrew Constance and Cronulla MP Mark Speakman in December 2017.
The replacement required more than 20 pieces of heavy machinery and 450 tonnes of pre-cast concrete. The new bridge is designed to provide enough room for the road to expand to two lanes in each direction in keeping with the design of a second bridge on Gannons Road that was constructed in 2010 to support the launch of a new track on the line.
Speakman referred to Gannons Road at the time as a “bottleneck for local traffic” with no room for pedestrians or cyclists on approach to the bridge. The MP said on Twitter that the installation of the new bridge would allow the road underneath to be widened, “greatly improving traffic flow”.
Replacement buses that launched on July 6 between Sutherland and Cronulla to accommodate the closure will now run until Sunday July 14 prior to the line’s reopening the next day.