Lilyvale railway tunnels
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| Lilyvale railway tunnels | |
|---|---|
  Location of Lilyvale railway tunnels in New South Wales  Lilyvale railway tunnels (Australia) | |
| Location | Illawarra railway, Lilyvale, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 34°11′21″S 151°00′12″E / 34.1892°S 151.0032°E |
| Architect | NSW Government Railways |
| Owner | Transport Asset Holding Entity |
| Official name | Lilyvale railway tunnels |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 2 April 1999 |
| Reference no. | 1179 |
| Type | Railway Tunnel |
| Category | Transport – Rail |
| Builders | N.S.W. Government Railways |
Lilyvale railway tunnels are heritage-listed railway tunnels on the Illawarra railway line at Lilyvale, City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and built by the then-New South Wales Government Railways. The property is owned by Transport Asset Holding Entity, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]
The difficult geological formation of the Illawarra escarpment created many problems for the railway engineers and contractors in building the single line from Waterfall railway station to the (Old) Stanwell Park station so that when it opened in 1888 it was nearly two years after the opening of the southern part of the line to Bombo.[1]
This difficult section of terrain resulted in the construction of six tunnels of varying length of which nearly all were abandoned in 1915 when a new double track deviation line (the "Helensburgh Deviation") was built from just south of Waterfall to Coalcliff.[1]
The two southern tunnels at Lilyvale are known as Tunnels No 5 and 6. Tunnel 5 has since been vested to the Department of Lands. The two tunnels are used to provide road access to the west of the line.[1]
The 1915 double track tunnel is known as the Deviation Tunnel and remains in use today.[1]
In 1986, the line was electrified as far as Wollongong, necessitating the installation of new electrical infrastructure within the 1915 tunnel.[1]
Description
The precinct contains two tunnels: the disused original 1888 tunnel, now known as the Lilyvale Road Access Tunnel, and the 1915 tunnel, which remains in use as the Lilyvale Railway Tunnel.[1]
The tunnels are located southeast of Helensburgh, west of Lady Wakehurst Drive.[1]
- Lilyvale Road Access Tunnel (1888)
The original tunnel is of a single line brick oviform construction. The tunnel in still used for service road access (known as Road Access Tunnel Number 2) on the rail system and retains all of its entry detail and interior curved brick walls in both plan form and in section.[1]
- Lilyvale Railway Tunnel (1915)
This is a semi-circular arched double line brick tunnel with brick buttresses and a sandstone keystone to the centre of the arch.[1]
- Other nearby related elements
A further 1888 road access tunnel (Number 1) is located further west of the two tunnels and is now owned by the Department of Lands. An easement for road access is current across the site.[1]
The tunnels were in good condition at the time of their heritage listing and appear largely intact.[1]
