The original traffic arrangements for servicing the Sydney Opera House (SOH) necessitated that delivery vehicles share the open forecourt and boardwalk areas with visitors, complicating logistics and resulting in several pedestrian incidents per year. The Vehicle Access and Pedestrian Safety (VAPS) project resolves this conflict by diverting freight traffic via a cut-and-eover and mined tunnel into a new sublevel loading dock with access tunnels linking it to the existing SOH basement and ground level facilities. The design and construction of the tunnels are discussed with particular attention paid to the risks involved in excavating under a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site. The project was further complicated by low rock cover, high surcharge loads, a high horizontal stress regime, and a skewed, heavily loaded, 17 m span flat roof intersection between the main access tunnel and loading dock. Construction progress is discussed, with particular attention paid to excavation methods, ground support and comparisons between design assumptions and observations from the robust ground and structural instrumentation program.
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