COM: Glenelg Tramline Upgrade

[jk1237]

Agreed, great pics by sam. Hey I reckon that they have put up some of the actual copper overhead electric wire down King William St. By the way, looking down King William St with the tram poles and wires looks great. People thought it may have looked ugly, I think it looks cool!

[bmw boy]

Also if they extend the line to North Adelaide and North Tce (City East Direction),

Never ever would they extend a tram line over the eastern half of North Terrace while poles and overhead wires are necessary* to power trams. It would be considered far too ugly an addition to such an iconic boulevard. And while I don't always find these overhead wires ugly in most areas, and can in fact add some character, I would agree that they'd ruin the look of North Terrace east if they were situated there.

* I believe there is technology around where trams can be powered through the tracks themselves and don't require overhead cables, but the SA Government did rule out the use of this technology with the current upgrade because of the dangers involved with having 'live' tracks.

aaah i see

i thought that was the government's overall plan for the medium term future (post city loop)

[BillD]

Friday night the second overhead went up (no photo's sorry)

Here's shot taken just outside the GPO.



Work continues at South Tce



Bill

[SRW]

Never ever would they extend a tram line over the eastern half of North Terrace while poles and overhead wires are necessary* to power trams. It would be considered far too ugly an addition to such an iconic boulevard. And while I don't always find these overhead wires ugly in most areas, and can in fact add some character, I would agree that they'd ruin the look of North Terrace east if they were situated there.

* I believe there is technology around where trams can be powered through the tracks themselves and don't require overhead cables, but the SA Government did rule out the use of this technology with the current upgrade because of the dangers involved with having 'live' tracks.

There is a system in Bordeaux that uses a technology whereby trams collect power from a third rail only as they pass over it, avoiding 'live' tracks and overhead wires. I don't know whether the Government considered it, but I doubt they would ever do so enthusiastically. The technology would have required an upgrade to the complete system, which would have made the extension politically too expensive — remember, there was outrage at just $20 million! Furthermore, the technology has had some problems (teething and otherwise), and remains unimplemented elsewhere — think O-Bahn.

I agree that there would be opposition to any East End extension based on aesthetics, but I don't know that that would ultimately win out. My concern, somewhat minor, is how the Christmas Pageant would work with overhead wiring in the way

[Bulldozer]

Work continues at South Tce

Does anyone know why they're using wooden sleepers instead of concrete?

[AtD]

My concern, somewhat minor, is how the Christmas Pageant would work with overhead wiring in the way

That's an odd thing to be worried about. It's had to deal with regular power lines for its entire existence. There's still some on Grenfell Street.

[UrbanSG]

Well from what I could see on the way through King William Street today they are just concreting the track, no sign of pavers. I thought the King William Street section was going to be paved? Obviously that was too expensive.

[Will409]

My concern, somewhat minor, is how the Christmas Pageant would work with overhead wiring in the way

That's an odd thing to be worried about. It's had to deal with regular power lines for its entire existence. There's still some on Grenfell Street.

Not only that but until 1958, the pageant had to deal with the tram system back then as well and everything operated smoothly. It is basically just history repeating itself.

[SRW]

That's an odd thing to be worried about. It's had to deal with regular power lines for its entire existence. There's still some on Grenfell Street.

I was being more than a little sarcastic there. I was trying to point out that all sorts of arguments can be mounted, of varying merit. What has to be considered is whether they outweigh the benefits of an eastern loop extension.

[Will409]

I made another (cameraless) run to the city today and can report on this. Concreting along King William Street is nearly done. There were two concreting 'gangs' on today. One group worked north from Grenfell/Currie Streets towards Rundle Mall/Hindely Street while another gang worked north towards Grenfell/Currie Street.

The overhead wiring is very nearly done with the copper wire put up along the entire tram route with the exception of Victoria Square south. Most of the final copper connections are in place along King William Street while North Terrace is being worked upon. The only section on King William Street that hasn't got overhead up at the moment is the crossover at Rundle Mall but that is only a minor point. Other then that, all the final connections need to be done and the platforms/buildings finished and we are ready to rock and roll.

At the very southern end of Victoria Square at Gouger/Angas Streets, I did notice some techs working on the traffic lights for the new tram lights.

What should be noted in sam's photos is that curve from the southern end of the platform has a substantial amount of timber forming around it. In the middle of the rails and the concrete slab that surrounds the rails is an empty pit which will be for the grass that is put in (and should be in by the end of the week). All coming along very nicely.

[Pants]

Will, sorry to read about your camera packing it in on you mate. Thanks for all the previous updates, being up here in Brisbane, and not able to see how the project was progressing for myself, they were much appreciated

[Will409]

Bulldozer, the reason why they are using timber rather then concrete sleepers for the points is because you can have zero tolerance for mistakes when it comes to joining the rails together so you can have a smooth ride over that section and prevent derailments. It is easier to set. If you did it on concrete (while possible and done at Woodville station), all mistakes would be set in, well, concrete! With a timber sleeper, you can atleast reset the rails into the correct position which shouldn't happen anyway.

[Cruise]

Damn will since your cameras stuffed up now im gonna have to get up off my arse and go have a look now lol

[Norman]

New photos from me:

http://photos.galoresoftware.net/main.php?g2_itemId=205

[Adamo]

okay ill edit this whole post for the third time since TRANSPORT SA have now posted STAGE 6!

this is the last major stage HOW EXCITING!

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/tramexte ... finalstage