By rosebell
The repair work on the damaged eastern cutting track leading to the Lapstone Hill Tunnel in New South Wales, Australia, has been commenced by Blue Mountains City Council.
Considering that after multiple storm events that caused significant damage to its surface and nearby Sydney Water infrastructure,the governing body of the City of Blue Mountains stated that the track, accessible from Governor’s Drive, has been closed to the public since April this year.
Clearing debris and relaying the track to restore public access, are the current work that are estimated to be completed by late November, contingent on weather conditions.
According to Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill: “With the extreme rainfall, water coursed down through the tunnel causing a large amount of damage, including extensive erosion along the eastern cutting track and a significant land slip.Since that time Council has been assessing the damage and the heritage implications for the tunnel and its approaches.”
The responsibility of providing the fund for the restoration project is up to New South Wales Crown Lands, the current land manager.
As a state heritage-listed railway tunnel from the former Main Western Line, constructed between 1891 and 1892, Lapstone Hill Tunnel, also known as Glenbrook Tunnel.
During World War II, it was repurposed for the storage of mustard gas and later transformed into a mushroom farm.
While the concentration of the initial phase of council work is on the state-owned tunnel has involved the removal of waste, contamination management, and clearing vegetation, the extraction of 1,700 tonnes of rubbish and 1,200 tonnes of sediment from the eastern cutting track will be done.
In order to determining the future use of the tunnel, the Blue Mountains City Council intends to hold further community consultations and strategic planning with the remediation process nearing completion.
The scheduled date by Council to reopening the Lapstone Hill Tunnel to the public is 2025.
