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| region = | lga = }} The Light Horse Interchange is a motorway interchange located in Eastern Creek, New South Wales, Australia at the junction of the M4 Western Motorway and the Westlink M7. The interchange is the largest in the southern hemisphere and was opened to traffic in December 2005.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Westlink M7 Motorway )〕 The interchange was named in honour of the Australian Light Horse Brigades of World War I, who trained nearby at the former Wallgrove Army camp prior to deploying on operations abroad. ==Design and construction== In response to a population boom in Sydney's western suburbs, the New South Wales Government's Sydney Orbital Roads Strategy identified the need for a limited access north-south link. The Westlink M7 project would connect the three existing east-west motorways: the M5 South Western Motorway, the M4 Western Motorway and the M2 Hills Motorway catering for up to 60,000 vehicles per day and providing faster routes to the Sydney CBD.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=M7 corridor )〕 Following a request for tender in 2001, a joint venture between engineering firms Leighton Holdings and Abigroup were awarded the contract in 2003 to design and construct the motorway and interchanges, including Australia's first complete four-level stack interchange. Construction of the Light Horse Interchange began in 2003 at the site of the existing M4 Wallgrove Road exit. The new motorway overpass consisted of two spans, and carrying the main carriageways of the M7 over the existing M4. 802 individual bridge segments were used to create the main spans, 8 connecting ramps and a separate bridge carrying a shared pedestrian and cycle path.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Fact Sheet - Light Horse Interchange )〕 The Wallgrove Road M4 overpass was retained, with new ramp flyovers reaching a height of above the existing roadway and ramps. Due to the complexity of the interchange no access to the M7 was provided. During the construction phase between 2003 to 2005, both the M4 Western Motorway and Wallgrove Road continued to carry traffic as normal. This required the use of balanced cantilever construction methods to position pre-cast concrete bridge segments at heights of up to above the active motorway.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Australian Construction Achievement Award 2007 Conference Paper )〕 Upon completion, electronic tolling was implemented for vehicles entering the Westlink M7, allowing continuous flow of traffic. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Light Horse Interchange」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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