Council awards third package of flood damage work

05 January 2018

Fourth and final package to follow soon

Council recently awarded the third large package of minor to medium-sized flood remediation works to contractor Hazell Bros QLD following the 31 March flood. A fourth and final package is expected to be announced soon.

These packages of work have been bundled in geographic areas to minimise travel times between jobs and maximise on-the-ground efficiencies. This third package comprises repairs on 29 roads in Bilambil, Carool, Clothiers Creek, Cobaki, Condong, Duranbah, Duroby, Hopkins Creek, Mount Warning, Murwillumbah, Numinbah, Piggabeen, Pumpenbil, Tumbulgum and North Tumbulgum. It contains more than 80 damage items and is worth about $1.35 million.

Meanwhile work has started on the first of the major road repairs of flood damage on Tweed Valley Way, South Murwillumbah, at Blacks Drain.

There are about 50 more big jobs currently in various stages of investigation and design. It is expected that most of these will be awarded by April 2018. These jobs account for the bulk of the shire’s roads repair bill at about $16 million but will take many months to complete once awarded.

Council now estimates the March flood caused approximately $28.9 million of damage to roads and bridges. To date, over 1000 minor road and bridge damage items have been repaired at a cost of $5.5 million.

Under current estimates, Council expects to recover $20.3 million of its roads bill through Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Assistance (NDRRA) and grant funding, leaving a possible shortfall of $8.6 million to be funded from Council’s future operating and capital budgets. These figures continue to change as we firm up damage estimates, work to maximise funding opportunities and complete NDRRA assessments.

NDRRA has strict funding rules, including that costs are recoverable only where Council uses contractor resources. That is, Council cannot use its own workforce to repair flood damage.