Wallaga Lake Bridge to receive structural enhancements
Further work will be carried out to enhance the structural capacity of timber piles on three Wallaga Lake Bridge piers (PDF, 116.17 KB), with the vital community link to remain open throughout the work.
Transport for NSW Regional Director South Cassandra Ffrench said this work follows last year’s mammoth effort to complete extensive repairs to the bridge, to ensure it remains safe and operational well into the future.
“Some remaining pile remediation is now required on three of the bridge piers, and a tender has gone out today for a contract to carry out that work,” Ms Ffrench said.
“During essential maintenance work carried out last year, a specialist diving crew installed a new jacket strengthening system to 52 of the 69 bridge piles.
“The remaining piles still need to be wrapped with the same carbon fibre composite material filled with grout, which has been used extensively in sensitive marine environments across America and various regions in Australia.
“Work will require a specialist diving crew working under the bridge to install the jacket system to restore and enhance the structural capacity of the remaining timber piles.”
Ms Ffrench said peak tourism, summer holiday periods and contractor availability meant the remaining work on these piles had to be held over to this year to ensure the most impactful major work was completed during last year’s closures and to avoid further closures.
“By doing this, the bridge was able to reopen as planned to avoid further impact on the community and motorists in the approach to the Christmas holiday period,” Ms Ffrench said.
“We have used the feedback received during extensive consultation for the work carried out last year to develop the best timeline and an approach that will keep the bridge open throughout the final pile remediation work
“The planned approach for this remediation work aims to prioritise keeping the bridge open during work under a reduced speed and a load limit.
Access will be maintained for vehicles up to six tonnes to minimise impacts to community and visitor movements while work is carried out.
There will be special provisions to allow access for school buses and emergency vehicles under a reduced speed and escort.
The tender process will take around 10 weeks before contracts are expected to be awarded, and the community will be kept informed of any impacts in advance of work starting.
A timelapse video of the major work completed in 2024, can be viewed here: Wallaga Lake Bridge Reconstruction 2024.
The community feedback report following the extensive work completed last year will be published in coming months.
More information on the latest work is available on the project page at Wallaga Lake Bridge essential maintenance work | Transport for NSW.
The community can contact Wallaga.Lake.Bridge@transport.nsw.gov.au with any questions on the latest work.