Some Tenterfield locals were taken off-guard by the closure of the Molesworth Street Bridge.
“We got a letter from Civil Mining and Construction today. The first that we knew anything about the replacement of the old wooden bridge on Molesworth Street, that we use several times each week,” one resident said.
“There are no details about the new bridge,” another said, but asked if it would be concrete and higher than the old one.
In fact, Tenterfield Shire Council published a notice on the project on 3 August that explained the works in great detail, including closing dates, detour routes, and contact details for more information.
Council says the replacement of the bridge is a big win for Tenterfield and council is delighted to have received funding from the Australian and NSW government Disaster Recovery Regional Roads and Transport Recovery Package to make it possible. The funding has saved the shire “up to $10 million in the cost of replacing the bridge”.
Many residents will know that the existing timber bridge has deteriorated over time, which is costly to maintain. It is now being replaced with a new concrete bridge designed to improve safety, flood resilience and accessibility for the community, while reducing ongoing maintenance costs.
There will be up to 10 months of disruption but the result will mean a safer crossing for road users, pedestrians and cyclists “for more than 100 years”.
In regard to the new bridge height, the project engineers have provided this information:
The new bridge will be slightly higher than the existing. This is primarily attributed to:
The new bridge deck being above the 1 in 100yr flood level;
The new bridge having a consistent 1% fall from the west to east for drainage purposes.
These design constraints will result in levels approx. 500mm above existing on the western approach and 250mm above existing on the eastern approach. Having a bridge deck above the 1 in 100yr flood level not only provides access across Tenterfield Creek during these flood events but also reduces the afflux impacts of the structure onto adjacent land.
For more information, email Tentefield@cmc.net.au
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