WORK will begin on the demolition of Dyers Crossing Bridge at Dyers Crossing in February 2015.
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On December 10 a meeting of council voted to support the recommendation that the Dyers Crossing Bridge contract be awarded to Delaney Civil Pty Ltd.
The $2,483,747 (ex-GST) contract is for the demolition of the existing bridge, approach road works and ancillary works.
The existing Dyers Crossing Bridge is a 55 metre six-span timber bridge that carries Wallanbah Road over Firefly Creek and is about nine kilometres west of Nabiac.
The bridge was built around 1950 and is in poor condition with a current posted weight limit of five tonnes and traffic restrictions in place. It has been about 12 months since motorists have had full access to the bridge.
Dyers Crossing residents have been campaigning for almost 20 years for the deteriorating bridge to be replaced.
Council has already spent $1.1 million on preliminary works for a number of infrastructure projects in the Manning Valley, including the design of plans to replace Dyers Crossing Bridge and Dickensen's Bridge at Moto as well as reconstruction works on Manning Point Road from Old Bar Road to Bohnock Bridge and sections of Gloucester Road.
Federal government funding for the replacement of Dyers Crossing Bridge came to council's coffers following the controversial redirection of funding from The Northern Gateway project. The issue polarised the community earlier this year after the federal government reneged on funding the Greater Taree Roads and Bridges Package which according to council "was a fully funded allocation in the 2011-2012 Budget".
Council secured the funding allocation in 2011 via the federal government's Community Infrastructure Grant Program. It was a two stage funding program with $1.1 million allocated in stage one and $11.4 million in stage two. However, in December 2013 federal member for Lyne David Gillespie announced that federal funding had been withdrawn.
Fast forward to July and Deputy Prime Minister and minister for infrastructure and regional development Warren Truss announced that the federal government would provide $10 million to assist council to deliver the Greater Taree Roads and Bridges Package. Mr Truss said funding for the project had been transferred from the proposed Taree Northern Gateway project which had not received the anticipated matching contributions.
So with the dollars allocated, council called for tenders and now the community is keen to see the project begin.
According to the report to council, the on-alignment replacement and method of construction will allow for continued use of the existing bridge during the initial construction phase, with a 10-day road shutdown required towards the end of the bridge build.
During the 10-day closure, the nominated detour will be via Avalon and Firefly Roads which will add about 13km or 16 minutes to a trip from the Dyers Crossing Produce Store to Nabiac.
Council will develop a communications plan to ensure appropriate and timely notification and ongoing updates are provided to all local residents, emergency services and other road users to ensure that the impact of this closure is well managed.
The council contract specifies completion by October 2015, however Delaney Civil Pty Ltd propose a 20-week construction period beginning on February 17, 2015 with work anticipated to be completed in July 2015.