Road and bridge flood damages nearing completion
21 June 2018
95% done; 100% by the end of the year
At the end of this month, Council will have repaired 1445 flood damages on our roads and bridges following the March 2017 flood.
“To have completed 94.5 per cent of road and bridge flood repairs so far ahead of the close of submissions for funding under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) is an outstanding achievement,” Manager Infrastructure Delivery Tim Mackney said.
On 1 April last year, Council had a total of 1529 damage items on its books, equating to $29.8 million in additional work over and above its usual annual works program. And, more than 50 of these items were major damages, requiring geotechnical and design expertise to repair. As investigations continued and further information became available, this estimate was adjusted down to $27.7 million.
Of the 84 jobs yet to be completed, 19 are for guardrail damage and will be done before the end of next month. These jobs could not be scheduled earlier because pavements and embankments needed to be repaired first.
Then, 64 jobs will carry through to August. They have all been let under seven major flood restoration contracts. These repairs include large bottomside slips and structural repairs to bridges and culverts that needed engineering investigation before repairs could start. These contracts also include some non-flood related works in the same areas that have been included for efficiency gains and will be funded by Council.
All work in the first group of minor works contracts, which comprised the larger number of repairs, is due to be completed by the end of August. Work on the seven remaining major works contracts will continue but is on track for completion before the end of the year – a full six months ahead of funding requirements.
The final damage item is the replacement of Byrrill Creek Bridge. The old bridge was washed away in the flood and replaced within weeks by a temporary one-lane timber bridge salvaged from the debris. But, instead of repairing the bridge under NDRRA funding, Council successfully applied for grant funding under the Federal Government’s Bridges Renewal Program and secured $2.17 million; half of what is needed for a new two-lane concrete bridge. The new bridge is currently being designed and is on schedule to be built by June 2019.