Three timber bridges in Myall Lakes will be replaced with stronger, sturdier, and more resilient concrete bridges under the NSW Nationals in the state government’s Fixing Country Bridges Program.
Nationals Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said more than $3 million will go to MidCoast Council to upgrade three ageing timber bridges.
“We are building what matters through the $500 million Fixing Country Bridges program. We’ve already rolled out funding for more than 452 bridges,” Mr Farraway said.
“These bridges will play a vital role in connecting rural and regional communities to markets, jobs and essential services such as schools and hospitals.
“We are helping councils build bridges that are wider, higher and stronger and support greater load limits. Allowing greater volumes of freight will mean a boost for transport efficiencies and productivity in agriculture and other rural industries.
“We know many ageing timber bridges are susceptible to damage during natural disasters and extreme weather events. That’s why we are replacing them with modern materials that will make them more resilient and easier to maintain.
“Some bridges that have been replaced under this program withstood recent floods and continued to provide safe access for communities – had they still been made of timber, they would likely have been badly damaged or destroyed.”
Nationals Member for Myall Lakes Steve Bromhead said the announcement was a big win for the Myall Lakes electorate with $3.3 million to fix three timber bridges.
“Bridges keep our community connected, after the extreme weather we have experienced this year, it has become evident that we need to upgrade our infrastructure to be more resilient against mother nature,” Mr Bromhead said.
“I’m very pleased that we will build stronger bridges that will keep our region safe in times of an emergency.”
MidCoast Mayor Claire Pontin welcomed the funding for the three bridges.
“Of the MidCoast’s 666 bridges, 165 are timber,” Ms Pontin said.
“The MidCoast has approximately 10% of the state’s timber bridges and we are reliant on the NSW Fixing Country Bridges program and the Australian Government’s Bridges Renewal program to upgrade our timber bridges to stronger construction materials.”
More than $300 million was awarded to councils under Round 1 of the Program, to replace more than 400 timber structures across 53 LGAs, and in July this year, a further $49.25 million was provided to replace 34 bridges across 21 LGAs.
List of projects:
Jack Faheys Bridge – Caparra Road, Caparra $1,878,690.00
Wyses Road Bridge No.1 – Wyses Road, Bunyah $756,107.00
Norries Road Bridge No.1 – Norries Road, Bunyah $733,040.00
