NSW Bushfire recovery - Rebuilding two destroyed bridges for Shoalhaven Council, using local contractors InQuik time

Abstract

The Currowan Fire burnt for 74 days, across almost 500,000 hectares, destroying 312 homes and damaging another 173. The fire spread across 4 councils, being Eurobodalla, Wingecarribee, Queanbeyan-Palerang and Shoalhaven. When the fire was finally put out after considerable rain, then came the re-build. During the fires across NSW, some 60 council owned bridges were burnt or damaged, and during the Currowan fire, Shoalhaven council had lost 4 bridges on their road network. Having made contact during the fires with the Director of Infrastructure for Shoalhaven Council - Mr Paul Keech, InQuik offered their support to help get things up and running, along with the current experience they had from supporting councils with emergency replacement projects in the North coast with fire recovery works, this was much appreciated. Two of the major bridges were School Ck, a 16m bridge, which was 6m off the waterway, with serious access issues and no semi-trailer access, and Toombaloomba Bridge, which was a 24m 2 span bridge, in a very remote area, with limited access and a 5 tonne load limited bridge on one side. InQuik worked very closely with Shoalhaven Council to pull together the designer and local contractors to get the projects delivered, getting access back up and running as fast as possible. Shoalhaven Council were the first council in the region to access disaster recovery funds, thanks to proactive leadership and industry partner support, and working with local contractors to deliver the project ensured funds and jobs were kept in the local community, delivering a great result.