Pittwater Online News

Sydney Water states they are renewing a 500 metre section of the existing water main along Old Barrenjoey Road in Avalon Beach, between Barrenjoey Road and The Crescent. 

''You may remember, we completed some investigations between November 2022 and April 2023 to help us plan for this work. Since then, we’ve been working behind the scenes to refine our plans for construction.'' Sydney Water state

''We know that Old Barrenjoey Road is a busy street, that is much loved by locals and visitors. While our work will be disruptive, we will make every effort to reduce our impact on local businesses, residents, and pedestrians as much as possible.

Following feedback from residents and businesses, and in consultation with Northern Beaches Council, we’ve planned this work to start in March 2025, to avoid working over the peak summer season. Our work is expected to finish by the end of October 2025, weather and ground conditions permitting.

Most of our work will be done at night to minimise impact on traffic and local businesses. Our night work hours are 8 pm to 5 am, Monday nights to Friday mornings (four nights a week). We won't work Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.''

We’ll install the new pipe in Section 1 using the open trench method. Each night, we’ll dig a trench, lay the water main, backfill the trench, and temporarily restore the road.

We’ll repeat this process as we move from The Crescent to Dunbar Park. The work will take about 22 weeks to complete.

We’ve found technical challenges in Section 2, including other buried services, soft ground, and high groundwater. We’ll use a tunnelling method to install the new water main in this area. This involves digging entry and receival pits at either end, and installing the main by tunnelling between the two points. The work will be done during the day and should take about 12 to 16 weeks.

We’ll have two crews working at the same time so that Section 1 (night work) and Section 2 (day work) can be done together. This helps us finish more work in the quieter months and avoid the next summer peak season. The below image provides an overview of how we will stage this work.

We’ll start night work on Section 1 first and we’ll confirm when the second crew will start on Section 2.

After the new water main is installed, we’ll do final connections, clean, and prepare the new pipe for use. Once that’s done, we’ll pack up and restore any areas affected by our work.

The final connections and restoration work is usually less disruptive and should take about 12 weeks to complete. This part of the work will also be done at night. 

We’ll need three temporary storage areas to support these works including:

In Section 1, we’ll need to temporarily close part of Old Barrenjoey Road where we’re working at night. Our friendly traffic controllers will maintain access for residents, and parking on either side of our work zone. General traffic will be detoured via connecting streets.

At the end of each night shift, we’ll restore the road so it can be used as normal during the day.

We’ll need up to borrow up to eight parking spaces for equipment storage next to our work area. This storage area will move along the road as we progress.

Our work area will be very space constrained during the tunnelling work in Section 2.

An overview of the traffic and parking changes for Section 2 is shown on the map below.

Join our email list to get weekly updates about our construction activities in the months to come. Click here to join. 

You’ll only receive emails about this project, and we won’t share your details without your permission.

If you have further questions about our work, please email us at confluence@sydneywater.com.au or call 1800 943 119.

We’ll have monthly drop-in sessions in Dunbar Park. Our team will be there to discuss our work and answer any questions you have.

When: First Wednesday of every month, between 1 pm and 4 pm.