The historic Meccano Set intersection in South-West Sydney has just been rebuilt after more than five and a half decades since it was first erected back in 1962.
The iconic overhead gantry, a gateway for motorists travelling between Brisbane and Melbourne, was showing its age as there was evidence of rust and peeling paint on the surface of the 25-tonne structure. Investigations into the structural integrity of the large steel beams showed that the overall construction was still structurally sound, however works were required to maintain the landmark.
The Roads and Maritime Services engaged the community and it was clear that the only way to move forward was to replace the 55-year old structure with an identical one, using new and stronger beams. The community feedback revealed that around a staggering 90 percent wanted the design to remain.
However, it was not only the steel structure, but the traffic signals themselves that have also been upgraded. When the site was first installed, the traffic signals were incandescent bulbs which consume 150 watts of power, and evolutions in traffic signalling technology has seen the replacement of these incandescent and quartz-halogen bulbs to LED units.
The new overhead gantry beams were pre-fabricated off-site, and the latest state-of-the-art BRAUMS Traffic Signal Lanterns were fitted, before the entire assembly was delivered to site. The BRAUMS Traffic Signal Lanterns consume 175 percent less power than the incandescent signals that were initially installed at the site and utilise world-leading central-light-source LED technology.
BRAUMS Lanterns to be fitted to brand new Meccano Set beams
To further push the advances of technology in the traffic industry, the traffic signal controller at this intersection is the ATSC4, developed and manufactured locally by Aldridge Traffic Controllers. This controller runs the latest version of RMS TRAFF software, namely VC6, which brings reliability, flexibility and safety improvements to the intersection and over-arching traffic signal network.
This, as well as the high-performing optical components of the BRAUMS traffic signal lanterns, allow the iconic intersection that Sydneysiders love keep pace with the modern world.
Updated Meccano Set in operation