Warringah Freeway Pavement Sydney 22 Years Of Minimum Maintenance Service (Jun 1990)

The Warringah Freeway (FI) extending north from the Sydney Harbour Bridge was commissioned in 1968. It was the first major length of urban concrete freeway pavement in Australia. The pavement, including shoulders, is reinforced concrete with a total length equivalent to 42 km of a two-lane road. Built under a single contract this Project remains, in area, the largest concrete road contract completed in Australia. The concrete pavement on the Warringah Freeway has an asphalt surface on the travelling lanes, a common practice for urban concrete roads built in the 1960s. After 22 years of service, a period longer than the normal design life expectancy of most roads, the freeway continues to provide excellent service and has required only minimal maintenance, with the original asphalt still in place. This article provides an outline of the design and construction standards employed on this project, the minimal maintenance which has been required and the current condition of the freeway pavement. (The metric units used in this article have been converted from the imperial units employed at the time of the design and construction of the pavement)