The Tabulam Bridge on the Bruxner Highway between Casino and Tenterfield is to be replaced as part of the NSW government’s Bridges for the Bush infrastructure program.
Lismore MP Thomas George said the work is part of the government’s commitment to improving road safety and freight productivity by replacing or upgrading bridges over the next five years at 17 key locations in regional NSW.
‘I’m delighted the State Infrastructure Strategy has recommended replacing Tabulam Bridge,’ Mr George said.
‘In the Lismore electorate, this will mean building a new $24 million bridge on the Bruxner Highway between Casino and Tenterfield to provide better access for freight trucks servicing the region’s agricultural industries.’
Replacing the Tabulam Bridge over the Clarence River will bring this location on the Bruxner highway up to higher mass limit (HML) standard, removing the need for heavy vehicles to undertake a costly 230-kilometre detour.
NSW roads minister Duncan Gay said Bridges for the Bush is an initiative to help rebuild the NSW economy by investing in critical infrastructure to remove a number of significant freight pinch points and bottlenecks on the state road network.
Bridges for the Bush involves replacing or upgrading five key priority HML-deficient bridges on state-managed roads and 12 timber-truss bridges on state, regional and local roads.
Mr Gay said Bridges for the Bush will provide thousands of continuous kilometres for higher-productivity vehicles such as B-doubles operating at HML; not to mention fixing a number of heritage-listed timber-truss bridges.
‘It’s estimated that replacing or upgrading the five HML-deficient bridges alone will remove 8,000 heavy-vehicle trips from the freight task each year, saving the state more than $200 million in economic, social and environmental costs over the next 30 years,’ Mr Gay said.