Closing in 2013, the Sydney Monorail’s station infrastructure sits extinct throughout the city. A number of the stations have been earmarked for demolition by Place Management NSW with development slated for the Pyrmont swing span bridge.
The monorail infrastructure has led to the bridge degrading at an alarming rate. Place Management NSW Archaeologist Wayne Johnson tells the Sydney Morning Herald the removal of the stations is imperative for the $50 million redevelopment of the bridge.
“What we found when the monorail was removed was that the stanchions that held it up had penetrated to the piers that support the bridge, and those penetrations had allowed water in,” he says.
“The monorail itself actually contributed to the degradation of the bridge. We found a lot of water damage and these are some of the hidden unknowns of the work we are doing.”
Carl Broockmann is the Project Director for the bridge’s reinvigoration. It is regarded as the oldest electrically operated swing span bridge on the planet. Broockmann believes the monorail stations could potentially become a much loved relic if handled correctly.
The monorail is privately owned and therefore makes the demolition situation difficult. The monorail was regarded as having potential to alleviate Sydney’s traffic woes but was shut down in 2013 after approximately 70 million passenger journeys.
Mirvac, who is overseeing the swing span bridge redevelopment, says it has received approval for the demolition of the Harbourside monorail station, but with no formal timeframe in place.
