Amazing wall marks end of first stage of upgrade

22 August 2017

Still aiming for Tumbulgum Road to open by Christmas

The first stage of the Tumbulgum Road upgrade, between Sunnyside Lane and Old Ferry Road, Murwillumbah, has been completed and now sports a coloured shotcrete cliff face fitted with a stainless steel wire trellis to support a future vertical garden.

The cliff face on the northern side of the road was cut-back by 3.5 metres, removing vegetation and the unstable rock and soil from above and making way for a wider road and footpath.

The face was then stabilised by punching massive soil nails through the cliff wall. Drainage lines and irrigation channel were then fitted to the face before it was sprayed with coloured shotcrete and finished with painted highlights.

“The wall looks absolutely amazing,” Infrastructure Delivery Manager Tim Mackney said. “It’s an irregular shape full of nooks and crannies that catch the light from different angles throughout the day. There are planter boxes inbuilt at the toe of the wall where vines will be planted at the end of the job. There’ll also be planter boxes at the top of the wall, which has been fenced off for safety.”

The first stage of the upgrade was beset by extreme wet weather during March and April, which caused some of the riverbank to wash away.

“We are yet to stabilise the riverside of the worksite and fully expect similar challenging site conditions in that area. The contractor doing those works is also tied up assisting other north coast councils with their flood-recovery works so has extended the completion date to the end of the year,” Mr Mackney said.

Council is currently on site, preparing the trench for the relocation of Telstra and other underground services. It will then construct the new 2.5-metre-wide shared-user path at the toe of the cliff so pedestrian and cyclist traffic can be relocated to the northern side before the next contract team arrives to stabilise the riverbank.

When the riverbank has been stabilised, Council’s construction team will return to site to build the new seven-metre-wide road.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, but at this stage the new road is expected to re-open before Christmas.”

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Caption: The amazing coloured wall at Tumbulgum Road, Murwillumbah.