UNDER WORKS: The upgrade will include works to girders like this under Yarramanbully Bridge on the Halls Creek Rd near Manilla.
WORK is under way on an 18-month project to replace seven of Tamworth Regional Council’s timber bridges and one narrow concrete bridge.
Late last year the council entered into a contract with Bridge and Civil of North Sydney to carry out the works.
Council senior construction engineer Brendan Moran said Bridge and Civil had started the design work of some of the bridges and on-site work was scheduled to start in early April.
Yarramanbully Bridge on Halls Creek Rd will be the first to be replaced.
Work will begin on Dunmore Bridge on Glenbarra Rd at Halls Creek in mid-April.
“Plumthorpe Bridge on Trevallyn Rd at Barraba will follow that,” Mr Moran said.
The work on the three bridges is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Following on from Plumthorpe Bridge, Bridge and Civil will replace Woolbrook Bridge at Woolbrook, Marsden Park No. 3 Bridge at Loomberah, Burgess Bridge on Kia Ora Ln at Loomberah and Condons Bridge at Loomberah.
Work on the seven bridges is being funded by a $3.68 million loan, with assistance from the state government through the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme.
The Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme gives councils a 4 per cent subsidy on interest, to offset the cost of loans for infrastructure backlog works.
The subsidy will save council about $800,000 over the 10-year term of the loan.
The other structure to be replaced by Bridge and Civil is the Reeves Bridge on Forest Rd, Tamworth, which is being funded through the council’s waste reserve and will improve road alignment on the approaches to the bridge and the entry to the Forest Rd landfill.
Costings for the approaches are still being finalised but the bridge work is expected to cost $360,000 and be completed by this end of the year.
The contract with Bridge and Civil is part of a timber bridge management strategy councillors endorsed at the end of last year, with the aim of reducing the impact the deteriorating condition of the timber bridges was having on the local community.