A MAJOR milestone for the Newcastle Inner City Bypass has been bridged with the first of 42 massive concrete girders lifted into place over the Jesmond roundabout.
Project contractor Fulton Hogan is using one of the largest cranes in Australia to build six bridges on the $480m Rankin Park to Jesmond section of the bypass.
Transport for NSW region north director Anna Zycki said the first bridge will be built using 27 girders which are almost 30m long and weigh about 53 tonnes each.
"Having these girders lifted into place is really showing the Newcastle community the size of this project, as a key part of the bypass is being built before their eyes," she said.
"It's a fantastic milestone for the project to be at this point and it shows how much work has been going on on-site to have finally gotten to this stage."
The Rankin Park to Jesmond project is the fifth section of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass, a key four-lane divided road connecting the western suburbs of Newcastle.
When it's finished, the 3.4 kilometre shortcut is expected to provide a faster and more reliable journey while improving safety on surrounding roads, with crashes predicted to drop by about 30 per cent.
Ms Zycki said it will make an enormous difference for drivers, removing up to 30,000 vehicles a day from Lookout Road, Croudace Street and Newcastle Road.
"It takes out 11 sets of traffic lights, so that's a huge improvement for drivers who are going north-south across the city and it will take about 40 per cent of the traffic off Lookout Road," she said.
Road closures are expected on Wednesday night for more girders to be lifted into place across the existing roadway.
Traffic was diverted from Newcastle Road on Monday night for the Super-T girders to be moved into place.
They connect the two piers built on the roundabout to create a three-span bridge.
The bypass is expected to open to traffic in late 2025, including a northern interchange at Newcastle Road, another with access to John Hunter Hospital and a southern interchange at Lookout Road.
