Three timber bridges in the Bega Valley will be replaced with more resilient concrete structures thanks to a $10million grant from the NSW government's Fixing Country Bridges program.
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Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway visited Cobargo on Tuesday, January 31, to announce the funds for upgrading the three ageing bridges with "safer, wider, smoother" ones.
The Bega Valley Shire Council has received $2.93m for Murrabrine Creek Bridge at Cobargo, $2.58m for Murrays Creek Bridge at Buckajo and $4.63m for Ritchies Lagoon Bridge at Jellat.
Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick thanked Minister Farraway, saying the replacement of small outlying bridges such as these would not be possible for the council to fund itself.
"Since the program started in 2020, we've received 15 new bridges, concrete bridges to to replace timber bridges damaged in fires and floods, and full credit to the council staff for putting those applications forward,' Cr Fitzpatrick said.
He said overall the council had been successful in receiving around $30million through the Fixing Country Bridges program.
"These are little bridges that are out of the way and council in its own right would never be able fund these bridges," he said.
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Mr Farraway said Bega Valley had been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the "huge success" of the Fixing Country Bridges program.
"These bridges will play a vital role in connecting rural and regional communities, like Bega to markets, jobs and essential services such as schools and hospitals," he said.
"Our Fixing Country Bridges program is helping councils build bridges that are wider, higher and stronger and support greater load limits. Allowing greater volumes of freight will mean a boost for transport efficiencies and productivity in agriculture and other rural industries.
"Some bridges that have been replaced under this program withstood recent floods and continued to provide safe access for communities - had they still been made of timber, they would likely have been badly damaged or destroyed."
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Bega Shire Council Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said the announcement was a big win for the community with previous rounds already making a difference to daily life.
"Our community has suffered severely with loss of bridges and loss of access," Cr Fitzpatrick said on Tuesday.
"So to get these bridges replaced, guaranteeing their future and making them resilient for future events, means everything to our community - that they can rely on it. They know that come more rain or another fire, that their bridge will still be there.
"We're replacing them with resilient products for a long term benefit, not just for tomorrow."
More than $300m was awarded to councils under round one of the program, to replace more than 400 timber structures across 53 LGAs, and in July last year, a further $49.25m was provided to replace 34 bridges across 21 local government areas.
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