A group of around 20 industry professionals and students attended an exclusive tour of the WestConnex motorway control centre in Sydney in mid-May. Organised by the ATS Tunnel Systems, Operation and Maintenance Group (ATS-SOM) in association with Transurban, the event provided a unique opportunity for attendees to gain insight into the extensive WestConnex network, consisting of five road tunnels and interchanges spanning a total of 62.5km.
The atmosphere of the event was described as “inclusive and friendly,” with the presenters from Transurban—Tassos Plakogiannis, Ashley Parnell, Kashan Iftikhar and Colin Rymer—praised for their engaging and passionate delivery, providing technical details and interesting information about the tunnels and their interfaces.
“The motorway control centre for WestConnex is the biggest one I have seen and very impressive,” says He-in Cheong, a Senior Tunnel Systems Engineer from Aurecon.
“However, the real highlight for me was learning about the operational procedures and critical aspects that differ from the perspectives of designers and contractors,” she says.
The importance of such events to the industry was underscored by discussions highlighting the importance of effective communication among operators, maintainers, designers and contractors. As noted during the event, knowledge-sharing between teams is critically important to avoid inconsistencies in design and to circumvent any assumptions during operation. This was illustrated by the diverse elements incorporated into the cohesive WestConnex network, which is comprised of tunnels that were both built by Transurban and acquired post-construction, requiring the proficiency of the operations team across a broad remit of systems.
At the end of the visit, all attendees commented on how much they appreciated having a deeper understanding of tunnel operations and the sheer scale of the WestConnex network and control centre.
“The tour provided a valuable platform for learning and industry engagement, highlighting the importance of continuous dialogue and knowledge-sharing in the field of tunnel systems and infrastructure,” continues He-in.
“I even cut my holiday short in order to attend this event and it was absolutely worth it!”
The ATS would like to say a huge thank you to Transurban for hosting this control centre visit in Sydney, as well as recent tunnel control centre site visits in Melbourne and Brisbane too.
