CENTRAL QUEENSLAND
WOODEN IT BE NICE: THE UNSUNG PROGRAM BUILDING OUR BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE meagre 15 tonne capacity it used to struggle with.
Craig Johnstone Senior reporter with InQueensland
It didn’t produce many headlines but that failed to dull the delight of some Rockhampton locals that their corner of the world had finally rid itself of its last rickety timber road bridge. The new bridge, on Glenroy Road over Louisa Creek, is now a gleaming new concrete structure capable of carrying loads of up to 70 tonnes compared with the
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It was the latest example of a largely unsung Federal Government initiative – the $760 million Bridges Renewal Program – which helps local councils carry the cost of improving and maintaining one of the nation’s less robust classes of public infrastructure. Rockhampton councillor Ellen Smith said the new bridge would allow B-double trucks to access parts of the region that had to make do with other ways to transport freight. “The old wooden bridge required regular maintenance to keep it in a safe and functioning condition,” Smith said. Bridge maintenance is core
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | DEC 2021
businesses for councils. The very existence of local government in Queensland owes much to the need to raise revenue for building and maintaining roads and bridges. But few local councils in Queensland have the luxury of being on top of managing their bridges. Queensland councils manage about 2800 bridges in the state, of which about 800 are timber constructions. Nearly 30 per cent of them are in poor or very poor condition, and not all are located on remote bush roads. For example, the timber Gresham St Bridge in Ashgrove – 5kms from the Brisbane CBD – is only now being replaced by a new concrete span to double its load limit.
