Natural disaster recovery work underway on the M1 Motorway at Mount Ousley
More information can be found on the project page
Transport for NSW Media Release: 16 Feb 2023
Natural disaster recovery work is underway on the M1 Motorway at Mount Ousley to make essential repairs and ensure the road is more resilient to future severe weather events.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said, with detailed designs finalised by specialist geotechnical engineers, repairs will be carried out with minimal impact to motorists.
“These repairs are necessary after severe weather events in February, March and July last year resulted in landslips that caused damage to a section of Mount Ousley Road,” the Transport for NSW spokesperson said.
“Despite the unprecedented and continuous rain, we were able to keep this important road corridor safely open to traffic while carrying out detailed investigations.
“These investigations showed a solution was needed to improve drainage under Mount Ousley Road to help stabilise the slope and ensure the road is more resilient to future severe weather events.”
The Transport for NSW spokesperson said the work will be completed away from traffic and have minimal impact to traffic flow on Mt Ousley Road. There will be some intermittent and short-term lane closures to enable machinery and equipment to be placed on site.
“Specialist drilling contractors have started boring to install the drain pipes this week,” the spokesperson said.
“Before surface repairs can begin, it is important we address what is going on under the road.
“Detailed geotechnical investigations have been carried out with specialist equipment including a LiDAR survey to identify slope topography, drilling for soil samples and geophysical investigations to identify geology of slope, installation of inclinometers to measure slope movement and piezometers to measure ground water pressure.
“The solution developed following these investigations is to install 12 drainage pipes under Mount Ousley Road using horizontal directional drilling techniques.
“The pipes will be perforated to help water drain from the ground under Mount Ousley Road.”
Work started on Monday 13 February and will take about eight weeks to complete, weather permitting. Further work will be required to complete the drain system and repair the road surface.
Transport for NSW will keep the community informed as the repair work progresses.
More information can be found on the project page.
