Residents of The Channon and Nimbin areas are still waiting to be able to travel along Tuntable Creek Road almost 10 months after floods and landslips closed the area to traffic.
Tuntable Creek Road experienced significant damage during the February 2022 natural disaster. Eleven significant landslips have been logged with a major landslip closing the road north of the intersection with Rose Road.
At the November Lismore City Council meeting, the Mayor moved a motion that Council resolve not to proceed with an open tender process to award a contract for the provision of emergency road stabilisation of Tuntable Creek Road.
Council voted unanimously to allow immediate repairs so the road could be opened before Christmas – to allow a single lane of traffic to get through ‘It is a very important piece of infrastructure,’ said Cr Krieg at the time. ‘This is urgent that we settle this tonight so that that road can at least be partially opened before Christmas.’
In accordance with the Local Government Act on Tendering, The Interim General Manager would be delegated to enter a contract with Hyatt Engineering Pty Ltd for the work with an upper limit of $1,500,000 (excl GST).
Work commenced before Christmas
The Interim General Manager said today that prior to Christmas, works commenced on a temporary solution to open the road under traffic-controlled conditions. ‘The temporary solution is subject to accelerated design development with geotechnical investigations occurring at the same time as the construction works.’
The temporary road will be adjacent to the current road.
To date the following works have been completed: Clearing of the site for detailed geological mapping; drilling under geotechnical engineering supervision to determine failure mechanism and soil profile; installation of piezometers and inclinometers to monitor movement and groundwater levels; construction of working platform below slip, and; completion of soil nailing and shotcrete below slip to retain the remaining road reserve.
Work starts again next Monday
Mr Walker said the works crew will remobilise to the site on Monday, 9 January. ‘The next stages of the construction consist of: excavating into the slope above the road, installing soil nails and shotcrete, reconstructing pavement through the slip zone and installing light traffic control and opening one lane.’
Mr Walker said that owing to the volatile nature of the slip, care is being taken when undertaking these works to ensure safety for the construction team. ‘The work method is under review and modified where required as the works progress based on data from testing and on-site observations.
‘Innovative products are being trialed to reduce grout loss and staged excavations planned to reduce risk from adverse weather.’
Mr Walker said that currently, a complete closure of Tuntable Creek Road, north of Rose Road to Beardow Road will remain in place, including no access for pedestrians, motorbikes, scooters, and bikes. ‘LCC and its contractors would like to thank the public for their patience with these works and also thank local property owners for their assistance.
‘The works are expected to be complete in February and further updates will be provided as the works commence on the upper slope.’
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