Construction Information and Noise Forecast

About the construction project

The new runway safety area will be an 8,100 square metre concrete land bridge to provide a cleared area measuring 90 metres by 90 metres from the end of the runway strip to assist in the deceleration of an aircraft.

Construction will involve the installation of more than one hundred 27 metre long pre-cast concrete structural beams, each weighing more than 25 tonnes.

Construction of the runway safety area is a complex task. This is because its construction is complicated by the presence of some of Sydney's essential infrastructure and the proximity of the Cooks River. Located at the western end of the east-west runway are:

• Sydney Water's South and Western Suburbs Ocean Outfall Sewer (SWSOOS), the city's largest sewer.
• One of EnergyAustralia's high voltage power cables.
• The M5 East Motorway tunnel under the Cooks River.
• Other infrastructure including Sydney Airport's perimeter road, a gas pipeline and various power and fibre optic cables owned by Airservices Australia. 

Construction program

As part of carrying out this essential aviation safety project, every possible option has been examined in order to minimise the noise impact on surrounding communities. Construction work will be carried out 7 days a week. There will also be extensive night works including:

• Excavation and filling works.
• Removal of substantial volumes of excavated material.
• Pavement construction work.
• Construction of a stormwater detention basin.
• Installation of new services.
• Construction work relating to the retaining wall.

However, undertaking construction work at night does not mean that the east-west runway can be returned to full operations during daylight hours because construction of the runway safety area will require:

• The presence of a giant pit at the end of the runway.
• 35 metre high cranes being used to place piles into the ground.
• Building materials that must stay in place for extended periods of time (such as formwork which must stay in situ while concrete dries).

While some aircraft will be able to use the east-west runway to take-off to the east, these obstacles at the western end of the runway pose a serious risk to aircraft and therefore passengers, which is why operational restrictions will be required.

The construction program has been developed taking into account historical weather data about the likely occurrence of high cross-winds. This is an important consideration in minimising potential disruptions for passengers as if there are high cross-winds while the east-west runway is not fully operational then flights may be delayed or diverted.

Construction work commenced in mid-October 2008. By mid-June 2009, the first phase of construction is scheduled to be complete and restrictions on the use of the east-west runway will ease significantly.

Please click on the link below to download a copy of the plans for the new runway safety area:

 Runway Safety Area plans (200.67kB)

Construction noise forecast

Each month, Sydney Airport will publish a construction noise forecast report. This report will detail the type and footprint of construction noise likely to be experienced in the following month as a result of the project.

The Conditions of Ministerial Approval for the Runway Safety Project specify the following acceptable construction noise levels: 

The predicted noise levels for March 2010 can be downloaded from the following link:

  Construction noise forecast for March 2010 (906.39kB)

The following construction activities were included in the modelling:

Earthworks, structure works, asphalting and road construction.

In summary, based on the predicted noise levels presented, compliance is expected during daytime, evening, evening shoulder and night-time periods for proposed Runway Safety Project activities occurring during March 2010.