A favourable run of weather, combined with the use of specialised materials to speed up construction, will see the restoration of Scenic Drive completed well ahead of schedule.
Originally anticipated to be completed at the end of March, Council's contractor Australian Marine and Civil Pty Ltd (AMC) is now putting the finishing touches to the repair of Scenic Drive. Weather permitting, the road will be open to dual lanes later today (Thursday 16 February).
The devastating flood of February and March 2022 caused two major slips on Scenic Drive, cutting access on the main road connecting Bilambil Heights and Tweed Heads. This forced residents to make a lengthy detour until temporary access was restored with the opening of one lane in late September.
Work has now been completed on the major slip (Site B), with AMC putting the finishing touches to work on the second slip (Site A), with only line marking to be completed later this month.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry welcomed news of the road repair's imminent completion.
"This is a significant milestone in our recovery as we approach the first anniversary of the flood later this month," Cr Cherry said.
"This is the first of our major landslip repairs to be completed and it will be welcome news to the thousands of residents who commute along Scenic Drive each day.
"We are also making significant progress on our other major landslips in the Tweed, with a $6 million tender approved for Reserve Creek Road and negotiations well underway with contractors on the repair of Tyalgum Road."
Council's Project Manager – Flood Restoration Russell Brown said work first started on the $2.7 million project at Scenic Drive in August last year.
"AMC is very experienced in this type of work and by using new types of backfill and construction blocks, they were able to speed up construction," Mr Brown said.
"In total, 209 no-fines concrete blocks were installed between both slip sites – 130 at Site B and 65 at Site A on the southern side and 14 on the upslope remediation works.
"More than 450m3 of no-fines concrete was used as backfill, along with around 600m3 of fill and road base brought in to bring the road up to height.
"While Site B was the larger of the two slips, it didn't pose the technical challenges of Site A. Concrete piles had to be constructed at Site A – the deeper of the two slips – with the contractors boring down as far as 5 metres to anchor onto bedrock at the base of the slip.
"More than 900 tonnes of rock were supplied and placed on the boulder retaining walls on the sites."
Mr Brown said the project had been fortunate with the weather, allowing work to proceed with minimal disruption.
