The aftermath of more than 1400mm of rain has devastated communities of Far North Queensland, with part of the Ollera Creek Bridge - a vital passage connecting Townsville and Ingham - falling into floodwater on February 2.
The Bruce Highway is a key route for emergency services and power maintenance teams, as well as food, water and fuel supplies to reach affected communities waiting desperately for resupply.
Assets from 3rd Brigade worked with Queensland authorities to deliver a temporary bridge structure, employing an Army Combat Engineer Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) capability.
On February 6, a small team of sappers from 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment (3CER) established the MGB, which reaches around 25m in length allowing heavy vehicles to transit the damaged bridge and continue on route to resupply flood-affected towns with essential stores.
Officer Commanding 25 Support Squadron 3CER Major Liam Clarke discussed the specifications of the bridge and how it could be assembled to provide both tactical capability in the battlespace, or in this case, vital humanitarian aid.
"This is a very capable piece of equipment and can be built with limited tools, limited equipment and mostly muscle power," Major Clarke said.
"The structure itself is made up of slightly more than a hundred pieces in this configuration, and the heaviest pieces weighing around 260 kilograms."
The team of sappers remained in location, deconstructing a portion of the MGB each afternoon and reconstructing it in the morning to allow emergency repairs to take place on the existing structure overnight.
Major Clarke said the temporary structure would enable emergency response efforts to support the local community while repairs were under way.
"We're placing the MGB over the previous creek bridge to allow emergency traffic on the Bruce Highway and provide relief to the city of Ingham, which has been cut off for several days," Major Clarke said.
As a part of the Far North Queensland community, often conducting exercises throughout the shire of Hinchinbrook, Major Clarke said it was a privilege for the soldiers to use their unique skills and capability to support the community.
"Knowing what fellow North Queenslanders are going through at the moment is giving the soldiers plenty of motivation to get this job done," he said.
"The soldiers are really proud to be a part of the overall relief effort between the governments and members of the community."
