General News
21 September, 2020
John Doyle Bridge delay
At last week’s Mareeba Shire Council (MSC) monthly meeting, council was updated on a number of projects across the shire including the delay of opening the John Doyle Bridge on Anzac Avenue.
John Doyle Bridge delay
At last week’s Mareeba Shire Council (MSC) monthly meeting, council was updated on a number of projects across the shire including the delay of opening the John Doyle Bridge on Anzac Avenue.
MSC Mayor Anglea Toppin said the delay was caused by unforeseeable building problems.
"As opposed to a greenfield site where you are starting from scratch when faced with a refurbishment project such as this, you inevitably encounter unexpected elements,” Mayor Toppin said.
"As expected, when working on an old bridge, a number of decisions were only able to be made when the existing superstructure was removed and exposed the concrete elements. Once this had been done it was then revealed that additional works were required to accommodate the new girders and concrete deck.”
According to the MSC, they have now reached a pure re-build stage with the new concrete deck being poured in stages.
“There has been a minimal increase to the material costs. The budget was adjusted accordingly to accommodate the extra costs. The funds have been sourced from savings from other Council projects,” Cr Toppin said.
"The project has been a massive undertaking by Council and I thank the community for its continued cooperation and patience."
Council anticipates that the bridge will re-open to traffic in mid-November weather permitting.
