Work at Tyndale's Lees Drain now complete

Work to replace and upgrade drainage at Tyndale is now complete, with a temporary detour on Big River Way and traffic restrictions removed.

Transport for NSW North Region Director, Anna Zycki, said the work at Lees Drain, between Byrons and Gallaghers lanes, fixed an historical anomaly with drainage from farmland at the site and would lead to better water flow from farms during periods of high local rainfall.

“Most of the drains that run from farmland into the Clarence River have pipes and floodgates right on the riverbank,” Ms Zycki said.

“But following restoration work at Lees Drain decades ago, the pipes and floodgates were well back from the river.

“When the repairs were carried out at the time, three cells with floodgates were installed about 30 metres from the bank.

“These have now been removed and replaced with a six-cell flood-gated system on the riverbank. These cells have improved capacity, meaning water can get off neighbouring farmland faster.”

Ms Zycki said the project presented some engineering challenges.

“We first had to construct a side road so vehicles could keep using Big River Way while the work was being carried out,” she said.

“But we also had to minimise any risk of flooding to neighbouring farms when we removed the original three cells.

“To do that we put in a temporary flood gate structure on the riverbank to prevent any moderate rises in the river level from inundating farms.

“The result was good, and no farms were impacted while we were carrying out the work.”

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