Botany Road Underbridge
The Botany Goods Line is situated on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Their traditional occupation of the area is believed to have been for at least 20,000 years prior to European arrival in 1788.
The Botany Goods Line was constructed between 1909 and 1925. Originally intended to transport offal and skins from the abattoirs of Botany, it was used by numerous trades and industries that grew around the line. The Goods Line serviced the Bunnerong Power Station from 1927 and continues to connect the industries at Port Botany to the rail and road network through the Cooks River Container Terminal.
The Mascot (Botany Road) Underbridge was constructed in 1922 and forms part of the original Goods Line. The underbridge has aesthetic significance as a landmark structure over Botany Road with the brick arched piers and wing walls. The bridge is unusual in its construction method, employing reinforced slabs and steel girders to accommodate the skew in the span across Botany Road.
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| An early, undated picture of Botany Road Underbridge showing workers on the line (NSW State Archives NRS-17420-2-20-629/009) | Transporting steel cylinders on the Botany Goods Line, 1965. Cooks River – Long Steel Cylinders on Rail/Trucks © State of New South Wales through Museums of History NSW (NRS-21573-3-[6/12047]-PR7200) | Vic Solomons, Botany Road passing under rail overbridge of Goods Railway Line Mascot, 1960. City of Sydney Archives A-01169710 |
Robey Street Underbridge
The Botany Goods Line is situated on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Their traditional occupation of the area is believed to have been for at least 20,000 years before European arrival in 1788.
The original Robey Street Underbridge was the first welded steel railway bridge on the NSW rail network. It was built in 1958 as part of the realignment of the rail line around Sydney airport following a crash in June 1950 between an Ansett Airways DC3 aircraft and a coal train. Along with the original O’Riordan St Underbridge, which was built in 1925 to the south of this location – the bridges represented examples of the original infrastructure of the Botany Goods Line.
The original Robey St bridge was constructed with a steel plate web truss, ballast top and concrete abutments. The success of the fabrication and service of the Robey St Underbridge initiating the change over from riveted to welded steel construction, and bolts displaced rivets wherever non-welded joints were required.
In 2023, as part of the Botany Rail Duplication Project, the original Robey and O’Riordan St bridges were dismantled and replaced with new concrete double track bridges. The construction of the new Robey St bridge occurred over a five day closure of Robey Street and included installing two 36.6 metre long bridge girders weighing 330 tonnes each.
Twenty-four planks were installed to form the bridge deck using a 600 tonne crawler crane and a 650 tonne mobile crane working simultaneously. Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) which is extremely durable and has a fast curing time was utilised to ensure works were completed efficiently and safely.
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Kellogg’s factory siding on the Botany Rail Line
The Botany Goods Line is situated on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Their traditional occupation of the area is believed to have been for at least 20,000 years before European arrival in 1788.
The Botany Goods Line was constructed between 1909 and 1925. Originally intended to transport offal and skins from the abattoirs of Botany, it was used by numerous trades and industries that grew around the rail line. Because of the Botany Line’s design as a simple two-track line, sidings were constructed to connect the factories to the main line.
The Kellogg’s cereal factory, which opened in 1928, relied heavily on the Goods Line to supply its raw materials. Capstans were a key component in the siding and allowed rail workers to move train cars independently of their engines. By attaching heavy ropes to the train cars, rail workers were able to bring them in and out of bays or storage areas with relative ease.
A manual and an electronic capstan have been recovered from the Kellogg’s siding.
Capstan in use in Railway Freight Yard of the LMS. Archive film 97489