Tamworth Regional Council's ongoing strategy to replace deteriorated timber bridges with new concrete structures has achieved a milestone with the start to work on Fishers Bridge at Piallamore.
Council's Timber Bridge Replacement Strategy has delivered 60 new structures across the region in the past 16 years.
When the Council was formed by amalgamation in 2004 there were 67 timber bridges and by the end of this year there will be seven remaining.
The new Fishers Bridge on Fishers Lane has been made possible by funding from the Australian Government's Bridges Renewal Program and NSW Government's Fixing Country Bridges fund.
Tamworth Region Mayor Russell Webb, Federal Member for New England Barnaby Joyce and State Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson were on site today.
The first sign of work at Piallamore was the demolition of the existing timber bridge which dates back more than 110 years. It will be replaced with a new single lane concrete structure 42m long with no load restrictions. Work is scheduled to be complete by the end of this year.
Councillor Webb said funding from the Australian Government and NSW Government been a much-appreciated resource for local bridge improvements.
"Replacing deteriorating timber bridges with new concrete structures has been a great benefit for our local transport network," he said. "Council would not have been able to tackle the bridge upgrades as quickly as it has in recent years without a funding source like this."
Mr Anderson said timber bridges had served the community well for generations, but they now needed to cater for larger modern heavy vehicles.
"Fishers Bridge is one of five Tamworth region bridges to share in $2.462 million under Round One of the $500 million Fixing Country Bridges Program," he said. "Stronger bridges mean more traffic can move across waterways and gullies and allows heavier vehicles to get from paddock to plate more easily."
Councillor Webb said Council was also making good progress on a range of road upgrades jointly funded by the NSW Government and Council.
They include the upgrade and sealing of Retreat Road at Retreat (along with the replacement of the timber Retreat Bridge), Watsons Creek Road at Watsons Creek, and the final unsealed section of Duri-Dungowan Road.
Upgrading these roads from unsealed to sealed, provides safety improvements for road users and significantly reduces the impact of wet weather on the condition of the road surface.
NSW Government's Fixing Local Roads program has funded $7,237,083 for the work on Retreat Road, Watsons Creek Road, and Duri-Dungowan Road. Council has contributed $1,254,917.
