Breakaway Bridge update

ON Thursday, November 27, Murrindindi Shire Council conducted a meeting to provide the community with an update on the plans for the Breakaway Bridge reinstatement.

They outlined the background to the catastrophic failure of the bridge in 2022, and the isses around the changing river course.

Under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement (DRFA), funded by the state and federal governments, funding is available for the restoration of essential assets, such as the bridge, however it is like-for-like, and this poses challenges. Council is not in a financial position to fund a second lane on the bridge, so they are looking for a way to make the funding work.

If they were to install a single lane bridge, there would need to be traffic lights at either end, due to the frequent winter fog and the fact that the bridge would need to be raised to a higher level than previously.

This would come at a cost of around $1 million, plus ongoing maintenance costs. Council are aiming to make the argument to government that the cost of traffic lights and back-up power supply could instead be put into having a second lane on the bridge.

They also pointed out that accessing funding requires many technical experts, an onorous process including assessments of the bridge, banks, riverbed and structure. The experts considered …