Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW Tara Morarity has officially opened a new bridge, north-west of Batemans Bay that will serve as an important piece of infrastructure for bushfire response and containment on the South Coast.
The Lyons Road Bridge in Currowan State Forest has recently been completed by Forestry Corporation replacing an old timber structure that was damaged by flooding.
The $835,000 Lyons Road Bridge spans 24 metres and crosses Currowan Creek near Nelligen.
The bridge replacement has been funded by the NSW Government under the $60-million Forest Infrastructure Repair Program (FIRP), which has upgraded 160 weather damaged bridges, roads, culverts and water crossings in NSW State forests.
The upgrade to the Lyons Road Bridge is part the largest infrastructure program rolled out across NSW State forests, which has seen 35 major bridges replaced, 20 landslips repaired, 2,376km of State Forest roads fixed, 12 quarries expanded and 97 water crossings repaired.
The $1.3 million Western Distributor Road Bridge, spanning 39-metres over the Bimberamala River, has also been completed in Yadboro State Forest.
A new bridge has also been installed by Forestry Corporation over Native Dog Creek on Clyde Ridge Road and repairs have been carried out on a bridge crossing Carters Creek.
Collectively, the four bridge projects and road upgrades in the Clyde River catchment will significantly improve the response times of fire crews responding to bushfires to the west and north of Batemans Bay.
Forestry Corporation maintains a 60,000-kilometre road and fire trail network that complements the public road network and provides access for community use, forest management and fire protection.
After years of significant weather damage, a statewide audit found more than half of the State forest road network was located in areas that were heavily impacted by flooding.
These weather events damaged between 10,000 and 50,000 kilometres of forest roads and this prompted the NSW Government to provide $60 million in funding spread over three years to restore vehicle access for the wider community and forestry crews."
Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty:
"Fixing these bridges, roads and fire trails through State Forests is a major priority for the Government.
"Making sure vehicles can get in and out of State Forests isn't just about moving timber, it's about ensuring emergency services can get to fires, it's about providing the community with access to some of the state's best swimming and camping spots and it's about protecting one of the state's most valuable resources.
"The Forestry Corporation infrastructure projects across the state have generated vital investment and employment in regional communities with an emphasis placed on contracting local companies, suppliers and workers to complete these projects."
Forestry Corporation Regional Manager Southern Trent Froud:
"From a bushfire management perspective, Lyons Road and the Western Distributor Road are critical strategic fire access points between the National Parks and State forests to the north of Batemans Bay."
"Under FIRP, Forestry Corporation has prioritised repairs to roads and fire trails, which are crucial to bushfire management and control.
"Western Distributor Road will become a major containment line for fires burning from the west running all the way through from Ulladulla to Batemans Bay."
"The bridge and road upgrades recently completed on the South Coast will cut the response times of our fire crews as they respond to fires in the forest estate and work to protect local communities from bushfire."
"Forestry Corporation's commitment to fire response and the likelihood of future bushfires in certain forests were major factors in the planning timelines for each FIRP project, and it is a credit to our staff and contractors who have completed this project before the onset of summer fire conditions."
