Richmond - Sydney's second airport?

[Grahame Hutchison]

Good grief, they were talking about an airport at Duffy's Forest back in 1968 when I was a student pilot. Long forgotten about that one as a possibility, but it would have been a great GA option for me back then.

[Brenden S]

Why do they just built a airport out in the middle of the ocean like some of the real large airports around the world, then you have no one to complain about noise then!

[Russell D]

I still reckon YSRI would be pretty good as a secondary. Opens up nicely for most of those living in the western subs.

Besides, with YSRI, you already get most of the infrastructure on site (minus transport upgrades). And 28 already has ILS installed.

My only concern would be due to the "fogging in" effect which is worse at Richmond way than Sydney...

But, a 30min car ride to YSRI or spotting is miles better than the hour and a half out to YSSY.

[Chris Griffiths]

Originally Posted by Brenden S

Why do they just built a airport out in the middle of the ocean like some of the real large airports around the world, then you have no one to complain about noise then!

Really which ones?

[Ash W]

Hong Kong and Osaka would be two such examples, but clearly not really in the open ocean though. So not really a practicle answer for Sydney as here any offshore airport would be in open ocean. Also where would the fill come from to make this island? In Hong Kong they knocked down a couple of hills on two islands to make 1 big flat one, nothing like that near Sydney.

[Chris Griffiths]

Ash,
Thought those might be the answers I would see.
Osaka, Kansai is built in a bay where the water depth is about 25 mtrs and yes HKG was built pretty much by leveling two islands into the gap between them.

There is only one place near Sydney where the geography is similar and remotely suitable for building/reclaiming into an airport. A swampy field to the south of the city.... oh wait, we already built an airport there, half of which is built in the bay much the same way as HKG or KIX.

The fill for 16R/34L extension at SYD?, the planners and engineers of the '70s were planning ahead and provided a dumpsite for the excavations that were to become the rowing regatta site at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Actually leveling Lion Island into Broken Bay might work but I think the likleyhood is slim!

[NickN]

Planning and infrastructure has always been poor in NSW, especially Sydney.

Look at the M5 and M2 motorways. Who in gods name builds a 2-lane motorway to serve the entire west and south-west in the nations largest city by population?

When they built those motorways, not a single thought was given to what would be required 10 or 20 years on. Now we have the M5 which is a car park every day of the week and the M2 which isn't much better.

I sincerely hope that whatever government does in moving forward they put a little more vision into their planning. God knows how they plan to extend the current infrastructure we have to keep up with future needs.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by NickN

Look at the M5 and M2 motorways. Who in gods name builds a 2-lane motorway to serve the entire west and south-west in the nations largest city by population?

I hear you! They seemed to have it right in 1932 when they built the Harbour Bridge to be wide enough for 8 lanes and rail, when it probably wasn't even needed to be that wide at the time. Why don't they think about the future?

[Dave Powell]

Originally Posted by Rich W

Why don't they think about the future?

Because it costs more, and by developing only the minimum possible capacity it shifts the fiscal problem onto some future Government.

[Andrew P]

my post about Duffy Forest was in jest, anyway the land proposed back in the 70's for the Airport is now the Terry Hills Golf Club