{"id":760370,"date":"2026-06-25T23:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/760370\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:45:12","slug":"new-bridge-at-victoria-pass-to-link-sydney-with-western-nsw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/760370\/","title":{"rendered":"New bridge at Victoria Pass to link Sydney with western NSW"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a convict-built bridge failed 110 days ago, causing the main route linking Sydney and the state’s west to shut, the New South Wales Government has unveiled its plans to reopen the road.<\/p>\n

A new bridge will be built at Mitchell’s Causeway on the Great Western Highway.<\/p>\n

The state government has announced construction is expected to start in the next few weeks, with the road expected to reopen this time next year.<\/p>\n

The new bridge will be built over the existing 200-year-old structure.<\/p>\n

The road at Little Hartley, just past Lithgow, has been closed since March due to instability, leading to long diversions for trucks and commuters and affecting visitation to businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Great Western Highway was shut in both directions at Victoria Pass on March 9, 2026. (ABC Central West: Xanthe Gregory)<\/p>\n

“The new crossing will be located, as we’ve thought, on the same alignment, supported by deep piles anchored into the bedrock,” NSW Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said in an interview with the ABC this morning.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“The bridge will be constructed above the existing causeway, which will enable [it] to be stabilised and preserved and also allow for a future additional lane.”<\/p>\n

Support for businesses<\/p>\n

The state government also announced an additional $20 million to increase the financial support available for affected small businesses.<\/p>\n

Grants have now been increased from $10,000 to $25,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The move comes after the government released a $3.5 million support package<\/a> to “buffer” businesses and councils from the financial impacts of the closure earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\"road<\/p>\n

The road winds through the steep Hartley Valley. (Supplied: David W Noble)<\/p>\n

The support has been available to small businesses experiencing financial hardship in Mount Victoria, Hartley, Little Hartley and Hartley Vale.<\/p>\n

The scheme has now been expanded to eligible businesses in a wider area, including Lithgow, Oberon and Blackheath.<\/p>\n

This means assistance has been expanded to around 1,900 more businesses.<\/p>\n

Original bridge preserved<\/p>\n

The original convict-built bridge will remain in place, while the new bridge is built above it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Aitchinson said it would undergo stabilisation and grouting works to strengthen and preserve it.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want to put traffic straight onto it; that’s why we are doing the piling that will go through that causeway into the bedrock,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It will essentially sit a little bit above the old bridge, but the old bridge will be preserved.”<\/p>\n

Construction to begin in July<\/p>\n

The state government announced Seymour Whyte had been selected to construct the new crossing after an accelerated procurement process.<\/p>\n

Transport for NSW received 10 submissions from engineering firms vying to replace the convict-built bridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a convict-built bridge failed 110 days ago, causing the main route linking Sydney and the state’s west…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,262396,262393,266260,266261,241584,44,363134,16859,262394],"class_list":["post-760370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-convict-bridge","tag-great-western-highway","tag-mitchells-causeway","tag-mount-victoria","tag-new-bridge","tag-news","tag-seymour-whyte","tag-transport-for-nsw","tag-victoria-pass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}