You herd it here first: goats are Sydney Metro's latest employees, recruited for a special task at the Eastern Creek Precast Facility for Sydney Metro West.
The 20 Boer goats have made themselves at home at the purpose-built facility in Western Sydney, having been employed to graze away at the grass and vegetation surrounding the site. The herd includes 4 year old baachelors and kids as young as 1.
The goats will control weeds around the site, ripping them from their roots before they have a chance to flower and spread. Their work means we can reduce noise and emissions from having to use machinery to manage the grass, and the environmental impact of using pesticides.
The herd will be on site for three weeks to get the weeds under control, before moving on to a new home. They will be safely fenced in, with access to fresh water and shade 24 hours a day, and workers will regularly check on their welfare.
The goats will be great company for the 570 workers on site as they work to produce more than 150,000 concrete segments for Sydney Metro West.
The facility is made up of three sheds for each tunnelling package, each with its own production line, and was purpose-built to produce tens of thousands of concrete segments for the new 24-kilometre metro line that will connect Greater Parramatta to the Sydney CBD.
The goats will primarily be located around the Eastern Tunnelling Package shed, which is in the early stages of production with more than 1,100 segments already produced.
Production and installation of segments for the Western and Central tunnelling packages are well advanced, with more than 23,700 segments installed in the tunnels between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park, and 45,000 segments installed in the tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and The Bays.
Sydney Metro West will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, transforming Sydney for generations to come.
Find out more about the Sydney Metro West project
Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said:
"We're pleased to welcome these goats as the newest members of our team. They have an important job to do for our transformational project.
"The goats provide a natural solution to the challenge of weed control and will reduce the environmental impact associated with using pesticides and other machinery.
"No 'goats', no glory in the landscaping game for these mega projects, and these star employees have got the job."
