Martin Bridge open to all vehicles

Manning River Drive over Martin Bridge at Taree is now open to all traffic.

EARLIER

Martin Bridge was reopened to light traffic on Monday, March 29.

The bridge was closed to traffic after major flooding over the weekend of March 20-21, when several large objects, including a shipping container, were seen slamming into it.

The closure caused significant delays and heavy traffic throughout the Manning and Great Lakes. Peak hour afternoon traffic resulted in long delays along Chatham Avenue since vehicles could only access the Pacific Highway via the Dawson River Bridge and Cundletown exit.

A crane was at work on the bridge on Monday afternoon.

Member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead said there was concern for the structural integrity of the bridge, damage to pylons and scaffolding used for ongoing repairs (unrelated to flood damage).

"They're (RMS) confident the integrity is good, so next is removing all the scaffolding. We should have light traffic going across the bridge by the end of the week," Mr Bromhead said.

"There was significant damage to the scaffolding underneath where it was attached to the bridge."

RMS crews are also confident the pylons are in good condition.

Large objects such as a storage container, concrete tanks, silage bales, trees and kayaks slammed into the bridge during the flood and caused damage to the scaffolding.

Workers inspected the underside of the bridge by abseiling down the side of the trusses. They took photos and sent them to specialist bridge engineers to provide a safety assessment.

A preliminary assessment of the bridge was deemed positive but further investigations still need to be completed. The removal of scaffolding is the first priority before vehicles are allowed back on the bridge.

"The last thing we want is cars going across and have scaffolding fall off and hit them," Mr Bromhead said.

Repair works on the bridge, which started last year, will be delayed.

"Luckily up until early this year they were ahead of schedule. Where it will end up I don't know but hopefully it will still be finished within the two year period," Mr Bromhead said.