There are safety and security concerns as bridge management across New South Wales comes under-fire, with the government working with fund programs to prevent future calamity.
A significant number of bridges in NSW are aging, having been built between the 40s and 60s, and so far are yet to be put under maintenance or renewal programs thus increasing the safety risks.
Neighbourhood watch member, Paul Harrison has personal experience with flooding of the bridge in Koloona Avenue, Mount Keira.
“The bridge itself was only supposed to be temporary; it was supposed to be pulled down and made into a single span underneath, so the water could run through,” Mr Harrison said.
“Now, what we have with this bridge, they’ve haven’t done anything to upgrade it, to make it safe for the residents, so there’s no money spent on it, and after the 98 flood (1998) … they never replaced the temporary railing.”
Source (IPWEA)
Bridge Knoweledge CEO and managing director, Peter Mahar said the age and quality of bridges from a national standpoint was concerning.
“70 per cent of Australia’s bridges are more than 50 years old and beyond their design life, warning of the risk of a bridge failure in Australia, whether it be a total collapse or something minor or with worsening traffic,” Mr Mahar said.
Source: Bridge Knowledge
Mr Harrison has experienced multiple flood events due to the bridge’s insufficiency against floods and intense storms, which has led to damage both to his house and other homes in the area.
“(Our neighbours) sat on the roof waiting to be rescued, where this blocked up (bridge), it just went through the whole house, they had to knock out a window and brickwork, and they had a little bobcat in there taking all the mud out,” Mr Harrison said.
Midcoast Council general manager, Adrien Ponuccio has expressed how councils have the financial power to make changes in the future to bridges to prevent further damage.
“We have 671 bridges because we’ve lost a few in the floods of last year,” he said.
“About 170 of those bridges are timber. Not that you would sell or could sell council’s transport assets, but they’re valued at $3.1 billion.
“Council’s total asset pool is around $6 billion.”
Source (IPWEA)
A program has been put in place by the NSW government to resolve the issue.
The Fixing Country Bridges program supplies regional and rural community councils with a shared $500 million budget to support the upgrades and replacements of bridges.
The program is set to conclude in June this year after supporting 500 bridges across 58 local government areas.
Additional reporting: David Camplin
