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Light Horse Interchange[edit]
The Light Horse Interchange in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is Australia’s largest interchange. It is a four-level stack interchange at the junction of the M4 Western Motorway and Westlink M7. The interchange is named after the Australian mounted military units that had a training camp at the existing Wallgrove Road.
Key Facts[edit]
There are 18 bridges in the interchange. The two main bridges are the Westlink M7 across the M4 Western Motorway. The northbound bridge is 431 metres long and the southbound bridge is 397 metres long. Eight ramps connect the Westlink M7 to M4, all with electronic toll collection, enabling motorists to access both motorways without the need to stop. The interchange includes a separate bridge for the Westlink Cycleway so that cyclists and pedestrians can travel safely through the interchange. The interchange is 23 metres above the M4 at its highest point and 16 metres above the Wallgrove Road bridge. Two million cubic metres of earth have been placed at the interchange and 5,000 square metres of retaining walls have been built.[1]
Australian Light Horse Sculpture Parade[edit]
Located at the interchange is a sculpture with a central mast and four sets of radiating markers representing the Australian Light Horse on parade. The sculpture is dedicated to the Australian mounted military unit. The soaring 55m high mast with its reflective crown, located at the centre of the interchange, provides a focus to the sculpture. The mast and crown symbolise a torch in the dark. Red, the colour of the Flanders poppy that bloomed throughout Palestine, is symbolic of the blood of supreme sacrifice and is the colour chosen for the sculptural group. The abstract plumage attached to each marker represents the emu plumes attached to the Light Horsemen's slouch hats. The white band is a reference to the departing soldiers' innocence of war. Australian quarantine regulations prevented the return of any horse that had survived the battles. As a reminder of every Light Horseman's loss in leaving his horse behind, there is no physical representation of the horse in the sculpture.[2]