Sydney Football Stadium construction on schedule
Construction of the new $828 million Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park has reached a major milestone as work continues despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The first concrete slab was poured at the site on Wednesday as the NSW Government promised it would be ready in time for the 2022 NRL Grand Final.
To complete the stadium, a further 40,000m³ of concrete will be poured – the equivalent of 16 Olympic swimming pools, which will require more than 6500 truckloads of concrete deliveries.
With the foundations now in place, the next phase of the build will start to see the stadium rise from the ground.
The 42,500-seat stadium was initially due to be completed by mid-2022, but was recently pushed back to the end of September 2022, putting the hosting of the NRL Grand Final at the new stadium that year in doubt.
However, acting minister for sport Geoff Lee said the government was sticking to its promise of delivering the new stadium a month before rugby league’s showpiece event in October.
The Sydney Football Stadium had been earmarked to host the NRL Grand Final due to the planned major redevelopment of ANZ Stadium, however the NSW Government recently abandoned those plans and the Olympic Stadium is now back hosting events.
Assuming ANZ Stadium remains untouched, it’ll still be able to accommodate 41,000 more fans than the new stadium, which makes a relocation for the Grand Final appear highly unlikely.
A peak inside the Sydney Football Stadium construction site. @2GB873 pic.twitter.com/7HaNL2Qk9N
— Clinton Maynard (@ClintMaynard2GB) August 4, 2020
Mr Lee said the pandemic would not hinder the schedule, despite staggering shift times and maintaining social distancing while on site.
“John Holland has done a remarkable job,” he said.
John Holland was awarded the multimillion-dollar contract at the end of 2019, which blew the original budget of $735 million by almost $100 million.
