Tunnel vision

As part of the NSW Government’s stadia strategy to promote a strong cultural and sporting sector a new Sydney Football Stadium was built with state-of-the-art facilities.

Artefact was contracted to provide a program of archaeological monitoring and salvage during the construction work on the stadium.

Beneath the work site is a section of the State Heritage Registered Busbys Bore. Built between 1827 to 1837 the bore (or tunnel) was a vital part of Sydney’s infrastructure supplying fresh water to the town.

OUR
SOLUTION

To ensure a high-quality outcome Artefact assigned in-house industrial heritage expert and excavation director Dr Iain Stuart to the project. Dr Stuart is President of the Royal Australian Historical Society and a serving Board Member of the International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage. He has worked extensively on industrial heritage projects in Australia and around the world. 

Our focus was to manage possible impacts on Busbys Bore from the construction of the Sydney Football stadium, Precinct Village and multi-level carpark in compliance with the project conditions of consent.

Our archaeological excavation work located some sandstone walls and some unexpected finds - namely glass bottles from the late 1800s. We conducted extensive archaeological monitoring of Busbys Bore shafts 9 and 10 of using a variety of techniques including vibration testing. This process ensured that any inadvertent impacts from construction were avoided.


SUCCESS

After extensively reviewing historical documentation and undertaking excavation works Artefact’s advice re the location of the Busbys Bore spur was incorporated into the conditions of consent for the Sydney Football Stadium Precinct Village and multi-level carpark and Artefact continues to provide advice to the project.

Furthermore our monitoring work ensured Busby’s Bore was not damaged during the construction of the project.


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Top image: Inspection of Busbys Bore in 1975. Photo by George Lipman, courtesy of Fairfax Media archive. 

Bottom image: Specialist technicians fitting vibration monitoring equipment to one of the Busbys Bore shafts. 

CONTACT

HOLIDAY CLOSE
Our offices will be closed from Monday 23 Dec 2024 and will re-open on Monday 6 Jan 2025.
For unexpected finds and urgent project enquiries, please contact our Heritage Manager Stephanie Moore at stephanie.moore@artefact.net.au or call 0420 403 581.
For all other enquires please contact our General Manager Martin Edmunds at martin.edmunds@artefact.net.au or call 0404 877 490.
We wish you a peaceful holiday break and look forward to working with you in 2025.

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