Infrastructure resilience work - bridges

Narooma’s Wagonga Scenic Drive winds its way through rural residential areas, agricultural land and state forest. The road is also a popular tourist route providing access to the upper waters of Wagonga Inlet. The road featured five timber bridges, all at risk of fire and flood.

Contractors have now demolished all the old bridges and built the more resilient structures. The new bridges allow for safer and more reliable crossings for residents, tourists, delivery services, emergency services and maintenance staff. The height of each bridge has been increased further reducing the likelihood of residents being trapped in or away from their homes.

Check out some key steps along the way to replacing the bridges.

Cowdroys Bridge: Bridge abutments in position in March 2022

Cobra Bridge: Construction underway alongside the old timber bridge in May 2022

Grumleys Bridge: Almost finished in December 2022

Punkalla Bridge: The last of the Wagonga Scenic Drive bridges was finished in August 2023

The Tilba Tilba Creek Bridge is on Corkhill Drive; a major tourist route providing access to the historic Tilba villages and district as well as Gulaga National Park. We identified the bridge replacement as a priority due to its declining condition and high volume of traffic.

We replaced the bridge during the quieter months of 2023. The new bridge is now in place and Corkhill Drive is again open to through traffic.

The new bridge features a combination of steel, concrete, and large prefabricated aluminium components, which helped keep construction time to a minimum. We maintained the original road alignment to minimise impact on the surrounding area.

The new bridge is safer, quieter and provides more reliable access for residents, tourists, and school buses. It is stronger, longer and wider and includes a pathway to provide a safe crossing area for pedestrians.

The new Tilba Tilba Creek Bridge: Located 600m from the Princes Highway, just before Foxglove Gardens and the turnoff to the sportsground.

The Potato Point Bridge is located on a road providing the only two-wheel drive access to a popular beach and holiday park.

Our contractors have replaced the timber bridge using concrete with a stainless-steel shell to provide protection against the harsh saltwater environment. We chose to use the innovative technique in order to significantly increase the life of the asset.

Potato Point Bridge: The old timber bridge crosses a coastal creek

Temporary crossing: Contractors demolished the old bridge and provided a temporary structure to retain access to the holiday park

Potato Point Bridge rebuilt: We opened the new bridge to traffic in late 2022

Silo Farm Bridge crosses the Tuross River and is an integral part of the access route for two dairy farms west of Bodalla. The bridge is typically submerged several times per year due to high river flows during wet weather. Not only are residents and emergency services unable to get in or out of the area, but milk trucks cannot access the dairy farms. The milk cannot be stored on-site for more than two days, and farmers are left with no choice but to dump thousands of litres of milk. The result is a loss of income for the farmers, loss of milk supply for the community and adverse impacts on the local environment.

We are replacing Silo Farm Bridge with a higher structure to improve access during future floods. During the February/March 2022 flood the dairy farmers dumped 107,097L of milk due to a lack of access. If the same event were to occur with the new bridge in place, the farmers would be able to store their milk for the brief time until the bridge was again trafficable.

Contractors began building the new bridge in February 2023.

Silo Farm Bridge: The low-lying timber bridge often goes underwater when it rains

Under construction:  A mobile crane lowers the first deck segment into place