Bridges for the Bush program

In October 2012 the NSW Government in partnership with the Australia Government is committed to improving road freight productivity by replacing or upgrading bridges across regional NSW. 

Two priority programs to help manage ageing assets and provide the biggest benefit to freight productivity are being implemented. 

• Program 1 Higher Mass Limit (HML) bridge restrictions, and
• Program 2 Heritage Timber Truss Bridges.

The NSW road network is critical to the movement of freight in Australia. Half the nation's road freight and three quarters of all interstate road freight journeys are on NSW roads. With the road freight task predicted to nearly double by 2030, significant investment in the NSW road network is required to meet the demand for increased access of larger, safer and heavier freight vehicles.

Addressing the state's deficient rural bridges is a key priority for NSW investment as the bridges currently present the most critical restrictions to freight access.

The Bridges for the Bush initiative will enhance freight productivity in country NSW. It is an investment in critical infrastructure to remove a number of significant freight pinch points or bottlenecks on the state road network and to improve the safety and reliability of some old bridge structures. The replacement or upgrade of five Higher Mass Limit deficient bridges alone will remove 8,000 heavy vehicle trips from the freight task each year. This will save the state more than $200 million in economic, social and environmental costs over the next 30 years.

Once replaced all these bridges will have significantly reduced annual recurrent maintenance costs.

• Warroo Bridge replacement
• Rawsonville Bridge replacement
• Tooleybuc Bridge replacement
• Brig O'Johnston Bridge