Moira Shire Council is directly responsible for the maintenance, repair and upgrade of 58 bridges on its 3,574 kilometre road network. Almost half are old timber bridges with load limits ranging from five to 15 tonne.
Most of these bridges are about 50 years old. The combined pressures of age, increasing traffic numbers, larger vehicle size, new legislative safety requirements and limited funding are likely to see increasing numbers of older bridges facing load limits or closure until Council can undertake costly repairs or replacement.
New legislative requirements of the Road Management Act associated with the removal of non-feasance mean that it is increasingly likely that local bridges may be closed or have load limits introduced at very short notice.
In May 2004, a routine inspection of Rices Bridge in Barmah revealed major structural problems requiring the immediate introduction of a five tonne load limit and repair or replacement of the bridge. The 30 metre span bridge provides the only road connection to the Barmah Forest that is suitable for large vehicles including tourist coaches, school tours, cattle trucks and fuel trucks.
Council had to act quickly to minimise inconvenience, harness community anxiety through regular communication and use the issue as an opportunity to foster and enhance relationships between Council and the Barmah community.
With the number of old and deteriorating bridges in Moira Shire, Council also took advantage of the opportunity to develop an integrated approach to bridge design and communication that could be easily and quickly transferred across the bridge network. It was also vital for Council to manage the issue in a way that would gain the trust of the community and set the standard for the future.
Moira Shire developed a solution involving all key stakeholders in decision making and developing transferable engineering techniques to maximise construction speed and quality, while minimising cost and the impact on tourism and the wider community.
The design, construction and communication techniques used for Rices Bridge maximised construction speed, minimised cost, involved key stakeholders in decisions and integrated management decisions with corporate communication objectives. The Moira community now has an integrated communication methodology, bridge design and construction techniques that can be used to minimise potential community angst arising from bridges requiring closure or load limits at short notice.
Council completed construction within 20 days, keeping the old bridge open the entire time and assisting tour operators with a shuttle bus to ferry coach passengers from the bridge to the Dharnya Aboriginal Heritage Centre and to Kingfisher Cruises on Moira Lakes.
