The most anticipated transport infrastructure project in the Hunter for decades - the M1 Pacific Motorway extension - is quickly becoming a reality.
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of steel, concrete and rock have been moved into place along the 15-kilometre route over recent months.
Jason Filewood captured a bird's-eye view of the action on the $2.1 billion project earlier this week for his YouTube channel Big JayDog Adventures.
Using a drone, Mr Filewood traced the bypass from Black Hill to Heatherbrae over eight minutes.
It has attracted close to 30,000 views over three days.
"I've been waiting all my life to have a bypass through this nightmare. My travels to the north will never be the same when this is done," one viewer enthused.
A joint venture between John Holland and Gamuda is building the 10-kilometre southern section of the extension from Black Hill to Tomago, including a new bridge over the Hunter River.
Seymour Whyte Constructions is building the 5km northern section bypassing Heatherbrae.
The project is scheduled to be finished in the middle of 2028.
Recent months have seen major earthworks, utility relocation, temporary pavement installation and bridge construction.
The construction team achieved a significant milestone in August when nine concrete girders were installed over the train line at Tarro during a scheduled rail shutdown.
A second span was also completed over the Aurizon access road. There are now 25 of the southern section's 791 girders in place.
Work on the new interchange at Raymond Terrace is also taking shape with a temporary southbound traffic change in place to allow bridge construction to Progress.
The relocation of the Chichester Trunk Gravity Main which will enable the team to complete work next to the New England Highway was recently completed at the southern end of the project between Black Hill to Tomago.
Following extensive consultation with the community and stakeholders, a revised construction method has been selected to build the over-water section of the 2.6-kilometre bridge across the Hunter River following community consultation.
A single, 80-metre temporary rock platform will now be constructed on the western side of the river, together with a small jetty on the eastern side, to allow barges to dock and to build the bridge in the deeper sections of the river.
The M1 extension to Raymond Terrace will remove up 25,000 vehicles a day from the 60-year-old Tarro Bridge rail bridge over the New England Highway.
The Newcastle Herald revealed concerns about serious structural issues with the bridge last December.
The company responsible for maintaining the bridge urged the state government to close it to traffic immediately in October. Transport for NSW rejected the recommendation but closed it partially for three weeks of emergency repairs.
Transport for NSW has since undertaken work shore up the pylons for another 10 to 20 years.
