3D digital model

The Hunter Expressway project team engaged a company to create an interactive, 3D digital model of the expressway.

The 3D model is based on the road design data for the Hunter Expressway and gives an accurate representation of the road design, bridge structures and interchanges of the expressway.
Roads and Maritime Services (formerly Roads and Traffic Authority) uses this 3D model at its presentations to community groups and at its monthly community information sessions.

The model allows people to see what it will be like to drive on the Hunter Expressway when the project is finished. It also allows people to see the expressway from a variety of points-of-view, which helps their understanding of how the project's six interchanges will operate.

Movie files have been created from this model. Two of the movie files fly from one end of the project to the other, giving the viewer an "aeroplane view" of the Hunter Expressway. The files fly from east to west and from west to east. You can access these files at the links to the right. Due to the size of the files, they have been uploaded to the website at a resolution of 400x224.

These files are available on disc as wmv files. If you would like a disc with the movie files posted to you, please contact the project team by email: hunter_expressway@rta.nsw.gov.au, phone: 1800 001 267 or  post to Hudson Bawden, Hunter Expressway, Reply Paid 85519, Cooks Hill, NSW, 2300.

South Maitland Railway

The Hunter Expressway project team reached a significant milestone in October when the first train ran over the new rail bridge on the realigned track at Loxford.

Roads and Maritime Services (formerly Roads and Traffic Authority) and its contractor Daracon have been working closely with the South Maitland Railway on the track realignment, which is an essential part of the $1.7 billion Hunter Expressway project.

The new Hunter Expressway will intersect with the South Maitland Railway line at Loxford, near McLeod Road.

Daracon has completed stage one and two of the project, which has involved the construction of the new rail bridge and the realignment of approximately 900 metres of railway track.

The new portion of the track was successfully commissioned during a five-day track closure in October. The first train ran on the new rail alignment on Saturday 15 October 2011.

The next stages of the project include earthworks, which will be completed before the end of 2011. The earthworks include the widening of the embankment to allow for a maintenance access track and any potential future railway track duplication.

The final parts of the project include the installation of throwscreens and fencing for access, safety and security reasons, which will be completed before the end of 2013.

Now that the railway has been successfully realigned, excavation underneath the bridge can start for the construction of the Hunter Expressway alignment.

This work to raise and realign the railway has allowed it to remain operational during the construction of the expressway and into the future.

The South Maitland Railway is of regional heritage significance and the steel truss bridge was designed in harmony with the heritage of the railway.

The South Maitland Railway was once a part of an extensive network of colliery and passenger railway lines which served South Maitland coalfields in the Hunter Valley.

The railway is currently used to transport coal to the Port of Newcastle. The South Maitland Railway extends from Pelton, south of Cessnock, to the Main Northern Railway line at Maitland.