This project is in its early stages, however one of the first tasks to complete is a geotechnical assessment of the approaches and river bed to help with the new bridge design.

The geotechnical works began on Tuesday, November 11 and will run for two weeks. During this time, boreholes will be drilled in the Barrington River between Tuesday, November 22 and Thursday, November 24.

The instream drilling will be completed from a platform craned into the river.

 A clearly marked route will be provided for any waterway users wishing to pass the works.

The river launch area adjacent to Barrington River will be inaccessible during the period of the drilling works.

The NSW Government will provide $700,000 funding to the Barrington Bridge Replacement Project, which will improve safety and reliability of the bridge across the Barrington River.

The project involves replacing the existing timber bridge with a structure on an improved alignment to reduce long term maintenance costs and improve road freight productivity while meeting the changing traffic needs of the community in Barrington and surrounding areas.

Work will include building a new low maintenance bridge complete with a pedestrian footpath on the northern side and then removing the existing Allan timber truss bridge once the new bridge is in operation.

The exact location and alignment of the bridge and approaches will be finalised in consideration of the community and stakeholder feedback received in February this year.

The current proposed alignment has been developed to improve travel speeds on Thunderbolts Way and keep the existing bridge open to traffic while the new bridge is being built.

This would eliminate the need for vehicles to detour around Thunderbolts Way, which is an important freight link between the Mid North Coast and the New England Tablelands serving the tourism, livestock and timber industries.