Local jobs, primary producers, retail, hospitality and tourism in the Wellington area will receive a boost with the tender for the reconstruction of two bridges integral to the region – the Terrabella Bridge on Terrabella Road and the Burrendong Number 2 Bridge on Fashions Mount Road.
Federal Member for Calare and Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education, Andrew Gee visited the project sites on Thursday and was pleased that the Design and Construction tender will be open in the coming months.
“The design and construction of these bridges is a critical piece of infrastructure for the local community,” Mr Gee said.
“There are 30,000 hectares of irrigation and dryland farming country on the southern side of the Macquarie River between Dubbo and Wellington.
“The new Terrabella Bridge will accommodate the freight vehicles such as 25m B-double trucks, giving access to the NSW road freight network and therefore helping our primary producers get their product to market quickly, safely and efficiently,” Mr Gee said.
“The existing timber bridges are very narrow. The reconstruction will see a widening of both bridges along with construction of two-lane concrete bridges,” he said.
“The Burrendong Number 2 Bridge provides vital access to Lake Burrendong, essential for local tourism,” Mr Gee added.
“The construction of the new bridge will increase the existing load limit of 42.4 tonnes to a capacity of 68 tonnes which will greatly improve safety, usability and access for motorists, including visitors towing caravans and boat trailers, along with heavy vehicles servicing the school camp site, the holiday park and rural properties,” Mr Gee said.
The Australian Government has provided a total of $1.4 million for the projects under Round 4 of the Bridges Renewal Program. $700, 000 has been allocated to the Terrabella Bridge project and another $700,000 has been allocated to the Burrendong Number 2 Bridge project.
Mayor of the Dubbo Region, Councillor Ben Shields said: “the existing timber bridges in these areas are no longer up to standard and desperately need replacing.
“In the case of Burrendong Number 2, the existing bridge detracts from our important tourism and recreation location Burrendong Dam.
“A new, wider concrete bridge will enhance that attraction,” Councillor Shields said.
“The replacement of Terrabella Bridge involves a realignment as well as widening from the existing single-lane bridge to two lanes. This will be a real benefit to local residents.
“I want to thank Andrew Gee and the federal government for seeing the value in this important project,” Councillor Shields said.
The total project cost of the Terrabella Bridge is $3, 916, 000 with the total cost of the Burrendong Number 2 Bridge anticipated to be $2, 117, 500.
Dubbo Regional Council has secured $2,716,000 for Terrabella Bridge under the NSW Government Fixing Country Roads program.
The Bridges Renewal Program (BRP) is an Australian Government initiative to fund the upgrade and replacement of bridges to enhance access for local communities and facilitate higher productivity vehicle access.
As part of the Local and State Government Road Safety Package announced in the 2019-20 Budget, the Australian Government has committed an additional $25 million per year to the BRP from 2019-20. The Government will provide $640 million from the 2015-2016 financial year to the 2022-2023 financial year, with an on-going commitment of $85 million each following.
Source: Australian Government
Featured Image: Mayor of the Dubbo region, Councillor Ben Shields with Andrew Gee MP at Terrabella Bridge.