LH Ford Bridge strengthening

The LH Ford Bridge strengthening project was completed and open to traffic on 31 March 2020. The project used 215 cubic metres of concrete when constructing the two new piers approximately 13 metres above water level. Read about that, and more, in the July 2020 community update (PDF, 866Kb).

Cost: $10 million

Description:

The LH Ford Bridge is a 613m long reinforced concrete bridge which was first opened to the public in 1969. At the time the bridge was the fourth longest highway bridge in NSW. The bridge is nearly 50 years old and needs significant maintenance work in order to maintain the design life of this important bridge.

Benefits:

• increase the life of LH Ford Bridge
• improve safety for all road users
• increase efficiency of the road network
• reduce maintenance costs.

What we are doing:

The project involves the construction of two new piers within the Macquarie River to support the drop in span.

How we are doing it:

• building two new piers, one either side of the river
• repair cracking in the concrete next to the bridge bearings
• stop further long term movements in the waterway span
• upgrade the bridge to take Higher Mass Limit (HML) vehicles.

When we are doing it:

• November 2018 - construction commenced
• Early 2020 - completion.

• July 2020 community update

  LH Ford Bridge, Dubbo.

• February 2020 work notification

  Temporary closure of LH Ford Bridge, Dubbo.

• August 2019 work notification

  Changed traffic conditions on the LH Ford Bridge, Dubbo.

• LH Ford Bridge review of environmental factors

• 1 April 2020

  LH Ford Bridge work complete.

• December 2019

  LH Ford Bridge waterway re-opens just in time for summer.

• November 2018

  LH Ford strengthening project to start in coming weeks.