Myall Lakes timber bridges to be replaced in upgrade

The bridges in question are Caparra Road, Caparra; Wyses Road Bridge number one - Wyses Road, Bunyah; and Norries Road Bridge number one - Norries Road, Bunyah. The combined cost of the project is budgeted at over $3.3 million.

RELATED: $1.2 million to repair potholes on Mid Coast

MidCoast Mayor Claire Pontin welcomed the funding. "Of the Mid Coast's 666 bridges, 165 are timber," Cr Pontin said.

"The MidCoast has about 10 per cent 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.

"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," Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said.

"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."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: