The Clyde River will soon add a barge to its fleet of vessels crewed by specialists as they investigate the riverbed’s geotechnical conditions as part of the Batemans Bay Bridge replacement project.
The 96m2 barge is travelling by sea down the coastline of the south coast expected to dock at the southern boat ramp next to the bridge for about 30 minutes where a drill rig will be loaded for investigation work to start. The barge was scheduled to arrive on Sunday 14 November but has been delayed due to continuing poor weather and sea conditions. The barge is at Ulladulla and for the safety of the barge operator, will not arrive in the Clyde River until there are safe weather and sea conditions.
An RMS spokesperson said the work will take up to four weeks to complete and will involve drilling small holes into the riverbed to collect material samples and pushing a steel cone into the riverbed to assess the firmness of the material.
“The barge will be stationary at several different locations across the river where piles of the new bridge will be.” John Holland Group is also delivering the early work contract and started work on Monday 19th November building temporary project offices on the site of the former bowling club in the northern section of Mackay Park. This work includes the demolition of the existing buildings. In their media release they advised that the site will be used for a community information centre, site offices, car parking, workshops and storage areas for materials including equipment, soil and gravel.
The Bridge Project Team have advised that they are committed to providing continued opportunities and forums for the public to remain heard as the project progresses and invite members of the community to the community information centre once it is finished early next year noting that the facility will be open during normal business hours and provide the community with direct access to the Project Team.
The RMS and Eurobodalla Council meet weekly to discuss the project in detail and formulated the next key agenda items for the Bridge Project Team to deliver for discussion and sign-off through the Foreshore Advisory Committee. This ensures that Council have the key staff at hand to answer questions specific to the agenda from planning to engineering. Playing a key role in the drafting of the Terms of Reference and the brief that defines the extent of focus for the Foreshore Advisory Committee including the specifics surrounding the Confidentiality Agreements required of committee members the Council is very hands on to the project as too the RMS who are aware of the requirement to ensure key stakeholder groups including local businesses, local Aboriginal groups, boating and fishing groups and community members are seen to play a role on the development of the foreshore. The proposed foreshore design will be made available to the community in early 2019.
Batemans Bay Bridge: Photo by Josh Burkinshaw Images
