Shannon Vale Road, east of Glen Innes, is closed for most of the month while repairs are undertaken to a dangerous hole near Donnelly’s Bridge.
Glen Innes Severn Shire Council received a notification from a resident on Wednesday, 26 April 2023 that a hole had formed on the road approach on the eastern abutment of Donnelly’s Bridge over the Mann River. Further inspection deemed that the road approach was dangerously undermined and needed to be closed to traffic immediately for safety concerns.
Council says they were already aware that repeated flood events in 2022 had washed away the abutment scour protection and had exposed the road approach earthworks around the abutment piers. Council staff noticed this after a post flood inspection, and while the earthworks around the piers were exposed, the road approaches were still sound and did not require immediate emergency repair works.
In March 2023 the Council began pursuing funding for the remediation works via the Essential Public Asset Restoration program through Transport for NSW Natural Disaster Recovery, while simultaneously seeking engineering advice on a remediation methodology. The bridge was inspected on 1 April 2023 with a Transport for NSW representative who advised that the bridge was eligible for natural disaster recovery funding, and that an engineering report was required, and certified cost estimates needed for the claim.
Council teams started reconstruction works on Monday, 1 May, with the repair works anticipated to take four weeks and the bridge re-opened in late May.
The repair will include a fully retaining concrete curtain wall and wingwall system and additional scour protection to protect the bridge against future natural disasters.
Motorists affected by this closure are encouraged to use the Gwydir Highway as an alternate route for the rest of the month.
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