Today marks the 5 year anniversary of when Cameron Hawkins, Port Macquarie Hastings Council Infrastructure Planning Group Manager, and his team embarked on the journey to upgrade the Dunbogan Bridge.
This $5 million project ensures the ongoing strength of the 55 year old bridge, its ability to withstand flooding, prolonging its life span by about 50 years and improves the safety for road users
Bridges are an integral part of our daily lives, they create connection. About 4,000 cars take this bridge every day. That's 1.46 million individual stories of community connectivity yearly.
A safe and consistent river crossing access also unlocks economic opportunity for the surrounding Laurieton, Camden Haven and Dunbogan areas, ensuring that locals and visitors can easily move around, enabling consistent access between the communities.
Director of Infrastructure, Dan Bylsma, noted the excellent work by everyone involved, and their continued commitment to get the job done.
"Sometimes we take for granted just how much work goes on to set up a successful project such as this. Undertaking design and engineering work in addition to securing sufficient funding can be the hardest part of the job - and that is before anyone starts to see the action on site"
Cameron noted for his team this was a significant project in keeping the surrounding community continuously connected and accessible, and to ensure there was minimal disruption whilst the works have been undertaken. It formed an integral part of the overall Bridge Management Strategy.
"To see a project from start to finish is always a big milestone for an engineer, especially for my team. Having started this project 5 years ago, and being part of every step has a reward for the team and I.
"We all take great pride in our roles here at Council. Our work, day in and day out, is first and fore mostly to provide safe infrastructure for the community" said Cameron.
In addition to this project we invest each year over $1 million for annual bridge upgrades and maintenance.
