Council prepares to replace two Goulburn district bridges

Councillors at their meeting on Tuesday awarded tenders for construction for the bridges over Towrang and Carrick Roads.

Surry Hills-based Bridgeworks Australia beat off seven other tenderers to secure the contract for Towrang Bridge. Its $3,027,927 price includes $2,772,700 for bridge design and construction and $255,272 for earthworks and bridge approaches.

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The work will replace the existing 53-metre long single-lane concrete slab bridge with a two-lane 85m long concrete structure. Operations director Matt O'Rourke said the new bridge would be 4.5m higher than the existing one and include safety barriers.

Flooding has closed the structure on many occasions, forcing residents to take the long way around via Carrick Road, if that hasn't flooded as well.

The project has been on the council's wish list for some years. Last year it secured $2 million in federal funding, which the council pledged to match. Goulburn's NSW Farmers branch backed the application on the basis it would better facilitate stock and produce transport.

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Bridgeworks has also constructed the Currawang and Nadgigomar bridges for Goulburn Mulwaree Council.

A council spokesman previously said the organisation hoped to have the work completed by June, 2022.

Meantime, Unanderra-based firm, GC Civil Contracting Pty Ltd, has been appointed to replace the 12m long, two-lane timber and concrete bridge over Narranbulla Creek on Carrick Road. The 6.6m wide structure will be replaced with a nine metre wide, two-lane concrete structure with safety barriers.

The company secured the contract over six other parties, including Bridgeworks.

The project also secured grant funding, with the federal and state governments each contributing $458,806.

General manager Warwick Bennett has been authorised to approve variations of up to $82,944.

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In related news, the council is still working through a long list of infrastructure damaged in the February and August, 2020 flooding. Natural Disaster funding has flowed to the tune of almost $15m to cover both events.

So far, $2.87m in road and drainage repairs have been undertaken, a report to councillors at their meeting on Tuesday stated. This included $293,239 worth of roadside erosion and drainage repairs to Canyonleigh Road and $321,959 in rectification work on Jerrara Road. A total $851,219 in work is underway, including gravel re-sheeting on Caoura Road, Tallong, which typically sustains severe flooding damage.

Crews are currently being allocated for work on Lumley and Barbers Creek Road, Highland Way, Mulwaree Drive and Caoura Road, Tallong, Covan Creek and Range Roads.

Operations director Matt O'Rourke said the damage had added about two years' work to the normal capital program.

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"It's a big undertaking," he said.

"We've just engaged another temporary resource and we'll open up further (work) sites, so we expect progress to pick up in the next 12 to 18 months."

The council will also engage with Resilience NSW for assistance with the disaster response.

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