THE temporary crossing solution for Tiri Bridge announced by MidCoast Council in early February is now underway, with work able to start on the bridge delivery earlier than expected.
“We had enough of the material delivered to site allowing our team to get cracking on a temporary crossing using what was left of the damaged bridge,” said Council’s Director, Infrastructure & Engineering Services, Rob Scott.
“They’ve made really good progress and we are likely to be able to re-open the road to local access by the end of March.”
The Tiri bridge was devastated by the May 2025 extreme flood event, with three of the bridge’s six spans being destroyed.
The road has been closed since the flood event with a substantial detour in place.
The temporary crossing will have a load limit restriction of five tonnes which is equivalent to a large SUV with a box trailer.
Larger vehicles and trucks will have to continue to use the alternative routes through Gloucester and Wingham.
Meanwhile, technical studies have commenced for the bridge’s permanent replacement with specialists recently onsite to test the underlying geotechnical constraints.
“We are trying to do all of the investigations and technical studies at the same time so that we can finish designing the new bridge as soon as possible. Hopefully construction could begin next year,” Mr Scott said.
Restoration of the temporary crossing and the replacement bridge are proposed within the government’s Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
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