Transport Access Program 3 – Towradgi Station Upgrade

Key benefits include:

• A new footbridge over the rail corridor connecting the platforms of Towradgi Station
• Two new lifts which will have three stops including platform level, road/pedestrian level and footbridge level. Lift landings will also have weather protection canopies in the waiting areas
• New footpaths to connect Towradgi Road and Weber Crescent to the station and the new footbridge, as well as footpaths to the new accessible car spaces and kiss and ride area
• Two accessible parking spaces and a kiss-and-ride zone on Weber Crescent
• New stairs on either side of the footbridge
• Replacing the existing station toilet with a new family accessible toilet
• Replacement of platform shelters
• Minor regrading and widening of the station platforms
• Ancillary upgrades such as upgrades to closed circuit television (CCTV), lighting, handrails, drainage works, landscaping, way finding and signage
• Construction of a new station services equipment room (SSER) next to Weber Crescent.

TAP3 projects strive to achieve maximum social, economic and environmental outcomes and value for money. The approach to embedding sustainability on the TAP 3 program is to look at the main activities of the program and identify sustainability opportunities and outcomes.

While the scope of the TAP 3 program will focus on upgrades to meet Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport (DSAPT) requirements, the upgrades may also facilitate the use of public transport by:

• Enabling more people to transfer from using private vehicles to public transport by making stations more accessible;
• Designing interchanges to enable people to access stations by sustainable and healthy modes such as walking and cycling and by bus;
• Providing accessible parking at stations to enable trains to be used for most of the journey instead of driving the whole journey

Rating Highlights

Climate Change and GHG emissions - Cli-1 and 2, Ene-1 and 2

• Respond to climate change

A comprehensive Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) was undertaken with relevant stakeholders (inc. TfNSW, Degnan, SMEC, etc). Using TfNSW’s climate risk assessment tools

• Energy/GHG Reductions

The project design has modelled a 25% lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reduction over base case, aligning to the TfNSW Sustainability Plan goals and Transport Future Energy Strategy.

This was achieved through maximising the efficiency of the design of the lift shaft ventilation system, the inclusion of passive ventilation louvres, the use of solar street lighting poles, and the installation of LED lighting

• Renewable Energy

1. The project will use 5 solar streetlights with no reliance or draw on the municipal grid. These will be used on council land in the landscaped areas adjacent to the platforms (note: these cannot be used on platforms due to DDA requirements).
2. The project construction site electricity is 100% GreenPower sourced.

Improved environmental outcomes Wat-1, Mat-1, Dis-1 to 5

• Improve Water Consumption

The project design has modelled a 18.3% lifecycle water use reduction over base case, supporting the NSW Government’s commitment to resource efficiency.

• Materials Impact Reduction

The project design has modelled a 6.1% material enviropoint reduction over base case, supporting the NSW Government’s commitment to resource efficiency.

• On-site Environmental Performance

The project achieved 13.21 of a possible 15.95 points for Discharge credits (82% of that available), showing Degnan and TfNSW’s commitment to good environmental practices. The project is aiming to have approx. 95% of the available points for Dis- credits verified at As-Built.

Community connection / Respect of culture and heritage - Hea-1

Connecting with communities / Respect culture and heritage

The project has undertaken several community-based initiatives. The three put forward for the Design submission were:

• Inclusion of an Adult Change Table: In line with the TAP3 program’s intent of making transport accessible to a wider range of abilities, Wollongong City Council requested that the station’s toilet facilities be augmented with an adult change table for use by relevant members of the disabled community. This is a first in network.
• Local Supply and Employment: The project’s high levels of local employment will have significant economic effects for the area, and
• Aboriginal Involvement in Design: The project has put considerable effort into Aboriginal Community Involvement through design of both the Urban Design Plan and, later, through the Landscaping Design. The project has overcome significant barriers to consult with Coomaditchie and has directly input their designs as the project’s landscaping design (specifically using the totems of the whale and the ray). Images of these totems will be sand-blasted into the project’s seating areas.
• Aboriginal Involvement in Design: The project has put considerable effort into Aboriginal Community Involvement through design of both the Urban Design Plan and, later, through the Landscaping Design. The project- undertook significant consultation with Coomaditchie and has directly input their designs as the project’s landscaping design (specifically using the totems of the whale and the ray). Images of these totems will be sand-blasted into the project’s seating areas.

   
Extracts from the project’s Landscape drawings

These design inputs were facilitated by the involvement of Aboriginal architects, Ngulaway Design Inc., TfNSW’s Aboriginal Engagement Team, and Coomaditchie, a local Aboriginal Corporation ‘dedicated to raising the esteem, pride and dignity of young Aboriginal people in their Aboriginal culture and heritage’.

Inn - Inn-1

Innovative Construction Materials

The project has collaborated with University of Wollongong’s Sustainable Building Research Centre (SBRC) to undertake a commercial trial of a novel air-entrained concrete material, described below:

Use of novel Air-entrained Concrete

Degnan and the SBRC have partnered to advance the sustainability offerings of both parties through a commercial trial of UOW’s Air-Entrained (Foamed) concrete material in façade panelling.

This foamed concrete panel will be used as cladding for the Station Services Equipment Room (SSER) building and is designed to reduce the overall weight of cladding and façade materials under non-structural applications. Innovations include the:

• Use of concrete foaming agent, EABASSOC (approx. 2.5l per m³). This material is used in the production of foamed concrete (also known as Cellular Lightweight Concrete, CLC, or Aircrete),
• Use of re-claimed materials in the form of glass dust. This material is a waste product from the recycling of broken glazing and would otherwise have been sent to landfill,
• Replacement of steel reinforcement with the lighter C-Grid mesh reinforcement. Originally, this was to allow for ease of transport but reductions in embodied carbon are also likely, and while this material cannot be used for structural purposes, lower framing and associated materials will likely be needed for cladding/façades, reducing the overall materials impacts of the project.

Exceeding benchmarks for small project pathways

This project has exceeded the small projects pathway through completion of the full credit requirements.

• Hea-1, and
• Urb-1

Project Website

To find out more information about this project, visit the Transport for NSW website:

https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/transport-access-program