Motorists stuck on a 7-kilometre detour around Utungun have been handed an early Christmas present, with Boat Harbour Road on track to reopen before 25 December.
Backfilling has started around the new culvert at Sauls Dairy on Boat Harbour Road, a sign the major upgrade is on schedule to finish by Thursday, 24 December.
Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee and Nambucca Valley Council Director Engineering Services David Moloney visited the site to watch the first layers of backfill go in alongside the new tri-cell concrete box culvert.
“Having the culverts backfilled and road base gradually being compacted is an excellent milestone for this project,” said Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee.
“Council’s contractor, Fortade, are so far on time with this job and we expect, at this stage, to have the road re-opened by Christmas.”
The road at Sauls Dairy had been down to one lane for some time, with the eastbound lane closed due to subsidence.
To fix it for good, the old corrugated iron culverts under the road had to come out. That was finished in mid-September, after work started on Monday, 14 September.
The new tri-cell culvert was then lifted into place with a 230-tonne crane over three days in October.
Moloney said the works were being funded through $2.4 million from the Australian Government’s Safer Local Roads Infrastructure Program.
“This has been a substantial job where the sheer size of the work site – a 34 metre wide by 8.5m deep hole – and the land’s steep terrain had presented technical challenges for Council’s contractor during recent rain,” Moloney said.
“But the Fortade team is well-skilled and the work crews have hooked in, working six days a week, to keep the works program on schedule.”
Council thanked the community for its patience while the road is closed.
While Boat Harbour Road at Sauls Dairy is closed:
- All vehicles travelling between Macksville and Taylors Arm are detoured via Taylors Arm Road.
- The detour is about 7 kilometres, with a reduced speed limit of 40km/h during construction.
- The detour is not suitable for oversize or over-mass (OSOM) vehicles, such as special purpose crane vehicles, because some curves are too tight.
- Motorists should check Live Traffic or their preferred mapping app before travelling, as closures and detours are listed there.
Council’s roads crew has been regularly maintaining Taylors Arm Road and is working on nearby Lemans Road this week. The crew will then move to Welshs Creek Road and Williams Hill Road, which have also carried extra traffic because of the closure.
Moloney said local contractors were a big part of keeping the job on track.
“It’s great to have quality contractors here in the valley, as they live here and are as keen as Council to see Boat Harbour Road re-opened by Christmas,” he said.
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