On the 15th of October, the study trip visited the office of Royal HaskoningDHV in Sydney and went to the circular quay where they are currently developing an upgraded design for.
The circular quay was the landing spot of the ‘first fleet’ by captain Arthur Phillip and the core focal point from which Sydney expanded. The original hard construction is from the 1840s, when the first artificial shoreline was built in the southern section of the Sydney Cove. Original commercial shipping activities left by 1870 and since then, ferry terminals became dominant. The first ferry terminal was built in 1858 to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers arriving by boat. The terminal was further expanded with tram and train lines, an expressway and later, a train station as well. There were several large construction developments between 1940 and 1988 which have also led to further development of the area, relocations and upgrades of docks and expansions of the walkway space. Today, the circular quay is a major transport hub featuring 6 ferry wharfs and an overseas passenger terminal which receives a large cruise ship every other day.
Royal HaskoningDHV is currently in the process of redesigning the 4 pontoons and seawall of the circular quay. However, we first got to visit the office in Sydney where we got to enjoy a lunch and talk to Australian Young Professionals which was a good opportunity to connect and share experiences of studying in different countries and educational systems.
Our fellow dutchman David, who is employed by Royal HaskoningDHV Sydney as their Pacific Market Lead, Project Manager and Geotechnical engineer, introduced us to Royal HaskoningDHV as a company. Royal HaskoningDHV is an internationally operating engineering consultant active in many civil engineering fields. In Australia, and the surrounding Pacific island groups, RHDHV is focused on climate resilience and maritime related projects. The company is critical on which projects it accepts, as it evaluates the potential for the project to contribute to their company vision: “enhancing society together”. Specifically, the positive impact of projects is measured by their contribution to sustainable development goals.
Madhu, Project manager of the Quay renewal project, introduced us to the Circular Quay upgrade project in more detail and explained various goals they have to reach and some complexities in the project. The upgraded design should create more space for passengers on the promenade, to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers and tourists in the area. Additionally, more greenery should make the promenade a more welcoming, lush and aesthetically pleasing area for those passengers and tourists. The pontoon are also on the end of their lifetime and require modern replacements in the near future.
However, simply increasing the space and fixing the pontoons is not as easy. The current seawall lying underneath the promenade is a heritage site which cannot be touched, replaced or destroyed, even though inspections have shown it is not meeting safety standards. Therefore. Complex supporting design should support the existing promenade and further extensions of the promenade at a lower level are self-supporting but create a seamless boundary. TfNSW also requires the new seawall and promenade to be designed for a lifetime of 100 years instead of 50 (as is regularly the case and is also the case for the pontoons) which is a long time for a corrosive environment impacted by waves, tides and salty seawater.
The pontoons themselves are also a cultural heritage. The current ones are made from concrete. Even though, steel would nowadays be a preferred alternative due to its strength and flexibility, especially near salty waters, TfNSW still demands concrete pontoons for the preservation of this heritage.
Additionally, due to the importance of the area in the overall transport network and it’s location there is very limited space to carry out the construction activities. Therefore, Madhu explained, it was very important to phase the project correctly. RHDHV proposes in their design to renovate the quay walls and the pontoons one-by-one, so that commuters experience as little inconvenience as possible. Components should also be constructed at temporary sites in bays nearby which may not be always available, further increasing the complexity.
A final complexity in the project concerns the underwater jets of the cruise ships docked at the international passenger terminal create strong and turbulent currents in the bay which impacts the manoeuverability of the ferries and requires navigation impact assessments, especially for the wharfs located closest to the international passenger terminal.
For the macro studies, a PESTLE analysis was conducted by several groups. The excursions to Royal HaskoningDHV could be mostly linked to the economic or legal topic in our opinion as the project has a complex structure of liabilities and sub-contractors all eventually funded by Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW). They are responsible for communication with stakeholders and the circular quay consortium, financially backing the consortium and any compensations that may be necessary to limit the hindrance of stakeholders. The Circular Quay Consortium (CQC) consists of BESIX watpac, LendLease Construction and Capella Capital. Royal HaskoningDHV Australia is finally sub-contracted by BESIX watpac as the responsible lead designer of the upgraded pontoons and quay wall. However, due to limited expertise of Royal Haskoning in CP and End Fender design, these have also been further sub-contracted to other consultants leading to a difficult web of responsibilities, liabilities and cashflows.
Considering the meso studies, Urban planning plays an important role in this project as improved public space was one of the goals by TfNSW for this project. Aside from structural renewal to the Circular quay there are also design elements which factor in good-practice urban planning. The quay boulevard will be extended from 12 meters to 20 meters, which gives more space for urban greenery as well as place-making aspects such as extra seating and wharf aesthetics. Aside from efficient transport links, such urban planning practices play an essential role in user experience and thus impact trip decision making. In this way, renewal of the quay wall can further drive the modal shift towards public transit services in the area.
With the micro studies that are currenlty being conducted, the topic of smart and sustainable transport might have some interesting overlaps with the project. The Circular quay functions as the central transport node for ferries in the Sydney area. The Sydney Harbour is a major physical barrier which forces many commuters to take congested highway links into Sydney’s CBD. Therefore, many commuters, such as our own tour guide David, make use of the ferry connections every day as part of their journey of multiple transport modes.