City of Greater Geraldton bridge replacement project wins prestigious engineering award
Inovative engineering has earned the recently completed Nangetty-Walkaway Road Bridge Replacement Project top honours at the 2026 Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) WA Excellence Awards.
In a year with a record number of nominations, the City of Greater Geraldton was awarded Best Public Works Project Greater than $5 million – Regional, recognising the lower impact construction approach used to deliver this essential project.
The replacement of the 60-year-old bridge was necessary as it could no longer safely withstand the demands of the modern transport industry that primarily uses RAV7 vehicles.
The effective use of the City’s in-house Project Delivery and Engineering Team kept the bridge replacement costs down as they sourced State and Federal Government grants and later project managed the design and construction of the bridge.
Some of the contractor innovations on the project included reusing the existing abutments and piles which reduced material quantities while maintaining structural performance. Additionally, the use of precast concrete planks instead of in-situ Super-T girders simplified transport logistics and proved highly advantageous in the constrained river environment.
This high level of engineering innovation through a series of design, constructability and delivery improvements helped to reduce cost, time and environmental impacts while enhancing long term asset performance.
It also resulted in the project being delivered under budget and it would have been completed ahead of schedule; however ongoing winter rains delayed the final asphalting by four weeks.
Greater Geraldton City Mayor Jerry Clune said the award reflected the high standard of work undertaken by the project team, contractors and partner organisations.
“On behalf of Council, I’d like to congratulate our staff on this outstanding achievement and thank them for ensuring this essential transport link will continue to support our community for many years to come,” he said.
“I also want to acknowledge our contractor, whose brilliant engineering solutions have set a new benchmark for sustainable project delivery.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the community for their patience throughout the eight month construction period, especially RAV 7 operators and local residents who relied on detours while works were underway.”
The $8 million project was joint funded with the Australian Government contributing $4,539,307 under their Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, the WA State Government providing $1 million with the City contributing the remaining funds.
