THE issues with the westbound Bremer River bridge on the Warrego Highway are slowly being revealed with each new fact sheet issued by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR).
In the July 2024 update we’re told the fatigue cracks in the Bremer bridge were only discovered after similar problems with the aging Barron River bridge in far north Queensland.
This sounds a little scary, but TMR is assuring us the Bremer bridge is still safe to use provided we stick to the lower speed limit of 60kmh. Heavy and oversize trucks are not allowed to use it at any time.
The current night works reduce the bridge to one lane to allow for welding under the road deck, which TMR describes as “strengthening works”.
Did someone drop the ball and allow the bridge to go unchecked for too long and so allow it to get to this point without earlier intervention?
Traffic snarls on this stretch of the Warrego are not going to disappear anytime soon.
Now TMR is telling us it takes a minimum of five years to design and build a new bridge.
Further strengthening works on the existing structure should commence next year and continue for most of 2026 to extend the life of this 66-year-old bridge.
So, we’re talking at least another two and a half years of traffic misery.
Then there’s this government-speak from the fact sheet: “If cracks and loading on the bridge were left unmanaged, and a brittle fracture was to occur in a bridge girder, this would have a negative long-term impact on the bridge structure”.
What is TMR really saying here?
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