THE 2022 floods recovery repairs continue in Ipswich with new flood gauges being installed at two hard hit areas, Colleges Crossing and Karalee.
Ipswich City Council, with funding assistance from the State Government, replaced the gauges where the equipment had been destroyed by the weather event in February.
Cr Kate Kunzelmann said the new gauges have been designed to be more resilient to future water damage in the area.
“Ipswich City Council lost three of its flood gauges during the recent extreme weather events in late February 2022,” she said.
“These two sites were completely inundated with floodwaters, resulting in catastrophic failure of all monitoring hardware.
“Should another such extreme event occur, it is highly likely that these sites would again become inundated.
“To prevent this, council extended the tower poles from 3m to 4.5m, providing an additional 1.5m of freeboard flood protection to the site.
“It is critical that installations can withstand major flood events so that accurate data capture can be maintained, and the life of project costs are minimised.” she said.
Council had looked at several options to replace the damaged gauges.
The installations included excavation of new foundations, trenching and pipework to the river, installation and bracing as well as the supply of consumable materials.
This network of gauges is a critical asset, and the reliable operation of which can prevent significant and often critical damage to property and life.
