Seven new concrete bridges in Bellingen Shire have opened to traffic, funded under the New South Wales Government’s Fixing Country Bridges program.
Since the beginning of December last year, Bellingen Shire has opened seven new bridges, which include:
Cobb O Corn Bridge on Reids Road;
Diehappy Bridge on Darkwood Road, Darkwood;
Richardsons Bridge on Darkwood Road, Bellingen;
Taylors Bridge at Bellingen;
Coopernook Creek Bridge on Coramba Road, Megan;
Knights Bridge on Kalang Road, Kalang; and
Cahlls Bridge on Nobles Lane, Bellingen.
Bellingen Shire Council Mayor, Stephen Allan, said the new bridges have been designed to support the transport industry for more than 100 years.
“Not only are these bridges stronger and able to carry heavier freight loads, in some cases they are wider and higher,” he said.
“Overall, they will be more resilient and because they are built of newer materials, they will cost us less to maintain and allow Council to focus on other key infrastructure renewals.”
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway, said the latest completed bridge in the region – Taylors Bridge on North Bank Road – is among the many to keep communities connected in Bellingen and beyond.
“With the extreme weather our state has experienced over the last couple of years it is important when we build the infrastructure that matters to the community that it’s resilient and reliable,” he said.
“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.”
Bellingen Shire Council has received more than $27.3 million from the NSW Government to replace more than 500 ageing timber bridges with new stronger, sturdier concrete ones.
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