Domain Objective: “Delivery of the project on time, on budget, and to specification.”

WSA began early earthworks on-site on 24 September 2018. Site clearance and decontamination works were carried out within the early earthworks footprint, which allowed the establishment of site facilities and the commencement of cut-to-fill earthworks operations. As at 30 June 2019, approximately 1,132,000m³ of earth has been moved, with an estimated 700,000m³ remaining in early earthworks.

Road works are underway for the Badgerys Creek Road re-alignment, which runs through the Airport site. Construction on the Badgerys Creek Road bridge has commenced, which will be 49 metres wide and 39 metres long when completed.

The site fencing contract was awarded to JNC Group, an Indigenous-owned business. Works commenced in January 2019 and will continue through the different stages of construction.

The TransGrid high voltage overhead cable relocation was completed in May 2019, removing one of the key obstacles for construction of the first runway. The cables have been rerouted underground around the outskirts of the Airport site, which enabled the old transmission towers to be demolished.

With the Airport site now an active construction site, WSA has established and is monitoring compliance with policies relating to Safety, Environmental Management, and Sustainability. In establishing these policies, WSA has ensured that best practice is utilised and policies will be adhered to throughout the life of the project.

Environment

WSA has satisfied its 2018–19 target of meeting all relevant conditions in relation to environmental performance. This is evidenced through the environmental inspections and reviews completed by the Airport Environment Officer (AEO) who attended the Airport site regularly during the reporting period with no significant matters identified and nil notices issued.

Environmental conditions are inevitably impacted by an expansive infrastructure project such as this. WSA has identified environmental risk as inherently high within its risk profile and will continue to establish appropriate control frameworks for the proactive management of this risk.

The Site Environmental Management Framework (SEMF) is WSA’s overarching environmental management document to support the implementation of the nine Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMPs) and associated sub plans. The CEMPs were approved by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development (DITCRD) in September 2018 and amended to include the Experience Centre and Site Office.

Implementation of the Remediation Action Plan (RAP) began in August 2018 and continued during the reporting period. Asbestos and other contaminated material were identified within the Early Earthworks, Experience Centre and Site Office sites and managed in accordance with the RAP. Due to the unanticipated volume of asbestos identified and the desire to achieve efficient environmental outcomes, we revised the RAP (2018) with learnings to be applied proactively in
future contracts.

The Early Earthworks contractor conducted vegetation clearing to enable earthworks to begin. The clearing was completed in accordance with the Biodiversity CEMP including the recording of the quantity of threatened species impacted in accordance with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Part 13 Permit Requirements. The annual compliance report is available on the WSA website.

WSA is committed to continuous improvement through effective execution of CEMPs, and will continue to monitor, track and review the processes which form the SEMF. To prevent material harm to the environment during Airport construction, WSA took internal assurance measures. We also arranged independent environmental audits to assess the operational effectiveness of our controls.