Carrying on the clean up

The wreckage after the flood in March 2017.

Almost ten months on from last year’s devastating floods, Tweed Shire Council is still working with contractors to repair the resulting damage.

Council estimates that the flood that ripped through the area in March 2017 caused $28.9 million of damage to roads and bridges.

The clean up effort has been ongoing and over 1000 minor road and bridge damage items have now been repaired at a cost of $5.5 million.

Council has awarded three packages of flood damage work, the latest of which was awarded to contractor Hazell Bros QLD. It involves more than 80 damage items and is worth about $1.35 million. A fourth and final package is expected to be awarded soon.

Work has also started on the first of the major road repairs on Tweed Valley Way, South Murwillumbah, at Blacks Drain.

There are about 50 additional large jobs currently at various stages and it is expected that most of these will be awarded by April 2018. These jobs account for the bulk of the Shire’s roads repair bill of about $16 million, but will take many months to complete once awarded.

Council said it currently expects to recover $20.3 million of its roads bill through Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Assistance (NDRRA) and grant funding, which leaves a possible shortfall of $8.6 million to be funded from Council’s future operating and capital budgets.